Cell Ending

[pagantallie]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say I have just finished reading Cell and was left feeling a little miffed by the end. Is Johnny ok? I felt cheated as I felt Clay was so close too getting his son back....Does anyone else feel the same? I have to say, as a Big SK fan I have read over 20 of his novels and I haven't felt like this about any of them.:sad: I have so many unanswered questions lol..

If they make a movie out of this one then i hope they somehow get SK to write the screenplay and perhaps tell us what happens next........

[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

[Drawn to Ka-tet]

Be careful what you wish for.

When the Mist was written for the big screen the ending was changed and it freaked a lot of people out!

Of course, I liked it but that's just me.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[mistydawn]

I think the ending is very good~~~~it is so Stephen King. :love: Not everything has to be printed in 3ft, tall letters, does it? :laugh:

[JRLauer]

Be careful what you wish for.

When the Mist was written for the big screen the ending was changed and it freaked a lot of people out!

Of course, I liked it but that's just me.

Long days and pleasant nights.

That was a shocking ending to say the least, but it was a good ending nonetheless. I thought about it for the next two days after I saw that movie, and that's one of the main things movie makers want you to do. They want you to remember it and talk about it long after the movie is over with.

[cellfan1992]

i thought it was a great ending.

thought i hope they dont change to much of the book if they turn it in to a movie:down:

[tillyn]

Well that's Sai King for ya eh. Leave them asking for more.:smile2:

[michal]

I think the ending is very good~~~~it is so Stephen King. :love: Not everything has to be printed in 3ft, tall letters, does it? :laugh:

Totally agree. If there's something that can make a good story bad is an over sweet Happy Ending with joyful happiness and They Lived Happily Ever After. I mean - let's keep it interesting.

[makutakyle]

Be careful what you wish for.

When the Mist was written for the big screen the ending was changed and it freaked a lot of people out!

Of course, I liked it but that's just me.

Long days and pleasant nights.

i think the movie ending to The Mist
was terrible. it could have been done much better. but the rest of it was great!!

all hail me!!

[Robbi]

I just finished Cell a couple of days ago as well. I didn't mind the ending, it does leave you with the exact same feeling that The Mist short story has. Wondering what becomes of everything and everyone after it all settles down. But with a feeling of hope. (For the optimists among us.) I think The Raggedy Man is a creepy character!

[Speedygi81]

I liked the ending. SK didn't need to spell it all out for us and if he did, it wouldn't be as good I think.

[pagantallie]

i think the movie ending to The Mist
was terrible. it could have been done much better. but the rest of it was great!!

all hail me!!

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't want them to change the ending, maybe just add a little bit on lol..OK, so Steve says we should have worked out that the reboot worked without him literally explaining it but He's killed off so many of my favourite characters and that got me wondering whether Johnny had gone the same way as Tad, Georgie and Gage...

for the record, The Mist left me thinking about the end for weeks. To shoot your son in the head 2 minutes before the cavalry arrive...:sad:

[nomadnyc]

I just finished Cell a couple of days ago as well. I didn't mind the ending, it does leave you with the exact same feeling that The Mist short story has. Wondering what becomes of everything and everyone after it all settles down. But with a feeling of hope. (For the optimists among us.) I think The Raggedy Man is a creepy character!

I agree. At first the ending left me wanting more but the more I thought about I felt it was fitting.

Very similar to The Mist ending except that I felt that the Mist left with more of questions as to what really becomes of everyone where Cell kind of implies (at least in my opinion) that things turn out OK.

[sgmonje]

I used to get frustrated by the whole "Lady or the Tiger?"-esque ending but Steve made it grow on me. I really enjoyed the ending :)

[kandy]

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

Yes you do! It's called closure! The phone crazies had "changed" but it was explained as a different mutation than originally sent out. Also, some of the crazies had reverted back to fighting (that last couple were levitated 10 feet above the ground, a first!). IF on the final draft the cell even worked, which was one of Clay's concerns- or if it had a different strain of "craziness" so to speak, I'd like to know where it took Clay and Johnny Gee. And one more thing! Was 3 times a charm?? What's the "rest of the story?"

I always look forward to a new King book and/or movie! But there were too many unanswered questions for me.... some closure would be nice.

