Talk:Cell (novel)

Untitled
Can we put in the ending with a spoiler warning?

Kashwak
I believe in the story it was called KashAwak -see the "A" LOTRrules 16:44, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, my bad, there was a place called Kashwakamak and Kashawak - the main one is Kaswak - so it was right! LOTRrules 10:19, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Clean up this article someone, please
As much as I hate to be a whiner, especially since I haven't read the book myself, this article needs some serious work. The entire first half of the article is written in-universe, which is against WP guidelines, and also looks very unprofessional. Also (and this is my biggest gripe), if you jump from the beginning of the spoiler alert down to where it ends, you haven't got a clue what the book is about! You need to add a short description of what the story is. Please, someone better suited than me, fix this. Hotdogger 00:59, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Took a stab at it.--Geoduck 06:43, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Dark Tower connections
The Dark Tower connections need to be weeded through and their value seriously weighed. Some of the items on the list are discounted within the list, which pretty much signals to me that they're useless in an encyclopedia. I enjoy fan-speculation and Stephen King multiverse exploration as much as anyone, but this is a bit goofy for Wikipedia. Chris Stangl 18:44, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

This is the curse of the Dark Tower -- at this point, anything that's remotely related to "fantasy" or "medievalism" becomes "Dark Tower meta-reference!". (That said, the cartoon-characters mentioned by Clay in this book are, pretty obvioiusly, a DT parody. Aside from that, I think this is one of King's *least* "connected" books -- meaning, it doesn't take place in the Tower-verse, it takes place in Boston.)

To clarify: the comic-book characters that Clay refers to are *absolutely* (and obviously) pastiches of "Dark Tower" characters -- beyond that, any claims of DT connectivity are reaching. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Occlusian (talk • contribs) 10:40, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Actual title
I was just wondering but isn't the full title of the novel: Cell: A Novel? Just wondering. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ONEder Boy (talk • contribs)
 * Not really...most of his novels say that.--CyberGhostface 01:34, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Critical Response This section discusses the ending, although in a general way, there are indications as to what does and does not happen, I would suggest a spoiler warning for this section also.

Question
Does anyone else wonder where the military was througout the entire book? KyleDecker

I think the characters speculate at one point that they think the military all had cell phones and therefore the pulse would have changed all of them. I think I remember reading that --Sopranosmob781 15:07, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

The only real reference to anything military based in the book, would have to be in the first bit, after they meet thier first officer. Clay asks if they use Cell phones, but the officer replies they use radio's. I believe the military would use the same system, but I assume the military was killed pretty badly. If it was present day, most of the military would be off duty (Maybe not, I dont know much about American Military and whatnot) or in various posts around the world, most probably the middle-east. Well, I dont know. The way King wrote the book, I dont even think the military would be any help in that world, eh?

After having re-read part of the book, on page 85, There's this paragraph.

"It wasn't much of a joke and Tom didn't Smile. "It's nowhere. How do you use a homeland force that now depends almost entirely on the celluar network to even Mobilize? As for..."

Think that about clears it up.

Somewhat, but what about those out on ships and submarines? They need radios and satellite phones to communicate to the mainland and since they would see what happened to a person using a satellite phone the entire crew would not be infected. Then again I might just be making a big deal over nothing. And in the beginning of the book the guy was a cop not of the military. KyleDecker

Yes, there were probably a few pockets of military that came through the Pulse unscathed, but not nearly enough to restore order in a country the size of the US, and certainly not in the timeframe covered by the novel. And those that did survive would soon be facing the power of the Flocks... --Geoduck 20:35, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * "It wasn't much of a joke and Tom didn't Smile. "It's nowhere. How do you use a homeland force that now depends almost entirely on the celluar network to even Mobilize? As for...": That is referring to the National Guard only, not the rest of the armed forces. There would possibly still be army, air force, navy, marines, coast guard, and whatever else out there. WookMuff 21:38, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

The story unfolds over a week and half way through the "normies" were under the control of the phone crazies. The military would have been obliterated as the characters states early on, turning nearly all into phone crazies. The few left would probably be the "body guards" of the phone crazies while they slept or just be useless or hunted down by the crazies.

