Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Viking Press (1983), 526 pages
Description
Fiction. Horror. Mystery. Suspense. HTML: It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her. Arnie's best friend, Dennis, distrusts her�??immediately. Arnie's teen-queen girlfriend, Leigh, fears her the moment she senses her power. Arnie's parents, teachers, and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her. Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of terror. This is the story of a love triangle involving teenage misfit Arnie Cunningham, his new girlfriend, and a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury. Dubbed Christine by her previous owner, Arnie's first car is jealous, possessive�??and deadly
Media reviews
A POSSESSED car? An insanely angry 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine that drives itself around attacking people? This time Stephen King has gone too far, I said to myself as I began to catch the drift of his eighth and latest horror novel, ''Christine.'' This time he's not going to get me the way
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he did in ''The Shining,'' ''The Stand,'' ''Cujo'' and his other maniacal stories. This time he's just going to leave me cold. Show Less
SEVERAL years ago Stephen King published ''Night Shift,'' a collection of short stories that had appeared in magazines before his debut as a novelist. Among them was ''Trucks,'' in which the products of Detroit's auto industry were anthropomorphized and portrayed as barbaric, homicidal and utterly
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antihuman. I recall the piece vividly, because Mr. King made those vehicles - all vehicles - live not only on the page but in my imagination. ''Trucks'' might also have been the inspiration for Mr. King's latest novel. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jseger9000
By all rights, Christine shouldn't work. A haunted car? Are you kidding me?
But it does work and it works very well. King pulls it off the way he makes all his outrageous shockers work. He grounds the supernatural shenanigans firmly in a narrative stocked with believable characters and the attention
Of course, Christine doesn't start the book stalking the streets, looking for prey. In the beginning she is a rusted out wreck, for sale in a weedy yard. Misfit Arnie Cunningham sees her and must buy her. His friend (and our narrator) Dennis Guilder tries to talk him out of it, but is rebuffed.
Arnie hauls Christine to a garage and begins the restoration. Right off the bat, Christine has forced a wedge between Arnie and Dennis. She has also caused an uproar in the staid Cunningham family. And is it Dennis' imagination or is the web of cracks in Christine's windshield shrinking?
Christine works because the killer car is not the sole focus of the tale. At times it could almost be an allegory for addiction as we start with a nice but troubled kid who gets into something beyond his control. At first Christine is actually good for Arnie, he gains self confidence, though friends could see he is heading for trouble. Before long though he is devoting all his time and money on her.
This is a Stephen King tale though, so there is more going on than a teen causing upset within a family. There's a reason Christine's a Fury. She can strike down her enemies with great vengeance. The section of the book where that happens, the second section switches to third person narration and shows what Christine is capable of.
One chapter, in which a bully named Buddy Repperton has a run-in (you’ll pardon the pun) with Christine, is one of the single best pieces Stephen King has ever written. If you can put the book down midway through that twenty page chapter, you are stronger than me.
It’s just so well done. He manages to make Christine creep up not just on Buddy, but on me as a reader as well. When Christine attacks it is like something out of Jaws. Even though you as a reader know what is going to happen, King's writing keeps you glued to the pages, needing to find out how it will happen.
The structure of the book did strike me as strange. It is broken into three large sections. The first and third section are narrated by Dennis Guilder. The second section is a third person omniscient narrator.
I can understand the use of the two narrative styles. Dennis' sections made me feel personally involved and helped to give the story emotional weight. The second section of the book had to be written third person as there is now way Dennis could have known all the details required. So I understand it. But reading the book, it felt... inelegant. If we are reading the book as a record of something Dennis lived through, I wonder if the second section couldn't have been presented in an epistolary format. As if Dennis had pieced this section together from various accounts/newspaper sources/etc.
Oh well. The narrative shifting aside, this was an excellent use of King's strengths. He managed to pack in the tension and scares of a horror story and invest them with the believability and depth of feeling to make me care about what would happen.
He came to me with an idea that I never thought would fly and proved me wrong. Excellent book. Recommended.
But it does work and it works very well. King pulls it off the way he makes all his outrageous shockers work. He grounds the supernatural shenanigans firmly in a narrative stocked with believable characters and the attention
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to every-day detail that gives me the ability to believe that a possessed '58 Plymouth Fury can drive on its own, hunting its enemies.Of course, Christine doesn't start the book stalking the streets, looking for prey. In the beginning she is a rusted out wreck, for sale in a weedy yard. Misfit Arnie Cunningham sees her and must buy her. His friend (and our narrator) Dennis Guilder tries to talk him out of it, but is rebuffed.
Arnie hauls Christine to a garage and begins the restoration. Right off the bat, Christine has forced a wedge between Arnie and Dennis. She has also caused an uproar in the staid Cunningham family. And is it Dennis' imagination or is the web of cracks in Christine's windshield shrinking?
