Carrie

I've read some of King's short stories, but this is my first time reading of one of his novels. I was really surprised by the way he told the story. He uses sections for books, reports, testimony, etc. interspersed with individual accounts of what happened. It's based on the supposition that

Show More

telekinesis can be carried as a recessive gene and can manifest itself in young teenage girls who carry it. I expected the book to have a does of horror, but I wasn't expecting the sorrow I felt for Carrie. She lives her life persecuted by her cold, crazy mother and catty high school girls. It's a heartbreaking look at the cruelty people can inflict upon each other.

Show Less

Everyone knows the story of Carrie by now. If you haven't read the book, you've seen one of the movies or, at a minimum been informed as to the basics of the plot by now. For that reason along with some others, whenever looking for the next book to read, I typically passed this one over.

This past

Show More

week I grabbed it as I had decided I neglected this classic long enough.

An important note, the copy I read included a brief introduction by Mr. Stephen King. In this introduction he framed where he was at in life as the author and remembered the two young women he modeled the character of Carrie after. This introduction to me was a very important bridge to the gap between now and when the book was written in the 70's.

Jumping into the story, the plot was exactly as I had expected. King used a mixed method of third person storytelling along with "excerpts" from clinical studies, government investigations and personal accounts of the happenings surrounding the plot of Carrie. This avenue to convey the story to me came a bit of a surprise. At first, it was welcome however toward the end of the book it began to make the plot drag. Even as a short novel it began to feel too long toward the end.

Regardless, I encourage anyone who hasn't read this story to pick it up. It is a wonderful story, and shows the raw talent of a now refined author. The strength of Carrie in my opinion lays solely on the excellent character development used throughout. Having known the plot, it wasn't the story that kept me enthralled. It was the characters. Until the very end I was emotionally involved in them. I hated what they did to her and then felt remorseful as she turned her back on the few people who really seemed to care. I went into the story knowing the ending and still hoped that I was wrong.

Of course I wasn't.

To sum it up, imagine rediscovering your favorite rock band, and then listening to their first indie release. To me, this was Carrie. Unrefined and raw horror, brought to you by one of the best in the business. Give it a read, or a reread as it is worth your time.

Show Less

Even if you've never read this book or seen either of the movie adaptations, the odds are good that you know more or less how it goes: Teenage girl is abused and humiliated by both her religious-nut mother and the popular girls at school. Girl develops telekinetic powers. Everything ends in blood

Show More

and catastrophe on prom night. (And if you diddn't, well, none of that is particularly spoilery, in any case, as King basically tells you right from the beginning how it's all going to end.)

This was King's first novel, and I do think it shows. The writing isn't terribly polished, and the levels of horror and tension are well below the heights that King, at his best, is capable of. Plus, he seems to have conjured up Carrie and her classmates from memories of his own youth in the 50s and 60s, which makes everything feel slightly off for a story supposedly set in 1979.

All that having been said, though, there is something about it that strikes a chord; it certainly resonated with my own painful memories of school bullying. And, although she's really only a very lightly-sketched character, it is impossible not to feel empathy for poor Carrie. So, while this is by no means a great book -- I'd categorize it more as "okay" -- I can understand, I think, how it lodged itself so firmly into popular consciousness and started Stephen King off on his career of being Stephen King.

Show Less

What fun it was to read the very first Stephen King novel - the one that launched this author's illustrious writing career! Thank you, Tabitha King, for literally pulling the original version of this book out of the trash.

I never read this book before nor did I see the movie yet. However, the

Show More

picture of the the "bloody Carrie" (Sissy Spacek of the movie) is kind of iconic of Stephen King's writing. I finally decided to take the plunge and read the book (and will probably also seek out the movie soon).

THere are Stephen King books I like better, but this story is not bad. It certainly was not bad enough to toss. The value of it was King's emerging writing style (horror in a fun kind of way - if there is such a thing). I do not equate King horror with the kind of horror scenes we see in everyday life and grieve over in modern news. His horror always has a supernatural edge, a way of distinguishing from what "could be" to what "really could be".

I think Stephen King has a caring heart and he tries to make a statement in this book. Certainly, religious fanaticism and bullying have not gone away since this book was written in 1974 (almost 40 years ago). Here King takes a stand. He simply says, though his horror story, it's *wrong*!

The story is of Carrie White, daughter of religious fanatic Margaret White, a widow unusually cruel in enforcing religious fervor in her only child. As a result, Carrie is always "different" and ostracized in her high school. Feeling remorse for a particularly distressing situation, Susan Snell, a fellow high school student, decides to give Carrie the opportunity to attend prom. All does not go as planned.