-G

Question 2
Okay, what actually caused the Pulse? And who?--69.112.26.170 06:34, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Nothing known, rampantly speculated. Terrorists, domestic or otherwise, are the most oft mentioned cause I believe. I think someone speculates about secret military experiments, but that could have just been my own speculation :) Yeah, Stephen King happily provided a story that bucks literary convention by having lots of randomness and unexplained happenings, just like real life (or so i hear) WookMuff 20:51, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
 * If King doesn't give you a straight answer, than the answer always is "aliens".

-G LOL i was kind of liking the theory that it was like Metal gear solid 2 with the patriots system and that it was sort of a computer virus that kept evolving over time in our massive network of code and basicly out electronic primordial soup that could somehow have led to a sentiant computer virus with an unkown plan for humans. While the infected where not extremely smart that could be because they were merely being manipulated by the god program and not fully controlled(raggedy man was like a shamen) but all my theory,while possible(i would love if someone debated this with me since i have been holding on to this theory for a while and it boring not to debate it)the way the novel end sort of shows that it was never meant to be revealed and with a writer like SK that most likely means it has no answer and is like making theories for lost,its pointless because if the writers dont know the answers than its just a story not a functining universe to discuss. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.42.210.161 (talk) 16:27, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Infoboxes
Why aren't there Infoboxes showing a bibliography at the bottom of novel entries for authors, like there are for album entries by musical artists? Not sure where this question should go, but it hit me as I wanted to browse some of King's past novels. Is this a project underway yet, or can we start it? Alanlastufka 14:05, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Is Flagg Raggady Man?
I just finished reading Cell. He seems like him. "his" flocks levetating, cruifictions, and contacting in dreams and in person. What do you guys think? Should this be added in the Cell page?
 * He's not Flagg. He's the voice of the collective, basically someone who the phoners speak through. If the raggedy man were to die, someone else would be chosen in his place.--CyberGhostface 03:39, 24 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Can you cite? Flagg is called the Raggedy Man in other works. Briangotts (Talk) (Contrib) 20:59, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Can you cite? Because I don't recall Flagg ever being called the Raggedy Man.--CyberGhostface 21:02, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * In the stand, Flagg is called Raggedy Man.
 * Exact quotes, page numbers, etc would be appreciated.--CyberGhostface 18:24, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * [] Not mentioned there. However, I always thought that The Raggedy Man could be Flagg, even though RM was black.  Maybe the hoodie reminded me of DT7 and his last appearance. ~ Gromreaper 04:34, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * There's also the fact that Raggedy Man wasn't an actual person but a vessel for the phoners to speak through, and if he was killed another would replace him.--CyberGhostface 21:16, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * well, he was killed but nobody replaced him, although pretty much of the phoners survived.
 * And you know this how? Because as far as I was concerned, the main characters fled after the explosion.--CyberGhostface 18:36, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
 * He isn't randall flagg, because randall flagg wouldn't let his brain be rebooted, simple as that. Randall Flagg is a magician and a demon, not a mouthpiece for a utopian ideal of peaceful society. Plus, I can't imagine RF with dredlocks, mon. Also, to me Cell feels more like one of Stephen King's pseudoscience novels rather than his horror/magic novels. More Firestarter or Tommyknockers than Eyes of the Dragon or The Stand. But, thats OR :) WookMuff 09:59, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * i know what how? that he was killed or that was never replaced?
 * That he wasn't replaced.--CyberGhostface 19:53, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * well, if he was indeed replaced, the book wouldn't have ended here, don't u think so?
 * Not necessarily. The book ended on an abrupt note with many plotlines dangling. But, if he wasn't replaced, then it was most likely because all the phoners in the available proximity were blown to bits. Either way, its still not certifiable evidence that he's Flagg.--CyberGhostface 21:10, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, let's just ask Mr. King then.
 * Go ahead.
 * Not every mysterious villain that King writes is Flagg.--CyberGhostface 13:40, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * yeah, i did, i did, i did ask Mr. King and he said he was Flagg :))
 * ok, not to call you a liar but i think you are a liar WookMuff 20:08, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * you really lack education, boy. you could've used a less harsh word such as deceiver, although it would not be true.
 * anyhow, where was i? oh, yes... i did, i did, i did ask Mr. King and he said he was flagg. :)

