The ending of Cell

[bex35]

Hi
I'm new to the site and I've no doubt that this will have been discussed before.
But a year and a half after reading this book I've got to ask about the ending. Did it end? Please could someone enlighten me. Is it so obvious I missed it or is it more left to the reader to decide.
Please don't think this has put me off King. It was my first King read and I've never looked back :smile2:
Also, I am an ex Literature student and have feel ashamed of asking the above question, but I've racked my brains for quite some time and now have come to accept that I have to know!

[Moderator]

The reboot worked.

[PLx81]

only kinda is what thought

[bex35]

Hooray! That was my instinct. :smile2:
Thanks alot.

[vivazebool]

I think it was the end. It was a King-style hanger.

[Derwood]

i wasn't a fan of the ending. it did seem pretty abrupt. any movie adaptation of this would have to have a stronger ending

[marew1]

:smile2: Hello and welcome to the board. Happy reading and posting. Cell ended abruptly but that is not necessarily the norm.

[Flood1980]

only kinda is what thought

What?

[staropeace]

It had to end somewhere....anything thing else would be anti-climatic. I loved the way Steve used the words...fo fo for you you or whatever...it fit nicely together and was awful sad and hopeful.....it was effective...

He ended it with hope....the best place to end it.

[BornToRun]

Stephen even confirmed on his website that the reboot worked .

[CallerIQ223]

the end if you dont know of the reboot thing is sorta a cliffhanger. i didnt quite understand it till i found that out.

[lorelei_lou]

Oh, it worked?

I thought it was left for us to decide, but I figured things would have all gone a bit 'Pet Semetary' and that it'd be a turn for the worse. Shows what a pessimist I am, I suppose...

[staropeace]

If MsMod said it worked then it worked darn it! Lol,she probably got that from the horse's mouth....errrrrrrr....or the authors mouth.:biggrin2:

[Dark Reader]

Oh cool! I'm glad to read the reboot worked!

[clair]

i have just read it and i think it worked and that clay and his son found the others alive and well

[pagantallie]

thank god the reboot worked - i felt really tortured for that man! as a mother myself i simply cannot imagine losing my son.

[JRLauer]

Stephen King has a message about the ending of cell on the main page of this site.

12:41pm March 24th, 2006:
Regarding Cell...
CELL SPOILER: "Based on the information given in the final third of Cell—I’m thinking about the reversion back toward the norm of the later phone crazies—it seems pretty obvious to me that things turned out well for Clay’s son, Johnny. I don’t need to tell you this, do I?”

-Steve

This is from another thread that's talking about the same thing.

[karend3]

King definitely left the ending to your imagination.

[Insomniak]

I dont give a good **** about endings

[michal]

I wish you wouldn't have told me how it really ended Mr. Mod. Takes out some of the enjoyment I had of the book. Being a pessimist I have a natural born suspicion and at times dislike of "perfectly organized" happy endings. I refer Hoping that it all ended well, not knowing.

[Showtimecircus]

I found the ending brilliant. In my mind i felt the ending was decided by the reader, they chose in their minds what happens to Johnny.

[Lina]

To my mind the ending is really great. It gives us an opportunity to think about the book and to develop our imagination. :)

[geekgirl1975]

I JUST finished this book about 20 minutes ago and loved it. I usually prefer endings that are tidy and wrapped up, but this one fit well with the story. As far as SK saying it worked out in the end, no offense to Uncle Stevie or this forum (I'm a Stephen King lover/fan/nut/addict/junkie/etc), but it wasn't in the book so I don't care what he said after the fact. I don't mean that in any kind of disrespectful way! It's just the book is the entirety of that story within it's covers and it doesn't have a sequel, so to me, it's completely up to me to decide what happens or doesn't happen. The last page is the last page, and I like that, depending on my mood and things going on in my life, when I think about it over time, I'll have different thoughts about what happened with Clay and his son, and his friends and the whole world.

I might get verbally "shot" for saying this, but if I had my wish, this story would be the next Torchwood mini series. Watch Torchwood: Children of Earth and tell me this wouldn't be AMAZING.

Now I've got to get a new Stephen King book to read (I read this one about a week faster than I thought I would, I sat and read the last 1/3 all night last night and this morning because I just couldn't put it down!!!) Thanks for another exciting amazing escape from my dull life Mr. King!

