Book Review - Cell
Examining Stephen King's New Take on that Old Apocalypse
It's a doomed world indeed when humanity's most addictive technology unleashes our darkest brutalities, in this latest work by arch-author Stephen King
You own a cellular phone.
I say this with the near-certainty that most would be reluctant to put behind any statement other than that for which they feel the utmost faith, and for those of you smirking triumphantly because you have not yet joined the wireless world, I say with equal confidence that you nevertheless now sit within about one-hundred metres of a cell phone, and likely have come into arm’s reach of someone who does own one, over the past twenty-four hours.
It is upon this ubiquitous little device that Stephen King’s latest tale of humanity undone – dubbed Cell, oddly enough – is based, and with the same malicious creativity and masterful plot development that has traditionally defined all novels ‘King’, a new, bloody tomorrow is revealed, wherein all those who have ever wanted to choke the life out of that nattering little twit on the cellular next to them suddenly find both tables and sentiment horrifyingly reversed . . .
The Pulse Heard Round the World
Having penned a literary cornerstone like The Stand, King is hardly a stranger to the apocalypse epic, and while ideas like rebellious robotics and bloodthirsty mobs are likewise not unknown within this genocidal sub-genre, Cell concludes civilization in a unique and refreshingly inventive manner that will have even the most die-hard fan of zombie and nuclear holocaust plots intrigued.
Walking down a sunny Boston avenue and feeling energized after having sealed a contract that would have proven the proverbial ‘big break’ for his career, graphic artist Clayton Riddell is so enthused by this latest turn of events that he temporarily fails to note the first indications that the end of the world has just been broadcast via high-speed wireless digital technology. This strange signal would later be dubbed ‘the Pulse’ by those who survived its initial effects, and within minutes of its mysterious emergence upon the global cellular network, Clayton finds his sunny city street transformed into a gore-spattered war zone, as anyone using a cellular at the time of the Pulse is reduced to a state of frenzied psychopathy, falling without remorse upon all those in sight.
A Thriller in True Fashion
Although King has never been squeamish when it comes to spilling the gory details, anyone normally turned off by the over-the-top blood and guts usually unleashed by apocalyptic undead hordes or mindless killers may still find appeal in Cell, as King holds to his usual fashion of providing artful horror.
In truth, Cell manages what many recent apocalypse stories have attempted (Twenty-Eight Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead) in that it is at heart a survival story, with its most enthralling features arising, not from gag-inducing death scenes, but the ways in which characters interact with both each other and their newfound reality. The idea of casting Sony, Nokia, Samsung and Toshiba as the Four Horsemen is a particularly creative twist when one considers the crippling fact (as King points out) that the average military or police force deploys using cellular communication, while on a more personal level, the first reaction most of us would have upon seeing someone assaulted by a mob would be to reach for a phone and call for assistance.
In addition and as the story progresses, King further distances himself from other survival-horrors by introducing a disturbingly new characteristic about his particular murdering swarms, for as Clayton continues along his dangerous trek back to his family in Maine, it becomes clear that there is something developing in the actions of the Pulse’s victims, something beyond a simple indiscriminate rage. Where reason, compassion and restraint have been torn from the minds of millions, something more profound is now growing in the void left behind.
As mentioned already, even those not normally inclined toward end-of-the-world works will discover a certain allure about Cell’s simple story of ordinary people attempting to survive in a most disorderly world. With rumours of a big screen adaptation in the works, Cell has a promising future in the public eye and one that’s well-deserved; for those who read it will find themselves both rewarded and likely to jump just a bit higher than normal, the next time that cheery little ring-tone pipes up.