Christine works because the killer car is not the sole focus of the tale. At times it could almost be an allegory for addiction as we start with a nice but troubled kid who gets into something beyond his control. At first Christine is actually good for Arnie, he gains self confidence, though friends could see he is heading for trouble. Before long though he is devoting all his time and money on her.
This is a Stephen King tale though, so there is more going on than a teen causing upset within a family. There's a reason Christine's a Fury. She can strike down her enemies with great vengeance. The section of the book where that happens, the second section switches to third person narration and shows what Christine is capable of.
One chapter, in which a bully named Buddy Repperton has a run-in (you’ll pardon the pun) with Christine, is one of the single best pieces Stephen King has ever written. If you can put the book down midway through that twenty page chapter, you are stronger than me.
It’s just so well done. He manages to make Christine creep up not just on Buddy, but on me as a reader as well. When Christine attacks it is like something out of Jaws. Even though you as a reader know what is going to happen, King's writing keeps you glued to the pages, needing to find out how it will happen.
The structure of the book did strike me as strange. It is broken into three large sections. The first and third section are narrated by Dennis Guilder. The second section is a third person omniscient narrator.
I can understand the use of the two narrative styles. Dennis' sections made me feel personally involved and helped to give the story emotional weight. The second section of the book had to be written third person as there is now way Dennis could have known all the details required. So I understand it. But reading the book, it felt... inelegant. If we are reading the book as a record of something Dennis lived through, I wonder if the second section couldn't have been presented in an epistolary format. As if Dennis had pieced this section together from various accounts/newspaper sources/etc.
Oh well. The narrative shifting aside, this was an excellent use of King's strengths. He managed to pack in the tension and scares of a horror story and invest them with the believability and depth of feeling to make me care about what would happen.
He came to me with an idea that I never thought would fly and proved me wrong. Excellent book. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Christine, like most of Stephen King's writing, works better in concept than content. His stories and characters tend to enter popular legend, so that the general reading public think they know what his novels are about, even if they have never opened the book. Film adaptations are usually where
The chapters in the middle of the novel where Christine does her stuff, getting revenge and then magically regenerating, are the most gripping, and King is said to have written that part first. The build up and the supernatural revelations are not as strong, perhaps because the characters are little more than templates - LeBay's history is delivered like a 'one dark and stormy night' ghost story around a campfire, and Arnie is little more than a stereotypical loner nerd, complete with glasses, good grades and acne. In fact, I was rather hoping Christine would run him over, and that was before Le Bay took up residence. Also, the wishful thinking subplot of all-American teenage beauty Leigh Cabot falling for geeky Arnie is just that on King's part, wishful thinking, and the character is ridiculously flimsy.
Christine is most definitely one of King's crowning inventions, like Cujo the rabid dog. I can't understand the appeal of 1950s American cars - the Plymouth Fury is a cartoonish joke, if a very distinctive image - but the anthropomorphism of that great big red and white showboat is written in a spirit of malice and mischief by King.
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non-readers get their potted synopses, which is why Christine is known as the 'evil car' story. King's novel is actually more of a ghost/body possession gimmick, where the car's late owner is the evil spirit in control of both Christine and Arnie Cunningham, the teenage nerd who takes on the 1958 Plymouth Fury. I'm not sure which interpretation I prefer - the evil car of the film, or the malevolent haunting of the book. Is Christine 'an ordinary car that had somehow become the dangerous stinking dwelling-place of a demon', or 'a weird manifestation of Le Bay's personality, a hellish haunted house that rolled on Goodyear tyres'? The chapters in the middle of the novel where Christine does her stuff, getting revenge and then magically regenerating, are the most gripping, and King is said to have written that part first. The build up and the supernatural revelations are not as strong, perhaps because the characters are little more than templates - LeBay's history is delivered like a 'one dark and stormy night' ghost story around a campfire, and Arnie is little more than a stereotypical loner nerd, complete with glasses, good grades and acne. In fact, I was rather hoping Christine would run him over, and that was before Le Bay took up residence. Also, the wishful thinking subplot of all-American teenage beauty Leigh Cabot falling for geeky Arnie is just that on King's part, wishful thinking, and the character is ridiculously flimsy.
Christine is most definitely one of King's crowning inventions, like Cujo the rabid dog. I can't understand the appeal of 1950s American cars - the Plymouth Fury is a cartoonish joke, if a very distinctive image - but the anthropomorphism of that great big red and white showboat is written in a spirit of malice and mischief by King.
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LibraryThing member yamyamorama
It was one of the first novels that I've read and the most memorable one. Every page of the novel was a big joy.