The style of this book is great because it is interspersed with interviews, press clippings, and journal entries in such a way that we readers begin to see this story through many points of view.

I enjoyed this book a lot and could see King's emerging humor (mostly well hidden, but coming through in some scenes - especially the scene with Ms. Desjardin and the assistant principal, Morton). If you find that you like this book, I'd strongly urge you to continue delving into Mr. King's work by reading with his cult classic, The Shining.

Show Less

I’m very open about that fact that I was bullied through the majority of my mandatory school years, starting from about second grade to when I was sixteen and moved away. I should also point out that I was 12 when Columbine happened and I did actually watch the news reports as it unfolded.

Show More

Nothing ever occurred in my school, although I knew people who were suspended over suspected or confirmed hit lists, and that there were bomb threats. And while I’m not a violent person, I did get teased about making my own lists and eventually snapping one day. I’ve also had incidents were I was being tormented in front of teachers or administrators and either the blame would been placed on me or outright ignored.

I bring all of that up because there’s a lot of people I know or heard that they did find comfort in reading Carrie. I’m one of them. It’s not say that everyone who reads this book is going to sit there and say “Yes, this is perfect! I should go kill everyone who’s ever teased!” But I will sit here and say that no, this is what happens when someone is pushed that far and they do snap. And while no one has telekinesis and can wreck that sort of destruction, there are many real life accounts of what happens when teenagers snap when they’ve been pushed too far.

(I wanna stop and point out that in On Writing, King compares Carrie White to Columbine’s Keblod and Harris, which is something I disagree with, since most accounts point out that the shooters were disturbed and bullying wasn’t as big of a factor as initially believed. Carrie is someone who just snapped because of somebody’s incredibly cruel actions after a lifetime of being bullied, not only at school but by her mother as well.)

Carrie White is the hero antagonist. You can’t help but feel sorry for her, to want her to step out and shine and be accepted for once. You want her to get out under her mother’s thumb and be happy. Her whole time spent at prom is so heartbreaking because—whether or not you want to believe Tommy Ross’s friends are being nice to her just because “Okay, well, if we have to” or if they’re actually discovering that “Hey, Carrie’s actually good people.” And then one girl who’s the epitome of what I define as a mean girl has to ruin it because she didn’t get her way. (You have no idea how glad I am I never ran into a Chris Hargensen in school.) And even in death, only a few people regard Carrie as a victim, notably Sue Snell. There’s a line in the various documents that compromise the book’s narration where one of the townspeople say “Well, what if there’s more people like her out there? Who’s going to save us?”, completely casting the blame on the idea of the ‘other.’ She’s not like us, so she’s dangerous.

Which brings me to Sue Snell and Ms. Desjardin. Sue, I find extremely sympathetic because she realizes that she can’t be the bystander anymore and just let Carrie be tormented, even if they only do have one month in school together. It’s played up as Sue’s atonement for the entire book, but I liked that she and Tommy are willing to reach out to this broken girl and at least give her one good memory of high school. I ought to note that as I’ve been rereading all this Stephen King, I’ve been harping on the fact he can’t write young women well. This is an exception, and I attribute a lot of that to his wife for stepping in and helping him with the depiction. Teenage girls are nasty pieces of work; again, something I know too well. Ms. Desjardin is presumably on her own method of atonement, and I love the scene where she calls out all of the other girls for being horrible. I don’t like the fact that she thinks that Carrie deserves to be slapped around and just needs to improve herself. (Just a tangent, but I’ve seen a bit of Rage: Carrie 2—which is a horrible movie for the record…but I liked that they brought back Sue Snell as a high school guidance counselor. Presumably to fulfill the role Ms. Desjardin couldn’t.)

But let’s not ignore the other major factor in what makes Carrie snap: her mother. There are two people in this novel that I just wanted to see get their comeuppance: Chris Hargensen and Margaret White. I mean, I do feel a little sorry for that her husband did rape her, but oh God. Margaret White is what happens when people snap, especially since we really don’t get concrete evidence of why she’s so extremist. There’s hints, but never any real confirmation. And just what she does to Carrie…I think the scene when Carrie insists that she’s going to go to prom is way more powerful than their confrontation at the end. Just because by the end, you know how it’s going to go and Carrie being able to stand up for herself for once, and especially toward the more dominant force in her life more notable. For me at least.