But, see, if you lied about something as lame as this, that would make you a liar. Deciever could imply at least a level of subterfuge and subtlety, but if what you said is a lie then yes, thats a Lie, with no subtlety at all! And yeah, i still don't believe you. WookMuff 21:08, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Do you have actual proof that King said he was? Because frankly your word isn't good enough for me.--CyberGhostface 21:40, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * well, what proof would you like. i received an e-mail from him.
 * I find that hard to believe given he would never give it out to you or anyone that for matter. Send him another e-mail and tell to him to make an announcement on his webpage. Then I'll believe you.--CyberGhostface 11:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
 * ok, let's see what can i do.

plot relationship to Brian Keene's "The Rising"
I found an all too familiar sub-plot about Clay heading out of boston to find his son, who he hopes is still alive, to the sub-plot in "The Rising", by Brian Keene. The character within that book (sadly I cannot remember the name of the father) recieves a cell phone message from his son some 300+ miles away in an underground bunker hiding from the Zombies that now rule the post-apocolyptic world. The story picks right up with the father willing to risk life and limb to escape the bunker and head out to find his son before he is killed. The following story is loaded with extremely unsettling scenes of violence and harrowing close calls right up to the ending in which the father gets to the house and....... (not gonna spoil it for those who haven't read the book). any thoughts folks?

Although I loved "Cell" I felt the storyline was, more or less, a regurgitation of Brian Keene's book. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.215.8.224 (talk) 19:49, 7 December 2006 (UTC).


 * OR and unimportant. Sorry to be harsh but if you take a look at most plots you can find antecendents (sp?) elsewhere, that doesn't mean one is copying the other, merely that "great minds think alike" and are probably drawing from the same sources. Which, granted, is also OR, but then I am not wanting to mention it on the page :) I believe that the original Dawn of the Dead had something of a "urgent phone message-rescue operation-hijinx ensue" plot, though don't quote me on that. WookMuff 11:17, 11 December 2006 (UTC)


 * No offense taken, but i do feel that the genre is still a bit open for variations of plot structures. Plot similiarities are common in well used backgrounds... I.e. lords/knights/rangers protecting their king/baron/president from some devious plot to upsurp the throne/province/country and/or world. The saying, "great minds think alike" is often the defense of plaigarists (SP?) so simple an answer can not be credited to such a situation. Granted both may have drawn from similar sources, but what source did both draw to use the father worries about son some hundreds of miles away and travels through a second hades of zombies to get to him? I've read ALOT of Zombie books among which is "xombie;" none of these books resemble the closeness that "Cell" and "The Rising" share. the surrounding atmospheres in each is different granted... but you can't change a dog into a man with different series clothes, it's still a dog. My only arguement is that Brain Keene should at least be included as a VERY similar story for those who are fans of the Zombie genre. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.33.116.72 (talk) 04:04, 14 December 2006 (UTC).
 * So maybe you can add a see also, but i still think that accusing Stephen King of plagiarism is a bit strong for NPOV, don't you? WookMuff 04:31, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

no. my intent was NOT to accuse Mr. King of plagiarism. I simply mentioned that the "Great Minds Think Alike" mantra is a fallback used by more unsavory writers defending unwarrented work snipped from others. Mr. King is far from such a category. I would like to add the "see also" section added to this "cell" entry.

I really don't see much of a similarity here. Two zombie stories including characters that search for their sons, hoping they're still alive? I really doubt that if somebody liked Cell they would like this other book simply because its main character is looking for his son. --70.81.114.188 01:11, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, this is a joke. King ripped off an idea from Brian Keene because they both wrote variations on zombie novels that included narrators desperate to find members of their families? Even the slightest insinuation that King has to use ideas from that hack Keene's work is utterly ludicrous. With all his 'Bram Stoker Awards' Keene can't afford an editor for his mass-market editions that knows the difference between 'its' and 'it's'. On second thought, maybe King should steal all Keene's ideas and publish them in his own works - at least that would make the execution of those ideas worth reading. WLight (talk) 20:35, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Original Title?
While its always conceivable my memory is flawed in this respect, I distinctly recall learning of the existence of this novel at a used book store in September of 2006, where I found a copy for sale; I swear it was entitled "The Pulse." I had no money at the time, so I didn't purchase it. In December I purchased a paperback copy of it with the now-standard title of "Cell." But was it first released as "The Pulse?" And if so, why the name change? Was it a legal concern pertaining to the July 2006 film release of "The Pulse," (which, perhaps oddly, was based on a Japanese film, "Kairo," which had a plot similar to the one in the novel)? I did a Google search og the phrase "Stephen King's The Pulse" and indeed got one hit where some guy on his blog was referring to the book as if "The Pulse" was its title. But one hit seems like an inconclusive result. Does anyone know what the deal is here?KevinOKeeffe 06:59, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It was never called the Pulse. It was called Cell long before its release. The only time it was ever referred to as such was when King posted an excerpt on Amazon.--CyberGhostface 22:27, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Interestingly in the German translation the book is in fact named "Puls" which translates to "Pulse". 195.80.200.200