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This isn't my favorite by a long-shot of King's novels. I'd name The Shining and Salem's Lot as his scariest, It (despite all its many flaws) the most moving and Cujo the most harrowing among those novels by King I've read. Unusual among the King novels I've read because much of it--the first and
But somehow the book doesn't for me hold together as well as other King books I've enjoyed. Maybe because the supernatural rationale doesn't seem as logical as most. I know--possessed cars logical? But I didn't like the connection with LeBay. One review I read on Amazon put a finger on part of why it was unsatisfying. In the book the car magically fixes itself rather than Arnie being the one to fix it. The reviewer said he would have thought it more effective if Arnie had put in the work and not just devotion--that then in a sense Christine would be returning the favor in protecting him. A review (not sure if the same one) also said they thought it a disconnect to give the car a feminine name and personality and then have it possessed by a male ghost. King often fashions his horrors out of real-life. And given the horror is composed of the love affair of a boy and his car, I think those criticisms are on the money.
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third parts--are told first person by Dennis, a friend of Arnie, a teen who will come to possess--and be possessed--by "Christine"--a red Plymouth Fury--a demonic automobile. That might sound cheesy--and that certainly describes the laughably bad movie made from the novel, that evokes nervous laughter in parts which should be moving. The novel is better--readable and affecting in parts, with well-developed characters and an unusual monster in a crazy killer car. I remember finding Arnie's deterioration poignant and scary. But somehow the book doesn't for me hold together as well as other King books I've enjoyed. Maybe because the supernatural rationale doesn't seem as logical as most. I know--possessed cars logical? But I didn't like the connection with LeBay. One review I read on Amazon put a finger on part of why it was unsatisfying. In the book the car magically fixes itself rather than Arnie being the one to fix it. The reviewer said he would have thought it more effective if Arnie had put in the work and not just devotion--that then in a sense Christine would be returning the favor in protecting him. A review (not sure if the same one) also said they thought it a disconnect to give the car a feminine name and personality and then have it possessed by a male ghost. King often fashions his horrors out of real-life. And given the horror is composed of the love affair of a boy and his car, I think those criticisms are on the money.
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LibraryThing member Edward.Lorn
First off, I'm a King fanboy, but I'm a little different from other fanboys. Here's what I think: When King's good, he's the best in the business. When he sucks, he's still readable, but it pisses me the fuck off because I know what he's capable of. Being readable even when he's off his game is how
The beginning of this book gets five stars. I loved the interaction between Dennis and Arnie, and even loved the inclusion of Leigh. That familiar sense of dread that is felt throughout all of Stephen King's beginnings is showcased here. The character development is also quite strong with Christine. We know Arnie is going to go bad, and we hate that. But this is King. We signed up for this ride not to witness a happy ending but to see just how fucked up things are going to get before the final page is flipped.
Then we hit part two like a milk truck sliding across icy tarmac before crashing into your local meeting of Lactose Anonymous. The middle of this book is a low three stars for me. We're ripped out of Dennis's intimate first-person POV and shoved wily-nily up the exhaust pipe of some strange omniscient narrator. Dafuq just happened? I want Dennis back. Gimme back Dennis, you uppity fuckwit! The narrative further devolves into a slasher film wherein the masked killer has been replaced by an unstoppable car. Some of these scenes are riveting, but others fall flat as cardboard, and still others are told completely off camera. It's as if King got tired of describing the killings so he...
Hopped back into Dennis's head for the denouement (aka Part Three). What the farfegnugen? Okay, well, I guess I got my wish. I'm back with Dennis, and I'm enjoying the ride once more. People are still dying, but that's taken a back seat. In fact, the detective, the guy that's a huge part of part two, dies so far off camera I didn't at first realize he'd been run off the road. King breezes so quickly over his death that I thought it was some nobody, some inconsequential lout who just happened to shit in Lebay's cornflakes on one of his off days. But no. It's the main dick. His death is given a single paragraph, and we're back on the road.
While reading this, I continuously came across parts I recalled and then whole sections I don't remember happening, like, at all. Which leads me to believe I only skimmed through this one when I first read it, quite possibly because the middle-way narrator switch upset me so completely. I remembered the shit truck instead of the CAT, like what's in the movie, but I completely forgot about Arnie and Regina's deaths. Do I still classify this as a reread? Ya betcha bald tires I do. And yes, I still enjoy the movie over the book. Carpenter's telling is succinct, but it does sacrifice the amazing character development of Part One, so take your pick. Tight story or some damn fine getting-to-know-you? Remember, though, that the getting-to-know-you sections end at Part Two and never, ever, come back.
Last but not least, I listened to most of this book. If you have the chance, and are into audio books, pick up the Audible edition narrated by Holter Graham. Dude was fantastic.
Notable names:
Trelawney (Carrie and Mr. Mercedes)
In summation: I have no idea why King didn't write this entire book in third person. Having Dennis tell only two parts of this three act play makes zero sense because the book is supposed to be written by Dennis. But Dennis doesn't tell the second act. Faceless, nameless narrator does. My computer doesn't. compute. I threw a rod and cracked my head. If you don't think you'll mind this, I can dig it. You'll probably love this whole book. It's a rad story, and King manages to make a story about a killer car readable and, for the most part, entertaining. And not in a cheesy way, either. That alone is a massive achievement. Not the best thing King's written, but far from the worst.