I should also point out that the way the book is structured is kind of odd, alternating between various sources detailing Carrie’s life and the night of the ‘Black Prom’ and studies into psychic activity, with straight narration for the present actions. But it actually works for me, especially when you get the AP Wire of the school blowing up and people are scrambling to figure out what happened. My only real complaint about that is some of the timeline is really off—you find out when Carrie died first, and then it jumps back to her killing Chris or Sue running around or all the townspeople coming out to find out what the hell is going on. It’s not as bad on a reread, but for a first time reader, it would be confusing.

To be very honest, I do feel a more personal connection with the book because of my own experiences. (Which I would argue that finding a personal connection makes a book better.) But that’s exactly what I like about it, and knowing that this is just an extreme example. There’s a quote I’ve heard about having a revenge fantasy such as Carrie being available does provide some catharsis for the people who have gone through that sort of thing. Not that it’s a good thing, but some times you do need the fantasy to prevent from enacting it in the reality.

Show Less

I love it when a culture-pervading novel like this turns out to be so very different - and way better - when you actually read it! Despite the horrendous typos in my Hodder edition, I LOVED this book... in a weird way... I don't think a book's made me think and feel and remember so very much in a

Show More

long time, and reading it was an almost painful experience. Memories of my own hellish high school experiences were dredged up, and I found myself mulling over Carrie's predicament during every idle moment, when I was brushing my teeth or in the shower or driving to work. I didn't really think of it as a horror story at all - I found it achingly sad and it made me angry for every girl like Carrie who's been humiliated all her life. Although you can tell it's King's first novel - it's a little clumsy at times - I loved the way it was built up using academic reports, book extracts, interviews and all sorts of other excerpts alongside the main prose, and I thought the technique of using parentheses to insert little flashes of sharply honest thought was a really clever way of showing how our minds bombard us with ideas and impulses even when we're thinking about something else. A tense and evocative little book that will stay with me for a long time.

Show Less

The story of Carrie's prom night, like the identity of Luke Skywalker's father and the origin of Soylent Green, exists in my brain as part of a prepackaged set of pop cultural facts I've always known but never remember learning about. So finally reading this book felt more like reading a retelling

Show More

of a well-known fairy tale than an original novel that launched Stephen King's career.

In this case, foreknowledge of the plot didn't ruin the book for me. The story's iconic scene happens halfway through the book, so there was more to the plot before and after that than what I knew about. Also, scattered throughout the story are news articles, interviews, and excerpts from other sources that were all written after prom night, which means you're told about every major event before it happens. So the point of the main story is just to fill in the details and show you how it happened from the main characters' points of view.

Even after overcoming all that, I still thought the story was mediocre. Maybe it was a fresh concept when it came out, but now it's a pretty formulaic revenge fantasy. I was pleased to find that there were a few students besides Carrie with some depth, although more of them are the standard jeering bullies that you'd expect to see in this kind of story. The tone is dated, and although that's gives the story a quaint small-town feel at times, the dialogue here doesn't sound like anything a high schooler in any time would say. Also, does every Stephen King book have a crazy religious zealot for an antagonist, or have I randomly only read those ones?

I'm glad I could fill in this pop cultural gap, but I wouldn't say this is one of the better Stephen King books I've read. Certainly it's high of the list of scary coming-of-age stories, though.

Show Less

Not much more I can say about this book. It was heart-pumpingly good. I really got into it. It is an awesome horror novel. I'm glad I decided to read this one out of the other Stephen King books I've got on my list.
Oh and I think what made this more thrilling for me is that my senoir formal is on

Show More

in like 3 weeks so the idea of everything going insane on that night is horrifying. I don't think I thought it through; reading this book now but anyways it is still an awesome book. I would probably read it again if I didn't have such a big list of books to read.

It was pretty imaginative that she could read peoples mind like at the end with Sue and going through her mind like file cabinets. That was an interesting tidbit.
I also thought her mother in the story was conveyed really well and added to the shock horror value of the book.

Although I didn't get scared, my heart started going crazy, like I was in the prom or feeling Carrie. It was intense but awesome.