[pelwan]

I JUST finished this book about 20 minutes ago and loved it. I usually prefer endings that are tidy and wrapped up, but this one fit well with the story. As far as SK saying it worked out in the end, no offense to Uncle Stevie or this forum (I'm a Stephen King lover/fan/nut/addict/junkie/etc), but it wasn't in the book so I don't care what he said after the fact. I don't mean that in any kind of disrespectful way! It's just the book is the entirety of that story within it's covers and it doesn't have a sequel, so to me, it's completely up to me to decide what happens or doesn't happen. The last page is the last page, and I like that, depending on my mood and things going on in my life, when I think about it over time, I'll have different thoughts about what happened with Clay and his son, and his friends and the whole world.

I might get verbally "shot" for saying this, but if I had my wish, this story would be the next Torchwood mini series. Watch Torchwood: Children of Earth and tell me this wouldn't be AMAZING.

Now I've got to get a new Stephen King book to read (I read this one about a week faster than I thought I would, I sat and read the last 1/3 all night last night and this morning because I just couldn't put it down!!!) Thanks for another exciting amazing escape from my dull life Mr. King!

The ending reminded me of how the Sopranos ended. It just felt like it stopped.... Geekgirl - Try "Under The Dome". I enjoyed it...

[JohnDalglish]

I JUST finished this book about 20 minutes ago and loved it. I usually prefer endings that are tidy and wrapped up, but this one fit well with the story. As far as SK saying it worked out in the end, no offense to Uncle Stevie or this forum (I'm a Stephen King lover/fan/nut/addict/junkie/etc), but it wasn't in the book so I don't care what he said after the fact. I don't mean that in any kind of disrespectful way! It's just the book is the entirety of that story within it's covers and it doesn't have a sequel, so to me, it's completely up to me to decide what happens or doesn't happen. The last page is the last page, and I like that, depending on my mood and things going on in my life, when I think about it over time, I'll have different thoughts about what happened with Clay and his son, and his friends and the whole world.

I might get verbally "shot" for saying this, but if I had my wish, this story would be the next Torchwood mini series. Watch Torchwood: Children of Earth and tell me this wouldn't be AMAZING.

Now I've got to get a new Stephen King book to read (I read this one about a week faster than I thought I would, I sat and read the last 1/3 all night last night and this morning because I just couldn't put it down!!!) Thanks for another exciting amazing escape from my dull life Mr. King!

Hi,

Welcome to the MB, and keep posting!

I LOVE your Torchwood idea!

Long days and pleasant nights

[Mark Alan Trimeloni]

I have to admit I would like to see a follow-up to this novel, a short story perhaps <gasp>, covering the days after the reboot to Bobby "G". The character was never fully developed, but while reading the book I started to care for this kid who never got a chance to fully come alive in the novel.

[omm poppa mow mow]

Hi,

Welcome to the MB, and keep posting!

I LOVE your Torchwood idea!

Long days and pleasant nights


Yeah, sure gov-ner...but if any posts come up wanting in the political column...?

[GNTLGNT]

I wish you wouldn't have told me how it really ended Mr. Mod. Takes out some of the enjoyment I had of the book. Being a pessimist I have a natural born suspicion and at times dislike of "perfectly organized" happy endings. I refer Hoping that it all ended well, not knowing.

You wandered in here thinking a thread titled "The Ending of Cell" wouldn't have spoilers or something that might run afoul of how YOU want things to be? REALLY? Get over yourself, and BTW-how, as member with over 800 posts-don't you know that our Moderator is a lovely lady...MS> Mod....?

[morley]

I wish Stevie told us something more about Rafer =^o^=
I love to think Tom has found him again safe and sound.

[momone53]

I just finished this book yesterday and I must say that I liked the ending. If you've read any number of Uncle Stevie's books you must know that for him, it's usually the journey and not the ending that is most important. He does leave it to his constant reader to think past the last page; he trusts that we are indeed able to come to our own conclusions. I love that about him!

Thankee-sai.

[Tonybaloney36]

I like the way Stephen left the constant reader to use his/her own imagination on this ocassion. Like somebody else said on this thread, I usually prefer a neat ending, but I was totally comfortable with this. I was totally convinced that the reboot worked, but even if Ms Mod hadn't confirmed this was Stephen's intention (thanks Ms Mod), that is how the book ended for me and that is the beauty of it. It is, after all, just a story, and stories really are what you take from them aren't they? Those of you that prefer a more pessimistic end, well that can be the end of the story for you and it's just as valid. Pretty darn cool I think!

[Elemeno P]

I just finished this myself. I loved the ending. Although, as I was looking at the time on my audiobook starting to dwindle as I was guessing that Clay was going to put the phone to his ear. I'm was gladly disappointed.

If there was ever a novel that was aching for a sequal.....could you imagine the Man in Black sitting behind a desk with an iphone on his ear. :eek2:

[Alaska Munchkin]

I hated this book! To be fair' maybe I should read it again.