Now getcher motors running, and get the fuck out my face. Next stop: Pet Sematary... yay?
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he's maintained my fandom while Koontz and Saul eventually lost my monetary involvement. I will still read the latter, but only through NetGallery and library borrows. With every King release, I purchase the audio book for road trips, the ebook for reading, and the hardcover for my collection. When the paperback drops, I buy that for rereads, because I still prefer physical books to digital materials, and I refuse to crack open my first edition hardcovers. So yes, I am a fanboy. But I also know that King has had his shit books. Fortunately, only a third of this book drew a frown down my face. For those of you that want to cry "Hater!" I will explain. Extensively. Spoilers ahead. You have been warned. Then we hit part two like a milk truck sliding across icy tarmac before crashing into your local meeting of Lactose Anonymous. The middle of this book is a low three stars for me. We're ripped out of Dennis's intimate first-person POV and shoved wily-nily up the exhaust pipe of some strange omniscient narrator. Dafuq just happened? I want Dennis back. Gimme back Dennis, you uppity fuckwit! The narrative further devolves into a slasher film wherein the masked killer has been replaced by an unstoppable car. Some of these scenes are riveting, but others fall flat as cardboard, and still others are told completely off camera. It's as if King got tired of describing the killings so he...
Hopped back into Dennis's head for the denouement (aka Part Three). What the farfegnugen? Okay, well, I guess I got my wish. I'm back with Dennis, and I'm enjoying the ride once more. People are still dying, but that's taken a back seat. In fact, the detective, the guy that's a huge part of part two, dies so far off camera I didn't at first realize he'd been run off the road. King breezes so quickly over his death that I thought it was some nobody, some inconsequential lout who just happened to shit in Lebay's cornflakes on one of his off days. But no. It's the main dick. His death is given a single paragraph, and we're back on the road.
While reading this, I continuously came across parts I recalled and then whole sections I don't remember happening, like, at all. Which leads me to believe I only skimmed through this one when I first read it, quite possibly because the middle-way narrator switch upset me so completely. I remembered the shit truck instead of the CAT, like what's in the movie, but I completely forgot about Arnie and Regina's deaths. Do I still classify this as a reread? Ya betcha bald tires I do. And yes, I still enjoy the movie over the book. Carpenter's telling is succinct, but it does sacrifice the amazing character development of Part One, so take your pick. Tight story or some damn fine getting-to-know-you? Remember, though, that the getting-to-know-you sections end at Part Two and never, ever, come back.
Last but not least, I listened to most of this book. If you have the chance, and are into audio books, pick up the Audible edition narrated by Holter Graham. Dude was fantastic.
Notable names:
Trelawney (Carrie and Mr. Mercedes)
In summation: I have no idea why King didn't write this entire book in third person. Having Dennis tell only two parts of this three act play makes zero sense because the book is supposed to be written by Dennis. But Dennis doesn't tell the second act. Faceless, nameless narrator does. My computer doesn't. compute. I threw a rod and cracked my head. If you don't think you'll mind this, I can dig it. You'll probably love this whole book. It's a rad story, and King manages to make a story about a killer car readable and, for the most part, entertaining. And not in a cheesy way, either. That alone is a massive achievement. Not the best thing King's written, but far from the worst.
Now getcher motors running, and get the fuck out my face. Next stop: Pet Sematary... yay?
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LibraryThing member JechtShot
Two words: Haunted car. An unpopular, perpetually picked on boy named Arnie meets the girl of his dreams in the most unlikely of places; along the roadside covered in rust with a broken windshield and a questionable body. Who is this beauty? Why it's Christine, a 1958 Plymouth Fury with a bit of a
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history. This car has seen it's share of murder and Arnie is about to venture on the ride of his life as he finds out how truly possessive this vehicle can be. Not my favorite of King's works, but a fun read nonetheless. Show Less
LibraryThing member jonwwil
I've been trying to remember the first Stephen King book that I read, and I can't quite do it. I remember reading the Dark Tower series when I was in junior high (back when the "series" consisted of a whopping two books), and I'm pretty sure that wasn't my first King experience. It may have been
At any rate, the point is that I came to King's work in the late '80s or perhaps as late as 1990, when he was already well into his career and had a substantial backlist. Over the years since then, I've managed to catch up with nearly all of the older titles (yes, I even tracked down an old copy of The Bachman Books that still included Rage). Somehow, Christine managed to slip through the cracks each time. Not that I thought much about it, but if I had to explain why, I'd say I thought the concept of a haunted/possessed car seemed a little thin to carry a whole novel. Recently, though, a paperback copy found its way into my hands, and I figured it was finally time to give it a go.
