I Just Finished Reading "Cell" By Stephen King...Spoiler

[Christine]

and what a terrible ending--if you can even call it an ending. Geez, since when can you leave a story unresolved. I want my money back!! Overall, I liked the story, but c'mon, what happened. He needed to add about 300 more pages and finish that one up.

 

[RadioFanatic]

you should really put spoiler in the title to warn those of us who haven't read it yet. thanks!

 

[sweet angel]

I haven't read it yet, but I haven't been overly impressed with his more recent stuff. It seems like he's running out of ideas.

Dean Koontz, on the other hand, seems to be getting better.

 

[barrett7890]

totally agree....finished it and turned round to hubbie and said "WTH??"

can't wait till he's finished it to see if he thinks the same

cami
x

 

[Christine]

you should really put spoiler in the title to warn those of us who haven't read it yet. thanks!

Sorry, but I don't think I gave anything away here. Just that I was disappointed in how it ended. I hope I didn't ruin it for you.

 

[CLynnJones]

I totally agree with you. I was pretty much in to the story the whole way through but geez what a dissapointing ending!!! It really leaves you hanging.

 

[Christine]

I totally agree with you. I was pretty much in to the story the whole way through but geez what a dissapointing ending!!! It really leaves you hanging.

Even books that have sequels don't leave you hanging. Each book should be able to stand on it's own. I just couldn't believe it. I kept shuffling through the back pages making sure I didn't miss a chapter or something.

I agree that Stephen King's stuff hasn't been great in years. The last book of his that I really enjoyed was probably "It". Then they just got more stupid and empty. This one actually showed some promise and I was feelin' the love again. You know, it just wouldn't have taken much more for him to neaten up that ending.

 

[Mercy]

I just finished it last night. I actually thought it was pretty good. I had to think a little at the end, but then I guess that was the point, to somewhat draw your own conclusions.

 

[RadioNate]

Stephen King has always written underwhelming endings. Look at the Dark Tower series, 7 books and that is the ending. You know it's bad when the author is suggesting that people stop reading.

 

[Christine]

I just finished it last night. I actually thought it was pretty good. I had to think a little at the end, but then I guess that was the point, to somewhat draw your own conclusions.

Well, I've certainly been thinking about it. So, Mercy, what conclusions did you draw?

Now Radionate, you may want to stop reading here...

Mercy--I keep thinking that since they were all "right" all along that they were probably right about what to do at the end and it worked.

 

[Mercy]

Well, I've certainly been thinking about it. So, Mercy, what conclusions did you draw?



Mercy--I keep thinking that since they were all "right" all along that they were probably right about what to do at the end and it worked.

SPOILER...










Well I was thinking that when Clay put the phone to his son's ear that this would cause him to "re-boot" and re-program back to how he was before the pulse. And I guess I just figured, they would eventually catch back up with the others, Tom, etc. and that eventually all the other "normies" would be re-programmed also. I know I'm not saying it right, but it was what Jordan was saying before they split up.

Of course, I'm probably all wrong, and if that's the case.... I don't have a clue!!!

 

[Christine]

SPOILER...










Well I was thinking that when Clay put the phone to his son's ear that this would cause him to "re-boot" and re-program back to how he was before the pulse. And I guess I just figured, they would eventually catch back up with the others, Tom, etc. and that eventually all the other "normies" would be re-programmed also. I know I'm not saying it right, but it was what Jordan was saying before they split up.

Of course, I'm probably all wrong, and if that's the case.... I don't have a clue!!!

No, I don't think you're all wrong--that is kind of what I assumed--that Jordan's hypothesis was correct and that Clay's son would "reboot." I guess that's the hopeful side of me. I was really worried something bad would happen at the end. If I remember correctly, Stephen King's novels usually don't have a "happy" ending.

 

[Magickndm]

I loved Cell. From the first paragraph it felt like one of his books.
I had no problem with the ending, I love it when he leaves it up to the reader. Just as I loved the ending of the DT series. How else could he have ended those books? Theories are all over out there as to what the ending really meant, and, if you remember correctly, he did tell the reader if they wanted their happy ending to stop right there, go no further.

I guess the ending of Cell depends on your attitute...

spoiler
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If you're an optomist you believe Johnny was rebooted and he and Clay were reunited with "T-J-D". If you're not then maybe you believe Johnny never recovers, they never reunite with "T-J-D".
At the very least you gotta give the guy credit, he leaves the readers wanting more.
Oh, and the whole thing with Alice getting hit by a cement block really got me. Her whole death scene did really, it was very touching. "Then they waited for her to die. They waited all that night."

 

[Mercy]

I loved Cell. From the first paragraph it felt like one of his books.
I had no problem with the ending, I love it when he leaves it up to the reader. Just as I loved the ending of the DT series. How else could he have ended those books? Theories are all over out there as to what the ending really meant, and, if you remember correctly, he did tell the reader if they wanted their happy ending to stop right there, go no further.

I guess the ending of Cell depends on your attitute...

spoiler
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If you're an optomist you believe Johnny was rebooted and he and Clay were reunited with "T-J-D". If you're not then maybe you believe Johnny never recovers, they never reunite with "T-J-D".
At the very least you gotta give the guy credit, he leaves the readers wanting more.
Oh, and the whole thing with Alice getting hit by a cement block really got me. Her whole death scene did really, it was very touching. "Then they waited for her to die. They waited all that night."

I must be an optomist then I had the same theory. I also enjoyed this book very much, a real page turner!!

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

I really enjoyed the book too but hated the ending. I started reading it the day it came out and read it only on breaks and lunches at work since I didn't want to buy it (one of the benefits of working in a bookstore) and even stayed late one afternoon to finish it.
The ending was just a little too ambigous for me, but the scenes with Alice and her shoe and her death scene were heartbreaking.
I'm not a huge Stephen King fan, got interested after reading his Entertainment Weekly olumn, but I think I'll check some of his earlier works soon....

 

[Brianne]

I posted about not liking the ending when this subject was brought up on here recently. I still don't like the ending. And the book was too darn short too!

 

[teacherforhi]

Whenever I read books like Cell, it makes me think of my senior English teacher. She had this thing about what she called mature readers and immature readers.

Mature readers were able to read a book and take it at face value. For example, life doesn't always have a neat, happy ending, so why should books?

Immature readers wanted everything wrapped up so that the knew the end of the story.

For the record, I'm an immature reader. I want to know what happened! After all that, was he able to save his son?
I wanted to know what was going on in the rest of the world.
Who sent out the signal? To what purpose?
Were there other large groups of phonies in other parts of the country? the world?

 

[Christine]

Whenever I read books like Cell, it makes me think of my senior English teacher. She had this thing about what she called mature readers and immature readers.

Mature readers were able to read a book and take it at face value. For example, life doesn't always have a neat, happy ending, so why should books?

Immature readers wanted everything wrapped up so that the knew the end of the story.

For the record, I'm an immature reader. I want to know what happened! After all that, was he able to save his son?
I wanted to know what was going on in the rest of the world.
Who sent out the signal? To what purpose?
Were there other large groups of phonies in other parts of the country? the world?

You can add me to the list of immature readers. I wanted to know all the same things. I think if he had expanded on this, he would have written a book very much like the ones he had written long ago.

 

[we3disneygo]

dh just got done reading it and says it's preqeul to the Dark Tower series .It would explain the odd history, and how society breaks down. He refers to the muties, or adnormals, and crazy folk. and don't forget the man in the hood appears in almost all his stories.