I actually re-read The Tommyknockers a few months ago and it was rather revealing: the first 100 pages are really nothing but a man (Stephen King) suffering from a number of addictions (cocaine and alcohol being the big two)telling the reader how it is to both fall into an addiction (Robby and the spaceship) and the nadirs of them (Gardener at the poetry reading). Knowing what we (or I, at least) know now about King’s problems in the 1970’s and 80s with substance abuse, The Tommyknockers nowadays makes for a fascinating look at an author working out his addiction problems on the page.
I always enjoyed exactly those parts of Tommyknockers for exactly those reasons, though I never gave shit one about the aliens.
I’m normally a huge Stephen King fan, but I was so disappointed by *Cell * that I didn’t even finish it. It just seemed like a half-hearted rehash of *The Stand * and the characters were nowhere near as realistic or as engaging as King’s usual standard. His magical ability to portray regular people in fantastic or terrifying situations is, for me, one of the very best things about his writing and one of the most compelling reasons he should get a lot more credit that he has done to date.
Stephen King at his best is *Literature * with a capital L, but *Cell * didn’t live up to that. It feels like something he cranked out in a hurry.
I still plan to read everything else he’s written and I’m about 3/4 of the way through *Lisey’s Story * (and enjoying it). Let’s hope that his return to form is a permanent one.
From Orson Scott Card’s Introduction to Ender’s Game (pp xviii and xix):
HAH! I have always felt that literature should be something that you can just pick up and read, without needing a degree in Critical Deconstruction of the Novel, but Orson Scott Card really nailed it for me. I know what I like, what moves me, what makes me think, and what makes me want to give up on the book because it’s too damned much work to read.
By Card’s criteria, Stephen King may well be one of the best writers alive, and I would not argue too strongly against that.
Indeed. I think he’s criminally underrated, and while he’s had one or two turkeys in the past, he’s still a damn fine writer. From his interviews and his non-fiction, he actually comes across as a down-to-earth guy I could just shoot the shit with.
On a related note, I recently had the chance to meet him at an exclusive launch party for Lisey’s Story which was being thrown by the publishers, but due to bad traffic and useless directions I arrived about a half-hour after he left. 
I was incredibly disappointed, but my contact at the publishers was sweet enough to send me a signed copy in an effort to cheer me up a bit.
If I ever meet that guy, I’d just like to shake his hand and say “Thank You” for all the great stories he’s put out over the years and for inspiring me to write.
Me too, Bookmonster.
I had just finished reading an excellent Zombie graphic novel series before I also received the Cell for christmas.
The Walking Dead Wiki link.
Online issue available on Image Comics website - http://www.imagecomics.com/onlinecomics.php
I also enjoyed Cell, but the last third or so was a bit weaker than the beginning.
How interesting. It’s only been 20-some years since I read that one so maybe it’s time to try again. Thanks!
King’s had a lot more than one or two turkeys. He managed to write three or four turkeys just in the Dark Tower series.
However, long after he’s dead, he’ll be remembered for his good books, and he has written some truly great books; The Dead Zone, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Running Man, and lots of books that were maybe not great but pretty good, like The Stand, It, and more. A hell of a lot of really, really good short stories, too.
Nobody remembers Michael Jordan’s bad games.
I believe Stephan wrote this in his downtime on the Sun Coast of Florida. It is a metaphor for the affliction of Natural disaster and the Gulf’s Apocalyptics. The fear nodule, the apocrypha, the wayback, the primal… dates all the way back to the Chicxulub Crater and is masterfully intertwined with modern techno-angst. I think it is masterful, but his ending was edited away. Or maybe this is just King’s techno-manifesto, perhaps a morality tale and warning?
“Giving the zombies psychic powers” was consistent with his mechanism, the “brain wipe”, and his universe…The King Universe, that place where time and space meet in an apex of pandemonium. The powers of the mind are relevant and powerful, but hearts prevail.
I tellya his approach to apocalyptic zombiedom is more believable than a virus or chemicals, ferchrissakes. It’s just couched as the EM theory. What other Author can connect viscerally like that chapter.
I do believe it was lacking but within context. Important, even.
“Chicxulub Crater”? Huh?
I’m not claiming to having the slightest clue what the post was talking about, but here’s an explanation of the crater.
What bugged me was that they never explained what the Pulse was. At least with some zombie stories, it is generally explained as a virus, or something supernatural. Was it an accident? A government experiment gone wrong?
Who exactly was the Stanford Man?
I have always admired and respected Stephen King, not only for his good works (RickJay left out Misery and Thinner), but for the many bad things in his life he has overcome (growing up dirt poor without his father, abject pioverty before he sold “Carrie,” booze and drug addiction and the hideous accident that almost killed him. He has a good marriage and has raised three good children.
His wife Tabitha is a damn good writer in her own right.
Like some others have mentioned, I thought it started off well as an amusing, somewhat satirical take on a zombie story (and cell phone rant), but once the zombies got psychic powers I started losing interest. I think it was a mistake for him ever to try to take a zombie story seriously.
“Misery” was indeed excellent. I’ll respectfully disagree with “Thinner.”
Bah. I liked “Thinner”. “Misery” was garbage.
Misery was much better than Thinner. Realistic horror is always more scary than anything supernatural.
I also think that The Running Man is a tight little, underrated classic. The movie version with Ah-nold is a travesty.
I really got sucked into this book, found myself reading it at all hours of the night, was raving about it to friends. And…was completely disappointed in an ending so abrupt that I sat there for a few minutes in utter disbelief. It seemed as if he just got tired of the story and decided to end it.
While I like King, I much prefer Koontz for this type of story.
I’ve said more than once on these boards that King’s weakness is his endings. We’re just lucky a giant spider didn’t come out and eat all our heroes. Hey, wait, maybe the pulse CAME from a giant spider from outer space!