You'd think that I would have learned over time not to get too caught up in what a King book is ostensibly about, and just to sit back and trust him to take me on a ride. If I hadn't before, I have now. Yes, boiled down to its most basic plot point, this book is about a haunted/possessed car with evil intent, but, as is always the case, there's so much more to the story. It's really about relationships--evolving childhood friendships, first loves, parents and their teenage children, etc. The car is just the engine that drives it, if you will. That part of the book is fun, but the real heart lies in the rest. You could take Christine and all the supernatural elements completely out and still have a compelling story about outcast Arnie (Christine's owner) as he comes into his own, his cool friend Dennis (our once and future narrator), and Leigh (the Girl), not to mention their parents. I really enjoyed it.
Of course, coming to it at this point, I was struck by some comparisons to other King novels. The first and easiest is Carrie, of course, with Arnie being her spiritual sibling--misunderstood, picked on, cast out, both come into a power that they use to lash out at their enemies. It also brought to mind Apt Pupil, when Todd Bowden, like Arnie, finds an object of obsession that brings about a spiral into madness and destruction. And there's also the aforementioned The Eyes of the Dragon, in which, like Arnie, Prince/King Thomas is mostly a decent-hearted youth who finds himself as an instrument of evil that's far beyond his control or comprehension. I think that's kind of an interesting look at the way King explores similar themes that obviously fascinate him.
Looking over King's oeuvre, I'm pretty sure the only other one I've missed to this point is Dolores Claiborne (although I have seen most of the movie). I imagine I'll be picking that one up at some point as well.
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Misery (which I remember consuming in one fevered day and night after seeing the movie in the theater) or Pet Sematary, or it may have been The Dark Half. The Eyes of the Dragon is also a possibility, but I don't think so--I'm pretty sure it was a more mainstream horror offering.At any rate, the point is that I came to King's work in the late '80s or perhaps as late as 1990, when he was already well into his career and had a substantial backlist. Over the years since then, I've managed to catch up with nearly all of the older titles (yes, I even tracked down an old copy of The Bachman Books that still included Rage). Somehow, Christine managed to slip through the cracks each time. Not that I thought much about it, but if I had to explain why, I'd say I thought the concept of a haunted/possessed car seemed a little thin to carry a whole novel. Recently, though, a paperback copy found its way into my hands, and I figured it was finally time to give it a go.
You'd think that I would have learned over time not to get too caught up in what a King book is ostensibly about, and just to sit back and trust him to take me on a ride. If I hadn't before, I have now. Yes, boiled down to its most basic plot point, this book is about a haunted/possessed car with evil intent, but, as is always the case, there's so much more to the story. It's really about relationships--evolving childhood friendships, first loves, parents and their teenage children, etc. The car is just the engine that drives it, if you will. That part of the book is fun, but the real heart lies in the rest. You could take Christine and all the supernatural elements completely out and still have a compelling story about outcast Arnie (Christine's owner) as he comes into his own, his cool friend Dennis (our once and future narrator), and Leigh (the Girl), not to mention their parents. I really enjoyed it.
Of course, coming to it at this point, I was struck by some comparisons to other King novels. The first and easiest is Carrie, of course, with Arnie being her spiritual sibling--misunderstood, picked on, cast out, both come into a power that they use to lash out at their enemies. It also brought to mind Apt Pupil, when Todd Bowden, like Arnie, finds an object of obsession that brings about a spiral into madness and destruction. And there's also the aforementioned The Eyes of the Dragon, in which, like Arnie, Prince/King Thomas is mostly a decent-hearted youth who finds himself as an instrument of evil that's far beyond his control or comprehension. I think that's kind of an interesting look at the way King explores similar themes that obviously fascinate him.
Looking over King's oeuvre, I'm pretty sure the only other one I've missed to this point is Dolores Claiborne (although I have seen most of the movie). I imagine I'll be picking that one up at some point as well.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Stephen King's classic horror tale of a sinister red-and-white '58 Plymouth Fury. I read this one while I was starting off on vacation, figuring, hey, Stephen King is traditional reading on airplanes, right? And it did fit the bill just about perfectly, being sufficiently absorbing without being
I keep mentally comparing it to the miscellaneous assortment of other King novels I've read. It's certainly more intelligent than Cell, which was the last King novel I read on an airplane. There's some interesting thematic stuff about cars and what they represent to teenagers that, while it's not exactly subtle and sort of fades away in favor of more straightforward horror/thriller elements by the end, still adds a little bit of welcome complexity. It's not nearly as creepy as works like It, though, even if the basic premise is a good one for a horror story, cars being the ubiquitous and often deeply important things they are. And while it's a little longer than it probably needs to be, it at least lacks the out-of-control bloat of later King novels, like The Stand.
Anyway. Good vacation book. One of these days, maybe I should see the movie.