[darej]

Yeah the abrupt ending caught me by surprise, I thought there were still a few more pages to read. The fact that Stephen King told us how it did end, doesnt really change anything. Even the quote could be interpreted. But yes a happy ending would be nice.

[Ronin87]

After reading that book i kinda wondered a bit too. but figurd the reboot was successful to a degree. Good book, was confused in some parts at the end when describing the giant tent building they were in. specifically about window heigths and the foundation level of the building itself...(when the kid fell out of it).. but i wouldn't be surprised if this problem only occured to me. lol.

[cinders]

I have read SK since I was 13 (first book was the stand). I am now 44. I have loved and hated his endings over the years. Lately, I do agree with a previous poster that his stories are about the JOURNEY not a neat, tidy wrapped up ending. I am ok with a bad ending, but mostly, we don't even get that. If you really think about it, after Clay holds the cell to Johnny's ear, a WHOLE additional book/story could keep going from there... and then what globally happens too. We hate quick and cheap wrap ups, but we also crave them.

For me, the issue I had with not "wrapping up" an end, was this: In the beginning of the story, the narrator (or clay- I don't remember who it was at that point- if it was clay, I think it portends a happy ending) talks about the incident being called by Normies, the "pulse". It then says that, later, scientists did not agree with that term for what had happened (implying that some sane humanity did survive to figure out what the heck had happened, and perhaps, prevailed to some extent since they had time to research source of "madness, IMO). Clay did keep using the term "pulse", and Jordan was the computer kid who provided analogies about rebooting, worms, etc. This was to some degree, based on the theory that a pulse of some sort was sent out by rouge personas for possible terrorist attacks. We are then led, during the story, to somewhat believe Jordan's theories about the programming of the phonies, and second, third gen phonies.

Would love to hear all thoughts,

CC

[TheShadowConspiracy]

I thought he was placing the phone to his son's ear.. and.. that's it....

He hoped it would "reboot" his son's brain, but there were no guarantees.

It's a story that I could read another 1,000 pages about... it left me pondering for days what happened to everyone... then... the consequences of killing all those people that, in hindsight, could have been saved. Or, if by chance he had started helping others?

[rikwildknight]

I was thinking, seeing as Cell is written from Clays point of view, maybe when he put the phone to Johnny's ear something went tragically wrong and Clay pulsed himself, hence the story ending so abruptly :ghostface:

Fantastic story, loved it.

[duf70]

Well, it's been a while since I read this book but I remember that the ending felt like it left me hanging, with a lot of hope and a taste of something sweet that was gone after a single bite. It feels a little bit like the ending on The Mist. The ending definitely wouldn't do for a movie, would have to be changed just like Frank Darabont did.

[tenngolfer]

I thought the ending was good. It allowed everyone to use their own imagination for that next step, and depending if your an optimist or pessimist, you had had the freedom to make the ending just the way you want it to end.

[Spideyman]

Stephen King has a message about the ending of cell on the main page of this site.

12:41pm March 24th, 2006:
Regarding Cell...
CELL SPOILER: "Based on the information given in the final third of Cell—I’m thinking about the reversion back toward the norm of the later phone crazies—it seems pretty obvious to me that things turned out well for Clay’s son, Johnny. I don’t need to tell you this, do I?”

-Steve

[kingfanforlife]

Not all of Kings books or short stories have endings and that is what i love about them. I find the harder you think about it the more you will appreciate the endings that he writes. He is not afraid to leave something up for your interpretation. I find it keeps my imagination going and makes me feel more involved in his stories. And if a movie is made for this book I hope they leave the ending the way it is. Just look at The Mist.. the story had an amazing ending and the movie just jacked it all up. Hollywood needs to leave a good thing alone sometimes.

Long days and Pleasant Nights Fellow Constant Readers

[Sealskie]

I personally liked the ending. It ended with hope, like a previous member has said.

[LadyGreyDoom]

I personally liked the ending. It ended with hope, like a previous member has said.

Agreed.
I'm a fan of cliffhanger type endings where I hit that last sentence and go 'what?!?!'. I end up spending hours if not days thinking about what might have happened next and wondering if others thought the same things.

[αλεξάνδρα]

the end was a bit ... abrupt indeed , i guess it gives you the opportunity to imagine the end in your own way , but the truth is that when i finished the book i had already loved the characters and i was so sad i had to stop reading it :/ I kinda missed them :P i always have that after S.K.'s books

[sarge73]

Hard for me to take, I felt Unfulfilled.