Carrie (original 1974; edition 1974)

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 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. ( )

Rereading his first to prep for his latest. ( )

This was my first Stephen King novel and I absolutely loved it. I hadn't seen the movie either yet did know about the preface so I was able to truly enjoy this novel. The story of Carrie is so heart-breaking yet so shocking. Stephen King's writing is utterly flawless... I became an immediate fan. ( )

This was the first on my Halloween-themed reading list. I usually just can't make it through a Stephen King book without getting irritated with his prose. But Carrie is actually pretty well done. I liked his portrayal of tortured teenage angst and her truly frightening religious zealot mother.
However...he did take too long to get through the end of the story....
( )

Carrie White has always been the victim of constant ridicule and bullying from her classmates at school for being weird and different, and is mentally and physically abused by her religious mother when she goes home. Little does everyone know how different she really is, until one act of kindness on Prom Night is met with an act of ruthless cruelty that turns into a night of horror and destruction that her classmates, or the town, would never forget. I really liked this book, and having never seen the movie, I didn't entirely know what to expect throughout the story. I would definitely say this is more appropriate for older, mature readers because of the language and some of the content, but I think this is a real eye-opening story about bullying and something a lot of teenagers could learn from. ( )