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particularly demanding. I keep mentally comparing it to the miscellaneous assortment of other King novels I've read. It's certainly more intelligent than Cell, which was the last King novel I read on an airplane. There's some interesting thematic stuff about cars and what they represent to teenagers that, while it's not exactly subtle and sort of fades away in favor of more straightforward horror/thriller elements by the end, still adds a little bit of welcome complexity. It's not nearly as creepy as works like It, though, even if the basic premise is a good one for a horror story, cars being the ubiquitous and often deeply important things they are. And while it's a little longer than it probably needs to be, it at least lacks the out-of-control bloat of later King novels, like The Stand.
Anyway. Good vacation book. One of these days, maybe I should see the movie.
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LibraryThing member Carol420
You will be very careful how you treat your car after reading this. It is a pity that no one writes like this horror anymore. Even Stephen King himself. "Christine" is a perfect round-the-camp-fire story with chilling moments, incredibly real characters and a sad, very sad feeling washing over you.
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It is a classic horror story. 5 bright, shiny stars! Show Less
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
"Brand-new she was. Had the smell of a brand-new car, and that's about the finest smell in the world."
He considered.
"Except maybe for pussy."
I was 13 or 14 when I first read this book, and that quote just killed my young adolescent mind. And it never left my mind in the 30 plus years since...
This
And those last two lines:
His single-minded purpose.
His unending fury.
whoa...
He considered.
"Except maybe for pussy."
I was 13 or 14 when I first read this book, and that quote just killed my young adolescent mind. And it never left my mind in the 30 plus years since...
This
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book is still haunting! I think the combination of old time rock lyrics and the classic car elements just totally works together! Add a little bit of evil and va la! Christine! Fun to re read after all these years!And those last two lines:
His single-minded purpose.
His unending fury.
whoa...
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LibraryThing member buffalogr
Haunted car? Pimply faced high schooler buys a 20 year old car and they fall for each other. Told from the perspective of his friend, the book keeps you in suspense...all through. Even when the discussion wanders to high school things, like chess club and football, you're wondering what Christine
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(the car) is doing next. When you're pretty sure something is wrong with the car, it does something else that makes you wonder. Glad my high school car wasn't haunted. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jenn.S
This was one of the first books I read by King and immediately loved his style. Complete pictures are drawn in the imagination with just a few lines. You don't spend half the chapter just getting flooded with details unimportant to the story. King grabs your attention and keeps you wanting more.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
This book is such an old and familiar favorite that it's hard to put a review together for some reason. This latest reading is either number 3 or 4 (probably) and while I remembered most of it, there was enough missing to give me some nice little jolts along the way (especially in the final garage
When it first came out I was 15 and it was the 3rd or 4th King book I read. I remember a lot of disdain over it not just because he was a "cheesy horror writer", but because the damn thing was about a haunted car. How hokey, right? Well in lesser hands it might have been. Putting it another way, Christine herself was just a vehicle for a larger, more poignant story (groan at the pun if you must).
Like everything else he writes, Christine is about friendship and the many ways it can be threatened. The friendship at the nucleus of the novel is Dennis and Arnies's. In just about the best prologue I've ever read, Dennis explains a few things about the story he's going to relate, and also tells us about being friends with Arnie. At the opposite end of the book, in the epilogue, he says that while he thought about ditching his loser buddy, he never did because he needed Arnie to make him, Dennis, better. Between the ant farms, schlock horror movies, tree-forts, acne and mustard on Wonderbread sandwiches, there was real affection there. Later Dennis admits it was love. In my review for Duma Key I remarked that the narrative pulled me along, but I also dreaded it. Christine is the same way.
At 350 pages, here's what I noted - Christine's killing spree is the least interesting part of the book for me. It's the indirect destruction that makes the story. Thinking about Dennis and Arnie and their friendship, now in its death throes. Arnie and his parents' somewhat unhealthy, but functioning, family unit is also in shambles. Then there's Arnie and Leigh; what could have been is more painful that what truly was. Lastly, Arnie and Christine, under a few layers of delusion Arnie knows what she's doing to him. He's not surprised when LeBay shows up to cruise. He wants out, but she won't let him.
Dennis does what he can, but in the end Christine has her way. We aren't given explanations; her malevolence just is like the moon. Dennis himself is an unlikely teenager; thoughtful, modest, supportive, but makes for a good hero. He's likable, decisive and has a good heart. People naturally turn to him to help protect Arnie and he almost takes up his Knight persona without complaint. Was his football injury Christine's doing? The way things spiraled out of control while he was sidelined sure makes it seem like it. It was funny that he ended up a teacher, it's like a tic with King, making everyone a teacher.