[Robster]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say I have just finished reading Cell and was left feeling a little miffed by the end. Is Johnny ok? I felt cheated as I felt Clay was so close too getting his son back....Does anyone else feel the same? I have to say, as a Big SK fan I have read over 20 of his novels and I haven't felt like this about any of them.:sad: I have so many unanswered questions lol..

If they make a movie out of this one then i hope they somehow get SK to write the screenplay and perhaps tell us what happens next........

No I absolutely do not agree with you. IMO the ending is perfect. What more do you want? There are only two ways the ending can go, you know what they are.

The chances of full recovery are extremely remote but a father must try and retain hope. If they tack on a happy ending they will ruin the story.

[jchanic]

I always objected to the ending of The Lady and the Tiger, too. Two possibilities, but which one was chosen? I want the author to tell me!

John

[Robster]

I always objected to the ending of The Lady and the Tiger, too. Two possibilities, but which one was chosen? I want the author to tell me!

John

I curious. Lets say you are now SK how would you have ended it?

[jchanic]

I don't have specifics as to how I'd have ended it. I think I would have had some explanation as to the hows and whys the Pulse was generated, and I would have resolved the questions as to what happens to the people affected.

John

[thebarbster24]

I thought the ending was perfectly fitting for the book but i don't think it would work as well on the screen. I believe they would have to add some sort of closure.
As some have already mentioned, I, too, would have liked to see what happened next to Tom, Jordan and the rest as well as Clay and his son but I'm also sort of glad that SK left us hanging and didn't give us either - a very dark or an overly happy ending.

[Samantha_]

As a reader, for me, there's more than one or two endings.

Given the time of the reboot, Johnny's humanity (so to speak) was probably restored. I'm not as sure he'd be the same, as before the pulse, with all facilities intact; and, that may effect him as he grows up.

Sequel?

That's just my take.

[kevinrodgers90]

"Cell" was a short novel...so I'd love to see a sequel...actually, there are quite a few King novels that are screaming for a sequel! :eek2: Imagine if he started with sequels to "Carrie" and "Salem's Lot" and cranked 'em out in sequence...what a dream!

[ifsogirl88]

I don't have specifics as to how I'd have ended it. I think I would have had some explanation as to the hows and whys the Pulse was generated, and I would have resolved the questions as to what happens to the people affected.

John

I agree! I had the same issues with the book too.

[dantedreams.com]

The ending bothered me at first. It could have been both ways. I guess this way we can have what ever ending we want.

I guess SK says it ended positively. In the back of my mind I am sure he imagined it going bad in the end and was split.

I can totally imagine it going bad... I mean not only his son not getting better but Clay accidentally or on purpose 'pulsing' himself.

A total French/PKD type ending. Oh yeah

[the_constant_reader]

I just finished this about 20 min. ago, at first I was mad, but now that I think about it, I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way. Good book, fast read. I hope the movie stays close to the book. I am usually mad after watching a movie based on a SK book. They never do it justice and end of The Mist movie about gave me a stroke and a heart attack. I wanted to stand and scream like Annie Wilkes at all the others in the theater. "Listen here Mr.Man, that's not the way the COCK - A - DOODIE book ends!!!!!". But I kept my cool and didnt kidnap and hobble the producers or anything.

[wheeler92]

What I dont get, remember him talking about Pixie Light and Dark in the begining, and how Pixie Dark only got her memory earsed because she was beside Pixie Light?

At the end wouldn't that happen to clay since I'm betting he could hear the phone from where hes standing...

[The Outsider]

The movie is supposed to be out in 2010 from what I've heard. And i guarantee that the movie ending, given the vagueness of the book's ending, will be a similarly-dark ending. My guess is, when Clay re-Pulses Johnny, Johnny will go insane-o and kill Clay or something weird like that. Or maybe ol' Hollywood will throw in some crazy plot twist. Who knows these days.

[SereneShadow]

If there's one thing about King's work that bugs me, it's usually the ending of the thing. For some reason I feel like some of those have shot me in the foot. But Cell, for me, had a great ending. I loved the way we don't know how it ends, and how the reader is allowed to use his/her imagination to follow through. Like Robbi said, "The Mist" was like that, too, and I fully enjoyed that as well. (The movie made me scream.)