Show Less

I have FINALLY read ‘Carrie’, Stephen King’s first book. Yes, it was his FIRST book!
Reading a book when you already know the story so well (from the movie) is such a different experience than reading the book and then watching the movie, but it’s even more different when it’s one like

Show More

this. I’ve seen ‘Carrie’ so many times because it’s one of my favorite horror films (not talking about any stupid remake, despite the fact I happen to have the book copy that is the remake movie tie-in. Remakes of good films are blasphemy). The original movie is perfection with Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek and when reading the book, is was VERY hard for me not to get their images out of my mind. It was brilliant casting, for a brilliant story.
When reading this pretty short book (it comes in at basically 300 pages, which is so short, when you compare it to the behemoths of IT and The Stand), you are transported to 1979 immediately by the language, the descriptions of the clothing, and even the comparative style of King’s writing. It’s kind of a treat and a bit of a time warp you are pulled into. It took a bit of getting used to, along with the way King uses different narrative styles; the reader is given reports of the main ‘incident’, as well as character accounts, and intersperses them into the main story. If you didn’t know the ending from seeing the movie, you would have a good idea about a lot of it from these accounts as you go through.
As for the dynamic between Carrie and her hellacious (sorry, have to say it) mother, the interactions are horrific and they make your blood boil and King has given all he can to make the dread and tension so vivid. By writing in Carrie’s ‘thoughts’ we get little peeks into what’s going on in her mind as her powers are getting stronger; you start rooting for the girl who is being bullied, dominated, threatened all her life. You just know that there is no other way for this story to end.
What is most interesting to me now is the contrast with what what acceptable in terms of what kids could get away with (in terms of bullying and hazing) at school, compared to now. That’s a whole other story.
Anyway, I’m glad I finally got to read it as part of a Litsy buddy read. I love the movie so much, and it’s amazing to think that this is where Stephen King’s book career started. With a short novel that had one of most memorable horror movies made out of it.
*Don’t ever bother with the remake though.

Show Less

Carrie is King's first published novel. I tend to prefer King's earlier novels--they're tauter and nothing is scarier in my opinion than his next two novels, Salem's Lot and The Shining which display him at the top of his powers; it's those two novels I'd recommend as an introduction to King. That

Show More

said, even though even King himself finds Carrie unskilled compared to his later work, he also called it "raw" in its "power to hurt and horrify" and I fully agree with that. The title character Carrie White is that girl in high school we all know. The one who being weird and isolated was the target for plenty of cruelty. Even those of us just plain nerdy at that age can often remember that horrific side of high school, the experience of being humiliated by bullies, and can identify with Carrie despite her weirdness; King taps into that adolescent experience vividly. Reading the description of everything from her awkward looks to how she's treated by her awful mother and her peers is at times exquisitely painful.

This is described as an "epistolary" novel and there are frequent extracts from newspapers, scholarly journals, as well as letters, together with touches of first person account. Epistolary is not usually a structure I find appealing, but most of the narrative is carried by the usual third person, and this novel fully pulled me in and gripped me from the start. I think the film was was terrific--Sissy Spacek made a very memorable Carrie--but read the book. I think it's even more horrifying and powerful.

Show Less

All I can say was "WOW", it was a really good book, much better than I expected. I'm not really a "horror" fan but I can't put the book down. It was really that good and not really scary. The feedbacks at back cover say "gory and horrifying", "eerie and haunting", "shivering, shuddery, macabre

Show More

evil!", etc. I do agree its kind EVIL and gory but not really horrifying. I just felt sorry for Carrie but she really did overreact. Imagine burning the whole town and killing 409 people with 18 people still missing. I just can imagine the intensity of her rage, of her wrath. Thank God not everyone has a crazy mother and telekinesis.

Show Less

Great book...even better film by DePalma.

Spoilers throughout. There are thousands of reviews of this book without spoilers. Find one.

I enjoyed this reread (#4, I believe, but I think I've lost count) far more than any of the other times I have read this book. I remember one read being as low as two stars for me. I detested this book. It

Show More

bored me to death. But, this go around, I loved it.

If I didn't know any better, I would think that books change over time, or is that the reader?

I still don't like the ending. Meaning, the last few pages of the book. I feel that King should have stopped after Carrie died, and left the fate of the town to our imaginations, but that's my own opinion. Carrie's demise is so emotional that the final few pages of the book pale in comparison. We go from strong feelings of sadness to an author's attempt to wrap things up with a bow. Fuck that. If I'm to cry, leave me in tears.

I still have a fierce hatred for all the film adaptations of this book. None of them get the character of Carrie right (Carrie and her mother were BIG women, not the skinny wraiths that Hollywood demands), nor do they drive home the crushing tragedy of the narrative. Why hasn't anyone made a Carrie movie wherein Sue finds Carrie outside of the Cavalier? Why must the movies always finish in the White home? Whatever. Moving on.

This time, I noted several names that pop up with regularity throughout the King-verse, and one character from one of King's novellas. It's probably the best part about reading Stephen King's for me. He writes nearly constantly about small towns, and having all these Easter eggs hidden throughout his work makes it feel as if you're part of one of these small towns. Like everyone is a friend or neighbor. I dig that very much.