The supporting cast is perfectly pitched. We have Arnie & Dennis's families; Dennis's definitely the more average clan complete with a mildly antagonistic sibling relationship (I think King was fantasizing his perfect relationship there), while Arnie's hyper-competitive mother Regina rules hers in a take-no-prisoners kind of way which does not bode well. Dennis is a BMOC and always coming to Arnie's side to fight his tormentors. The name Buddy Repperton is a hard one to forget. He encapsulates the perfect teenage, American thug. Hard drinking, hard driving, domineering and dull-witted. Arnie stood no chance, but managed to stay alive with Dennis to help. Once Christine decided to pitch in though, the tables were most thoroughly turned. In one of the best set up scenes in the book, she stalks Buddy like a tiger, moves in for the kill and then like many a cat, plays with him a while before finishing him off. The emotional tension of those lights in his rear-view mirror is almost unbearable, but in a delicious way. Buddy is such a villain that we want him gone, even if it's Christine doing the getting. Even crusty old Will Darnell grows on you despite your better judgment.
On the surface it might seem a silly tale, a haunted car, whoopee; but this is one of King's most emotional and sympathetic novels and well worth reading even if you don't believe in DIY car restoration.
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scene).When it first came out I was 15 and it was the 3rd or 4th King book I read. I remember a lot of disdain over it not just because he was a "cheesy horror writer", but because the damn thing was about a haunted car. How hokey, right? Well in lesser hands it might have been. Putting it another way, Christine herself was just a vehicle for a larger, more poignant story (groan at the pun if you must).
Like everything else he writes, Christine is about friendship and the many ways it can be threatened. The friendship at the nucleus of the novel is Dennis and Arnies's. In just about the best prologue I've ever read, Dennis explains a few things about the story he's going to relate, and also tells us about being friends with Arnie. At the opposite end of the book, in the epilogue, he says that while he thought about ditching his loser buddy, he never did because he needed Arnie to make him, Dennis, better. Between the ant farms, schlock horror movies, tree-forts, acne and mustard on Wonderbread sandwiches, there was real affection there. Later Dennis admits it was love. In my review for Duma Key I remarked that the narrative pulled me along, but I also dreaded it. Christine is the same way.
At 350 pages, here's what I noted - Christine's killing spree is the least interesting part of the book for me. It's the indirect destruction that makes the story. Thinking about Dennis and Arnie and their friendship, now in its death throes. Arnie and his parents' somewhat unhealthy, but functioning, family unit is also in shambles. Then there's Arnie and Leigh; what could have been is more painful that what truly was. Lastly, Arnie and Christine, under a few layers of delusion Arnie knows what she's doing to him. He's not surprised when LeBay shows up to cruise. He wants out, but she won't let him.
Dennis does what he can, but in the end Christine has her way. We aren't given explanations; her malevolence just is like the moon. Dennis himself is an unlikely teenager; thoughtful, modest, supportive, but makes for a good hero. He's likable, decisive and has a good heart. People naturally turn to him to help protect Arnie and he almost takes up his Knight persona without complaint. Was his football injury Christine's doing? The way things spiraled out of control while he was sidelined sure makes it seem like it. It was funny that he ended up a teacher, it's like a tic with King, making everyone a teacher.
The supporting cast is perfectly pitched. We have Arnie & Dennis's families; Dennis's definitely the more average clan complete with a mildly antagonistic sibling relationship (I think King was fantasizing his perfect relationship there), while Arnie's hyper-competitive mother Regina rules hers in a take-no-prisoners kind of way which does not bode well. Dennis is a BMOC and always coming to Arnie's side to fight his tormentors. The name Buddy Repperton is a hard one to forget. He encapsulates the perfect teenage, American thug. Hard drinking, hard driving, domineering and dull-witted. Arnie stood no chance, but managed to stay alive with Dennis to help. Once Christine decided to pitch in though, the tables were most thoroughly turned. In one of the best set up scenes in the book, she stalks Buddy like a tiger, moves in for the kill and then like many a cat, plays with him a while before finishing him off. The emotional tension of those lights in his rear-view mirror is almost unbearable, but in a delicious way. Buddy is such a villain that we want him gone, even if it's Christine doing the getting. Even crusty old Will Darnell grows on you despite your better judgment.
On the surface it might seem a silly tale, a haunted car, whoopee; but this is one of King's most emotional and sympathetic novels and well worth reading even if you don't believe in DIY car restoration.
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LibraryThing member lindzjphil
Trip down memory lane....I first read this book in my twenties. Now in my forties and it has not lost any of its magic. Story of Arnie, the outcast teenager and his love triangle with leigh cabot and Christine, the car. Arnie is sold the '58 ford car by Roland Lebay. However, what follows changes
Just brilliant. So enjoyed re-reading this book and loved every minute of it. King shows how "kids are the downtrodden class." It encompasses so many themes about being a teenager: falling in love, teenage angst but on a much deeper and sinister level.
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Arnie's life as the car and Lebay take over his life body and soul. Christine is a formidable lover and does not want to lose Arnie at any cost...even if that means killing for him. Just brilliant. So enjoyed re-reading this book and loved every minute of it. King shows how "kids are the downtrodden class." It encompasses so many themes about being a teenager: falling in love, teenage angst but on a much deeper and sinister level.