Indeed for a while it seemed like the name of the book was "The Pulse". And the reason for that is the aforementioned release of the first chapter on Amazon. It turns out that "The Pulse" is the name of the first part of the book. BTW, the second one is called Malden and so on... On a personal note, I loved the excerpt and looked for a book with that name for long time without success :) --Vmerling 11:37, 28 November 2007

"Dark horse"
This has bugged me ever since I first visited this page... is "Dark Horse Comics" actually mentioned as the site of his interview at any point in the story, or is that just someones assumption? WookMuff 06:04, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The first example I can find doesn't appear until the characters are staying at Tom's house, but yes, it specifically says Dark Horse. (Page 104 in my hardback Scribner's edition.) --Geoduck 02:48, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
 * k thnx :) 05:17, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Connection to the Cthulhu Mythos?
I read somewhere (I think it was in some literary magazine, but I'm not sure) that there was a connection between 'Cell' and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Is there a connection? And if there is, what is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.168.152.68 (talk) 20:48, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

That connection doesn't make much sense. There is no magic or extradimensional creatures in this book. It's all about technology and the untapped abilities of the human brain. --Vmerling 13:05, 27 November 2007

28 Days Later Reference
I don't really think that this should be in here, cause if you're gonna reference one zombie/post-apocolyptic story, you might as well reference them all LedZeppelin84 02:41, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree completelly. There is no special reason to associate this movie more closely to "28 days later" than to other zombie-like stories. --Vmerling 11:32, 28 November 2007

Tom's Homossexuality
I'll change the part of the Plot Summary where it says "... mild-mannered homosexual (this is only alluded to in the book) Tom McCourt ..." because there is one explicit reference to him being gay. When Clay, Tom and Alice are in Tom's neighbour house looking for guns there is a sentence where it says something like "give a gay guy a gun and he starts acting like Sylvester Stallone".

I'll change it to (this only explicitly mentioned once). Vmerling
 * He also makes reference to it when they're at the gas station.--CyberGhostface (talk) 15:23, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Can you quote it? I can't seem to find it. Vmerling —Preceding comment was added at 21:15, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I can't find it now, so maybe I imagined it, but I thought him being gay was explored further. (Although I did find a link here that talks about it)--CyberGhostface 23:26, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

The first nite Tom mentions, regarding Alice, something to the effect of, "You know she's safe with me, right?" implying his homosexuality. It was pushed more later in the book to confirm as noted about with Stallone. 70.22.46.70 (talk) 00:51, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

It is made even more explicit than the Stallone line at some later point, as alluded to by CGF... don't have the quote, but Tom says something along the lines of 'sure, the world ends and let's all still pick on the gays' and Clay responds 'these days all of us straights are an endangered species as well'. Or something. That was a bad paraphrase, but the awkward use of 'straights' stuck with me at the time. It seems like a bit of over-assumption on Clay's part but it turns out to be true, so it may be King's stereotyping showing through. WLight (talk) 20:39, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Seriously...where the blazes does the over-use of the term "Zombie" end??
Are we not carrying the whole "label every non-normal human a Zombie" thing a little far??

Don't the individuals have to actually meet the definition of what Zombies are before we add the Stephen King Flocks in "Cell" to the category "Zombies and Revenants in fiction??"

How about, from now on we refrain from labeling any set of Humans as such until such time as they are at least actually UNDEAD, f'r just one instance??