Notable names:
Hanscom (It)
Trelawney (Mr. Mercedes)
Mears ('Salem's Lot)
The Black Man (aka the Dark Man/Randall Flagg - the entire King-verse)

Notable characters:
Teddy Duchamps (The Body)

In summation: One down and thrity-three novels to go. Next up is 'Salem's Lot, which I am completely excited for. It's one of my all-time favorite King books, and it never fails to terrify.

Show Less

This was really difficult to get into at first because of the way the narrative kept switching between reports after the event and actual narrative during them. However, once I got used to the style, I found the story to be entertaining. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Carrie as much as other

Show More

Stephen King novels I've read.

Show Less

Carrie is Stephen King's first published novel, considerably short compared to his other novels but as always his plots are gripping and tense, it makes it hard to put the book down. He is the master when it comes to gory and horrifying scenes and this book has plenty, the detail that he goes into

Show More

at times can be quite disturbing.

In this book King takes a common scenario of a high school teenage girl that has been bullied and tormented all her life, adds a supernatural aspect to the story by giving her the power of Telekinesis, and whips up an excellent horror novel like only he can do. The characters are superbly constructed and you will love to hate them, even though Carrie is the villain in the end I still pitied her and felt no compassion for the other characters whatsoever, they got what they deserved, especially her mother whom I hated from the very beginning.

Stephen King doesn't disappoint, an absolute must read for anyone that considers himself his fan.

Show Less

Carrie is such a awesome book. it is about a girl who everyone knows her but doesn't notice that she is there. When i was reading it i couldn't even put the book down. it was just so interesting. after i read it i watched the movie witch was not as good as the book. if you did want to watch the

Show More

movie, then watch the old version because it is a closer version to the book and a lot better then the knew one.

Show Less

As much as I love Stephen King (and I do) I’d never read Carrie. Perhaps figuring it wouldn’t hold up to Brian De Palma’s masterful film version. I picked up Carrie as part of a Stephen King reading group I joined. I’m glad I did.

Carrie is a lean and mean tragic thriller. The structure of

Show More

the story is most likely already known to most people: Social misfit Carrie White is a pariah at school and has a very dysfunctional home life with a domineering mother. A surprise invitation to the prom leads to tragedy.

However, even knowing the story the book was very much worth my time. Even here in his first published novel, Stephen King is a masterful storyteller. The novel uses a semi-epistolary form with King’s narrative broken up with sections containing excerpts from government reports (The White Commission), bits of testimony, song lyrics and even graffiti scrawled on desks. His characters are very well drawn (as is usual for Stephen King) and his narrative draws you in and keeps you wanting to turn the pages.

I found the book to be very enjoyable. I only wish I hadn’t put of reading it for so long.

Show Less

A pretty good first novel, though Mr. King hadn't quite found his stride yet. He was still working through a few literary issues, but still a strong novel. If you're a King fan or thinking of picking up some of his work, definitely check it out. It only gets better from here.

Although it has many problems common to “first novels,” Carrie is an excellent read—much better than the movie. I have not owned a copy since the ‘70s, but I remember enjoying it and even occasionally being scared by it. King has said that he is not above simply being gross when he can’t

Show More

find a way to scare you, and this book is evidence of that.

But what I found really frightening was not the psychosis of a psychokinetic abused teen. Nor was it the grand finalé nor the build up to it. What really frightened me were the teenagers, especially the girls. King”s forte has always been making the mundane terrifying.

Show Less

The book Carrie is a great book. It’s about this girl who doesn’t fit in and on top of that she has telekinetic powers. Carrie has to go through high school being an outcast and having people pick on her. I like this book it is really good. I like how the mom is super religious because that

Show More

gets me more into the book. I don’t like how Stephen King takes forever to explain something, I wish he would just get to the point. Instead I have to know everything about the character first.

Show Less

This is simply a classic horror novel: riveting, simple, with a moral.

This is an excellent first novel. It is creepy, suspenseful, and alot of things get broken and burned up. Not to mention the nasty little nemesis gets killed. What more can you ask for?

Another King book that I decided to read after seeing the movie. And again, I enjoyed the book better. At least the ending. The ultimate tale of a high school misfit getting revenge on the bullies.

Not what I was expecting. I haven't seen the movie yet, but regardless, the story isn't particularly scary; if anything, I feel sorry for Carrie. The cruelty is especially sharp at the beginning, and one girl is quite the bitch.

Interesting narrative format--as a case study. Meant to heighten the

Show More

suspense, but I found it drew away from it, alternating between clinical and emotional.

Show Less