Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is where it all began, 30 Nov 2002
As with virtually everything Stephen King has written, this is enjoyable reading. It is also a quick-read for anyone who is intimidated by the length of some of the author's later works. I think the basic premise of this story appeals to many people because Carrie is, in many ways, the ultimate underdog, a girl terrorized by an insanely religious mother, victimized and persecuted by her peers, and alienated from the world around her. Everyone in life has been a victim or a bully, and I think the story of Carrie White does impart an important lesson to the folks out there who are treating someone they know the way that Carrie's classmates treated her. For those of us more sympathetic to Carrie's plight--the high school "outcasts," the "poor," the unpopular, the nerds, etc.--the story really matters here. Many of us daydream about the revenge we will exact from those kids who made fun of us all those years ago, and Carrie White shows us that revenge is not all it is cracked up to be. Carrie's "triumph" costs many innocent people their lives, and it doesn't really do a whole lot of good for Carrie herself.You don't need me to tell you why you should read or re-read this book. This is Stephen King. By this point in time, unless you are just coming of age, you have already read this book if you are one of King's legions of fans or even if you were ever curious about this man's phenomenal success. Even more of you have probably seen the movie. While the movie was pretty faithful to the book, not even the magic of cinema can convey the true weight and atmosphere of this (or any other) book. Carrie is also King's first published novel. This is very important to would-be writers--clearly, King was still learning his craft when he wrote this novel, and thus the process of reading it provides any potential writer with a great learning experience. The format here is significantly different from King's more mature work. The story is told through several "voices," including a third-person account from a "survivor," extracts from research articles and newspaper items based on the events, as well as a more traditional author's voice. Thus, we get several perspectives on the characters and events. The story is not as fluid as it might be because we switch from one viewpoint to another as the tale unfolds. While I much prefer the style of King's later works, especially in terms of getting inside a character, King still infuses Carrie's world with realism and believability, proving that he can create masterful atmosphere and mood with any number of literary tools.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mr King, thankyou very much, 16 Mar 2007
Well considering that King thought this book wasnt worth publishing it has done surprisingly well, wouldnt you agree?
King has a knack of relating fiction to real-life and this is no exception. Teen bullying, a girls first entry into womanhood, it is all real and for most of us, scary. King in turn makes his stories scary to reflect this by using real problems.
Carrie is a teenager with 'normal' difficulties at school. She however does have an underlying power, a well hidden dark side that is waiting to burst out. And burst out it does in one hell of a blast, and a hell of a climax.
The characters are easy to relate to and you willl be forgiven if you think they are actually based on real people, such is Kings talent. This book is, for the most part, an 'easy' read. The plot is clear and simple to follow. However just because the plot is simple doesnt mean it is any less engrossing. And get engrossed into Carrie's world you will.
A super read that is quite linear with fewer twists and turns than in Kings larger books, but exciting none the less.
He is truly the epitome of modern horror.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slim and Easy to Read, 27 Feb 2007
Stephen King's first published novel wasn't always a sure thing. Rescued from the trash by the author's wife Tabitha, "Carrie" very nearly evaded publication. Thankfully though, "Carrie" got published when the now-critically acclaimed novelist finished off the novel and sold it.
"Carrie" is not a novel that is great in length and in that respect is very much unlike the majority of the american author's latter works of fiction, and of non-fiction. However, it doesn't fail in providing the reader with material that fascinates and demands attention. Within "Carrie" is the same sort of startling, scary imagery that Stephen King has portrayed effortlessly throughout his career and, as his earliest published novel, this proved to be a mere sign of what was to come in the future from the Maine-based bestselling novelist. This is a dark, tense and gripping novel that doesn't have the sort of supernatural air about it as King's later works would tend to have but the result is a very human story.
One of the most frequently banned books in U.S schools tells the story of a teenage telekinetic girl by the name of Carrie White. Her mother is fanatical about religion and sometimes punishes Carrie brutally throughout the book, using her religion as an excuse for it. Added to the physical hurt endured by Carrie is emotional hurt and bullying from fellow students at her school in Chamberlain, Maine. This comes to a head firstly when Carrie belatedly has her first period in the school showers, and later at the school's senior prom. Told via newspaper clippings and interviews along with the traditional storytelling style Stephen King uses, "Carrie" is a stop-starty book that never tries to glorify its enevitable end but instead builds it up through the aforementioned writing style, culminating in a story of great power.
Readers will be thankful for the shortness of this book no doubt. It hasn't the usual attention to detail one would expect from a modern day book from the author and, as one of his earlier works, comes from a period of time when Stephen King was pretty much at his peak as an author. "Carrie" is a fast-paced, easy-to read, captivating novel from the master of the horror genre.
If you're not fond of overlong, detailed novels than this is a decent little book to read in a sitting or two. If you're a Stephen King fan it is, of course, a must-read. Or if you're just fond of horror novels on an overall basis this is a decent little book. Fun reading.
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