I am for that reason removing the Category "Zombies and Revenants in Literature" Tag from this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thanos777 (talk • contribs) 05:52, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I believe that we ("speakers of English") use the term "zombie" whenever a human being is explicitly failing to meet the criteria for sentience coupled with free will. So a mind-controlled person who could say, "I'm sorry, but he's making me do this" is not a zombie, and an animal-level intellect who could choose to act in accordance with some semblance of free will is not a zombie, but a humanoid who lacks both human-level sentience and free will (is being controlled by outside sources, or is acting purely on rudimentary seek-and-destroy instinct) can be called a zombie.  I believe the criteria is a little stricter than that, but it certainly doesn't have to include the criteria "undead," even though that is where the term originated.  And it is inherently useful to be able to compare works that are inherently similar despite one of them lacking the criteria "undead"... an undead zombie is far more similar to, and therefore more usefully compared to, a living zombie than it is similar to other forms of undead such as ghosts or vampires. Kilyle (talk) 08:34, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Allussions/References
Is it really necessary to list shows and movies like 28 Days Later or the X Files episode when they have little to do with the novel other than that they have a similar premise? Ccm043 (talk) 02:51, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Probably not. Feel free to get rid of it.--CyberGhostface (talk) 03:02, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Cell (film)
Why is it such a horrible thing for me to create a page for the film? I've seen pages for other movies that are currently in production. H-E doulbe hocky sticks, I've seen pages for movies that aren't even in production yet. Can I get some answers, and don't just tell me to read some other WP:BOLOGNA. Creamy3 (talk) 22:59, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Time span?
Does anybody know the timeframe the course of the novel take place? I remember at some point in the story it was like ten days? I'm just kinda curious. ONEder Boy (talk) 19:22, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * About 20 days all told. Things start happening just after 3pm on October 1, and Clay guesses that it's October 21 just before the ending. "Snow. Snow on the twenty-first of October. Was it the twenty-first? He'd lost track of the days." p. 443 of my mass-market edition. WLight (talk) 20:43, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Likeness
Does anyone else think that this film may have inspired the film, "The Happening"? The opening scene in the film was somewhat reminiscent of the events immediately after the Pulse Ad94dug(talk)

I thought the same thing until i looked up what the movie was really about174.42.210.161 (]]User talk:174.42.210.161|talk]]) 16:58, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Should the 2009 movie Pontypool be mentioned? It's about a mental viral outbreak, triggered by certain words, which is kind of like the signal in Cell, perhaps? --213.21.93.184 (talk) 20:27, 14 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Not unless there's a reliable source that discusses it. Doniago (talk) 20:35, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

plot relationship to John Wyndham's "The Midwich Cuckoos"?
Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midwich_Cuckoos if you don't know the story.Athulin (talk) 14:36, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Another Dark Tower Reference
I listened to it on audiobook, so hard for me to reference, but they mentioned a flight 1918 at one point, which of course is 19. I did the math while I was driving. ;) 70.22.46.70 (talk) 00:49, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Stephen King doesn't own a cell phone
No idea if it's notable for inclusion in the article or where it would be placed but Stephen King refuses to own a cellular telephone.--72.1.222.126 (talk) 22:48, 21 June 2009 (UTC)
 * It's in the author bio right after the acknowledgments. 'Stephen King lives in Maine with his wife, the novelist Tabitha King. He does not own a cell phone.' p.451 WLight (talk) 20:45, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

List of zombie novels is currently up for deletion
FYI. Ikip (talk) 08:29, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

In regards to bare URLs and a Computer Science Assignment
My computer science class at the university I attend has an assignment on editing several articles on Wikipedia, and I've decided to edit this article on Cell (novel). My main objective is to improve the references, or 'bare URLs', as indicated by the Wikipedia banner at the top of the article. I'd really appreciate it if no one else did this so that I could do it for my assignment. But if I've made a mistake or two in editing, then I wouldn't mind if you helped me out and let me know. Thank you so much!

Oh, as an afterthought: I'd love to help with any other areas needed to edit this article, like adding additional citations for verification since I own a physical copy of the book and can add references and citations. So if there's anything else needed for this article, I'd be glad to help.

BrenSeesAll (talk) 03:56, 28 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I apologize for this post. As you can tell, I'm a newcomer and at the time the post was made I wasn't aware that we didn't have to post on the talk page on what we were going to individually edit on each article. Please disregard that post. BrenSeesAll (talk) 02:05, 1 March 2013 (UTC)