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LibraryThing member cbilbo
When I read this book, I was dating a guy with an Apache truck. After this book, I refused to ride in the truck for a week.
Some say this was a little long winded. I say, go write your own book, then lets see who is the better author! Who would ever come up with a concept of a car coming to life,
I loved this book. It was a great read back in 1990 when I read it. I think this book was my second Stephen King novel to read. I would suggest it to anyone!
Some say this was a little long winded. I say, go write your own book, then lets see who is the better author! Who would ever come up with a concept of a car coming to life,
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have feelings, then kill off people who betray it? I'll tell you, a sick and twisted man, Stephen King!I loved this book. It was a great read back in 1990 when I read it. I think this book was my second Stephen King novel to read. I would suggest it to anyone!
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LibraryThing member benuathanasia
I thought I knew what to expect from this book. I thought I knew the overall plot - Christine, a sentient car, becomes a homicidal vehicle. It's so much more than that. I'm rather shocked at the amount of depth given to the characters, the development of personalities, the unfolding of the plot,
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the subtle nuances...it's somewhat incredible. Show Less
LibraryThing member bekkil1977
I know a lot of SK fans, and SK himself, don't like "Christine", but I do. Dennis is a cool kid in high school: he plays football, has a hot cheerleader girlfriend. He does however have a nerdy best friend named Arnie. Arnie falls in love with a 1958 Plymouth Fury he sees parked in front of a
And looking to kill.
I think I liked this one so much because I love cars, and always assume they have personalities. Of course I hope my cars' personalities aren't quite as homicidal as Christine's!
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house. Dennis tries to talk him out of buying it, seeing that it's a complete wreck, but Arnie is insistent. His parents are pissed that he made a decision without consulting him, but Arnie is defiant. He goes to work restoring Christine, and before long (in fact, it's *too* short a period of time...) Christine is back to her original splendid glory. And looking to kill.
I think I liked this one so much because I love cars, and always assume they have personalities. Of course I hope my cars' personalities aren't quite as homicidal as Christine's!
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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
One of the most satisfying horror novels I've read in some time, King has perfect pacing here, and creates a wonderful villain in the classic old car, Christine. The voices in the work are pitch perfect, and the suspense is near constant. Aspects of the work--technology, slang, etc.--are of course
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dated, but the details serve up an all too realistic time and place just the same. On the whole, I enjoyed nearly ever minute of this--the masterful mix of horror, suspense, and humor bring the story to full life, and it's a wonderful ride. Absolutely recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member shrubbery
Silly, overwritten stuff; it's a testament to King's storytelling abilities that I managed to finish.
LibraryThing member cameronl
Never really grabbed me. I found the story slow and dull, and not particularly terrifying. No where near as good as some of his other stuff. I was tempted to put it down several time.
LibraryThing member paulinaturnsthepages
I personally did like the book. Stephen King is an amazing (AMAZING) horror writer and I enjoy most of his works. It a bit slow but, if you read more it becomes fast paced. This book is a thriller about a 1950 cherry red Plymouth Fury who is possessed. I know but King really pulls it off. I'm a
Must have?
Depends, if you like Herbie or posessed cars...
No, really it's a great read for about anyone.
- Paulina
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Herbie fanatic and I thought this book was like MADE FOR ME! There is times of love, times of suspense, and times of pure crazy. Christine takes geeker Arnie to care all about the car and is very jealous when he kisses Leigh. This book is very driven dangerous Christine and beautiful Leigh butt heads when geeky Arnie and football buff Dennis do. It's interesting and quite a read.Must have?
Depends, if you like Herbie or posessed cars...
No, really it's a great read for about anyone.
- Paulina
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LibraryThing member Anagarika-Sean
This is one more reason King is one of my favorite authors.
LibraryThing member Chellsway
I found this to be one of Stephen Kings less descriptive novels. He quickly set the scenes characters and the plot and got things moving quickly. So quickly in fact that once it grabs a hold of you buckle up and enjoy your ride along with Arnie and Christine.I have read many of Mr. Kings works
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however only a few have I read more then once. This is one that I have. Other Stephen King books getting the second and some third reads are Salems Lot Firestarter Misery and The Shining. Mr. King is a wonderful author though at times he can get extremely descriptive.If you like horror then don't forget to read this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member csweder
I read this before I was 16, and I must be honest, I was just a little afraid I would have a car that would act like Christine did....thankfully my need for speed overtook that fear.
LibraryThing member srboone
Scary and compelling. Read it non-stop one weekend .A top 10 King for me.
Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Nominee — Fantasy Novel — 1984)
Original language
English
Original publication date
1983-04-29
Physical description
526 p.; 6.46 inches
ISBN
0670220264 / 9780670220267
UPC
051488032991
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