Stephen King's Cell

[donbarzini]

Star Wormwood was in one of his short story compilations. In the foreword he admitted that he wrote it shortly after the release of the original "Dawn of the Dead". The earth rode through the tail of a comet and all the dead re-animated. He used the same basic premise for the Story/Movie "Maximum Overdrive". My favorite short stories by him were when he wrote as Bachman.
"The Long Walk" and "The Mist" were the best. The Stand is my favorite novel. But it was a HORRIBLE mini-series. They needed to pick that up on HBO. I think one of the things that makes him popular is his use of the language and they really couldn't convey that on network TV. And the spider ABC used for "It" looked like they borrowed it from the "Gilligan's Island" episode with the homing pigeon.

[kwillia (Premo)]

Originally Posted by bresamil

- a lot like Koontz, whose conspiracy theories have just enough truth to make you lose sleep.

Too true! I distinctly his "nanotechnology" conspiracy story and now I find myself whenever I hear news of the latest ground covered... such as being able to "turn on" or "turn off" frequencies in a room by using nano-robot paint technology.

[bresamil (Premo)]

I think its wrong to make any of his books into movies. They combine characters which loses alot in translation, and the special effects can never equal what I see in my mind when reading his books.

[onebdzee (Premo)]

Originally Posted by bresamil

I never read "Star Wormwood", but I've noticed not explaining is part of his story telling. If he leaves it open our imaginations may be far worse than anything he comes up with, and that's his intent. It just drives me nuts. His books don't always have a bad guy that you get rid of and everything is magically fixed. That's why I want him to lie to me if he has to, but give me closure. His was leads to paranoia and neuroses - a lot like Koontz, whose conspiracy theories have just enough truth to make you lose sleep.

Cell phone rang this morning. Didn't answer it.

And for me it was "The Stand".

IMO....The book "Rose Madder" was the only book of his that didn't leave any questions unanswered....I read that one in about 4 hours(not a very long one)....and it was not his "usual" stuff

[SAHRAB]

Originally Posted by donbarzini

"Cell" disappointed me for two reasons. First, it seemed a re-hash of his short story "Star Wormwood". Second, he never did explain the source of the signal that caused it all. And as far as the ending to the Dark Tower, I loved it. Think Sysyphus rolling the rock up the hill only to have roll down the other side. Roland is gonna have to keep doing it until he gets it right. I don't think he will succeed until his entire "ka-tet" reaches the tower with him. I have a question for the die-hards. What book was it when you first picked up that he was tying everything from "both worlds"? For me it was a combination of "It" and the 3rd in the tower series when he mentions the turtle as a guardian of the beam.

The references to Randall Flagg, the Walking Dude, The Man in Black, that i believe were mentioned briefly in the first book "Gunslinger".
initially i just thought it was another King coincidence, he does alot of cross referencing in his books, Randal Flag in one form or another is in alot of his books, Roland is mentioned in The Stand (briefly), Roland and Flagg both are in the Eye of the Dragon, Hearts In Atlantis is about a guy who's running from The Crimson King, The Crimson King from Insomnia . But when Eddie & Jake get off Blaine (the Pain Mono) and read news articles about Captain Tripps, cinched it.

Think of it in this way: the Dark Tower is a symbol of King all the books he writes, are the worlds that are connected to the dark tower. "The Dark Tower connects all worlds and all worlds are connected to the tower."

[donbarzini]

Another couple in Insomnia were the bald doctors keepsakes from all the dead, and the kid in the stadium where the plane was going to crash. There was also a mention of "Pennywise" in Tommyknockers when they had to go to Derry to buy more batteries. What were your favorite movie adaptations of his works?

[bresamil (Premo)]

Originally Posted by donbarzini

Another couple in Insomnia were the bald doctors keepsakes from all the dead, and the kid in the stadium where the plane was going to crash. There was also a mention of "Pennywise" in Tommyknockers when they had to go to Derry to buy more batteries. What were your favorite movie adaptations of his works?

Hmmmm... probably his smaller books. Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary. The larger tomes don't translate well. Like you said "The Stand" was a pretty poor adaptation. I won't watch "It". I don't know why, I just won't. And "Dreamcatcher" dropped too much essential information.

[donbarzini]

First, he should run, not walk, away from ABC and any other network. He needs to hold out for Premium cable. Most of his books would work much better as a mini-series. Could you see "The Stand" or "The Dark Tower" as a "Soprano's"-style series? You would have to pry me away from the tv.

[Lavendar]

Sorry to bring this back up but I'm new here and just found this. I liked the Cell but hated the ending. It was creepy that something like that could happen even if it is fiction.Have you seen The Dead Zone? Thats not too bad of a series.

[Toxick]

Originally Posted by bresamil

I read it in less than 2 days. I am driving to Maine now to slap him silly.

While you're there, #####slap him one time for me on account of the way the Dark Tower ended.