Stephen King’s career has been a roller coaster of sorts. At first, he was viewed as this huge success, bursting at the seams with popular novels. Then came The Shining, which became a sort of defining novel for him. After that came It, then Carrie, and the rest is history.
One of the things that made The Shining so great was how it explored concepts of madness and possession. For fans of The Shining, this was certainly not a novel you had to forget about. And while King has since dived even deeper into these themes, he has also found a way to blend them with more traditional subject matter. His latest novel, the epistolary novella Cell, continues in this vein, and explores themes of incarceration and mental health through the medium of email.
In fact, this new novel might be King’s most ambitious attempt yet at combining the elements of both his early and late work. And it’s also the first time that he’s written a book entirely in the form of emails.
First, A Brief Recap
You might already be familiar with King’s work, as this is the writer who brought you It, The Shining, and countless other best-sellers. If not, you can always start with The Stand, or the more recent It Chapter Two. These are both massive sellers, garnering over a billion and half and seven-and-a-half million copies worldwide respectively. With so much popularity, you’d think King would want to keep expanding his writing portfolio. Instead, he’s gone back to his roots, writing novels for young and old alike. While he still occasionally dips his toes in the fantasy world, his primary interest now is firmly rooted in psychological thrillers and horror stories.
In any case, here’s a quick recap of what Cell is all about. For years, Stanford Phylander (aka Phyllis Winch) has been held prisoner in an institution for the criminally insane. After a botched escape attempt that left him with a broken leg, she was deemed fit enough to start a new life on the lam. Along with a group of other dangerous felons, she’s now on the run, and has set up camp in a secluded cabin in the woods.
While there’s no clear evidence that she’s actually read any of King’s work, she does have an avid interest in it. And her familiarity with the author might even give her an edge in their rivalry. When the subject of literature comes up, Phylleri winch immediately turns to Coleridge and asks for more Beowulf. And that’s exactly what she gets. Coleridge, for those of you who don’t know, was David Lynch’s favorite English professor, and it was he who introduced the film version of King’s novel, The Shining, to the world. So Phyllan’s knowledge of Beowulf comes from the Professor, making her an expert all-around. Or perhaps even a little bit possessed.
The Novel in Cell
Before we dive into the nitty-gritties, let’s take a quick trip back in time…
Think of an archetypical English literature professor. Chances are, you’ll instantly conjure up an image of John Cleese. Like Professor John Cleese in Monty Python’s famous movie, Life of Brian, Professor Phylleri Winch is probably a lot more knowledgeable than she lets on. She just wants you to think she’s not and therefore, isn’t challenged by you, the student. She knows all about Beowulf and can out-argue you on the topic. She’s passionate about literature, but can also be super-critical when it comes to dissecting a bad book. And what’s more, she’s a really good cook. In fact, she might even teach you to be a little more experimental in the kitchen.
The Rise of the Novel
While King has long been a staple of young adult fiction, it wasn’t until the 21st century that he really started to grow as a writer. One of the reasons for this is the rise of the smart phone. It wasn’t long before everyone started carrying one around, and the market for literary fiction started to undergo a digital revolution.
In 2010, the year King published Skeleton Crew, the number of book sales across all categories fell by 8% compared to the year before. It was the first year in decades that book sales declined, and it wasn’t just a blip on the radar. Since then, the trend has continued, particularly in the case of adult fiction.
Why Email Is The Perfect Platform For A Novel
While the novel might be experiencing a bit of a renaissance, it wasn’t always this way. In fact, it’s been said that the modern era of the novel actually started with the invention of printing. With the invention of movable type in 1447, it became easier to produce and distribute large quantities of literature. In this way, the novel as we know it was born. However, these days, even the most traditional publishers are turning to new and innovative ways to attract readers. One of the most popular and traditional techniques is to put out e-books. E-books offer several advantages, not the least of which is that they’re usually less expensive and more convenient. Plus, the number of people reading e-books is growing every year. In 2020, almost all printed books will have been transformed into e-books.
It’s almost as if digital technology has picked up where brick-and-mortar bookshop left off. While physical bookshops have seen a downturn in recent years, with more and more people turning to e-books, this is clearly not a trend that’s showing any signs of slowing down.
The Nitty-Gritty
Well, now that you’ve all been introduced to Beowulf and learned a bit about English Literature, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty and get to the good stuff. Ready to learn more? Excellent. Then let’s get started.
As mentioned, Cell is an epistolary novella, which simply means that it’s told via a series of letters, emails, and diary entries. It was actually King’s way of exploring the form that he found to be so compelling about The Shining and other novels. When King started to write Cell, he had already been experimenting with letters and emails for a while, especially since the beginning of the decade, but he only really started to explore the potential of these formats in earnest after The Shining and other such projects started to take off. In any event, once again, the story is situated inside the head of a single, female character, Phylleri winch, who we learn is also calling herself, Polly.
This character Polly is a fascinating one, and it’s apparent that King has gone to great lengths to flesh her out. With over 500 pages, Cell is the longest of his novels, and it’s entirely possible that he could’ve gone even longer, had he not cut it off at the half-way mark. What we have here is a fully fleshed-out, three-dimensional character, whose story is one that is as rich as it is complicated. It’s hard to put into words just how much depth and dimension King has given to this one character. She’s not simply the sum of her parts, but rather, her parts are all perfectly integrated, creating something greater than the whole. This is, quite literally, character writing at its finest.