[ScarecrowJoe]

ya know what, doods? i don't think cell had a happy ending. i know a lot of stuff about computers and they don't always work the same after you fix 'em. and the human brain isn't the same as a computer, anyway. i think that kid's toast, folx.

[JRM]

I honestly didn't think that was the ending to the book. :eek2: I saw there were still about 10 pages left, but as I turned them, I realized it was just an excerpt to Linsey's Story! In a way I felt so robbed. However, after thinking about it, it felt RIGHT, ya know (Unfortunately, I don't think it would translate well on screen -- people will call foul on that)? Such as the ending to the movie adaption of The Mist . . . it just felt RIGHT (well, it was wrong, but you get the idea, lol). BUT, I was not OK with all the other unanswered questions; far too many hows and whys left unanswered.

[Roou*]

yeah i finished the book monts ago and wow was so fast o_o, but i liked lol.. now yeah that left you a open door for the end ;P xD

[rhomnud]

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


No Steve you don't need to tell us anything. But if you've taught us to expect the unexpected from you we're not going to be lulled into a false sense of the expected based on a possible misdirection like phone crazy reversion to the norm. ;-)

[Mark R]

I think the ending is very good~~~~it is so Stephen King. :love: Not everything has to be printed in 3ft, tall letters, does it? :laugh:

Totally agree with this. This is the beauty of a good S.K novel, they always keep you guessing where it is going to go right to the very end.

[Jack Roman]

I listened to the audio book of Cell, and I think I missed something. Can anyone tell me why at the end of the story, Clay dialed 911 and put the phone to Johnny's ear? Also I can't help but notice the name 'Johnny' is the name of characters in several SK books.

[mrblonde]

Just finished Cell....at first I hated the ending, but then I made my own up & I feel better now.
I liked Clay & Tom & Jordan, but the rest left me uninterested.

One thing about the book, and I'm not saying it's a flaw, I'm just saying....

I'm a Dad that has two boys & I'm away from home 3-4 days a week for work. If I was in Boston & my boys were in Maine there would be no Cell Story. The only story would be me on a bike, or a moped or a dirt bike or a rice burner with a shotgun riding to Maine until I found my boys, or their bodies.

[Rand]

One thing about the book, and I'm not saying it's a flaw, I'm just saying....

I'm a Dad that has two boys & I'm away from home 3-4 days a week for work. If I was in Boston & my boys were in Maine there would be no Cell Story. The only story would be me on a bike, or a moped or a dirt bike or a rice burner with a shotgun riding to Maine until I found my boys, or their bodies.


I'm having trouble understanding that statement because the search for his son was what Clay was all about. Is it the lack of him attempting to barrel through non-stop on a two wheeler what's bothering you?

It wouldn't be any consolation, but King might have avoided that (partly) because his was on his second post-apocalyptic novel, and bikes were the main transportation used in the other one.

[mrblonde]

I'm having trouble understanding that statement because the search for his son was what Clay was all about. Is it the lack of him attempting to barrel through non-stop on a two wheeler what's bothering you?

It wouldn't be any consolation, but King might have avoided that (partly) because his was on his second post-apocalyptic novel, and bikes were the main transportation used in the other one.

I understand it was King's story & he didn't want to copy the stand. I was just saying I had to get past the fact blind fear & instinct didn't get Clay on a bike, or in a mini and to screw directly to his boy. Once I suspended that disbelief I loveed it.

[gooferbert]

personally...i like the ambiguity.

[John No Initial Smith]

Although Cell is one of my favourites of Steve's later works, I feel the final third is just a shade too rushed. It's almost as if he had a word count to hit. It's a shame, as the first two thirds are exceptionally involving and scary and terrifyingly plausible. That said, I still hugely enjoy this book.

[Perdissa]

I first read this book when it came out in hardcover. I just read it again. Over this time (between my readings), I became a father. My son is now 2 years old.

I just got to say, the anguish felt by Clay, his need for closure, his damnation of himself to stay behind to find Johnny.. I didn't really appreciate this bit back then, skimming over a lot of the prose; but damn, I feel it so much now it scares me.

[BlunkLaura]

So,wait,listening reversed it for his son then? (according to SK :
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

Having a blonde ,well,not a moment...more like a week !

[ChickenStu]

Personally I found it a massive downer, and it completely messed up my evening. :sad: