Carrie by Stephen King | Book Review

 

Written: Thursday. April 9, 2020.

Introduction:

• My Position on Stephen King.
• He was one of the first authors I knew who existed when I first got into reading.
• One of the first books I ever had was a Stephen King Novel called 11/22/63, which was a Sci-Fi novel.
• It was either 11/22/63 or Under the Dome. I chose 11/22/63 cause it had time-travel in it. And I love time-travel. It's embedded in me to love anything that has time-travel involved.
• Why I didn't like Horror.
• Simple. I don't like being scared or frightened by things lurking in the dark. Xenophobia is a real thing that happens to everybody. There was a time not too long ago when I would experience sleep paralysis. That sort of thing has happened to me even very early on in my childhood. That's why I stray from anything that's dangerous for me to over-think. Because I'm an over-thinker, and I think a lot about the things that I experience. It doesn't show on a clear level, but it's there. You gotta look close enough to spot it.
• Before buying the book.
• I knew I wanted to buy another King novel. But I didn't know what to buy. On my most recent birthday, I was supposed to pick up IT. But I didn't find a copy that day, so I settled for the Count of Monte Cristo, which has a whole 'nother story behind it.
• I have this habit of wanting to start from the very beginning. I would rather watch an original movie than a remake, for example. I would want to buy the first book in a series, if I'm planning to read all of the books in that series, cause the first time I ever received a book that was from a series, it wasn't the first book of that series. Turns out there'd been five books prior to it. (The Lost Hero).
• Another thing to point out is that, reading or seeing the first works of an author or an artist makes them sort of grounded, and defeats the idea that they're some kind of god or a one-percenter that you would blindingly idolize. Seeing where they came from and how they started is something I find satisfying. It makes it easier for me to see and realize that they were once like me, or close to wherever I'm at right now.

Book Review:

• Background of the book.
• This is Stephen King's first published novel.
• First released on April 5, 1974.
• Spawned a feature film of the same name in 1976. Two years after its release.
• Writing-style.
• Epistolary - written in letters or interviews of various people. Kind of like how Dracula was written. Which makes sense, cause Stephen King might've been reading Dracula at that time, that's why his writing style and ideas were influenced by that. He went on to write 'Salem's Lot', which was about vampires living in Maine... if that's not enough proof that he took influence from Bram Stoker, I dunno what does.
• Thoughts on the story.
• I understand why it's a classic in the Horror genre. But I wouldn't personally call it a Horror story. It's more tragic than horrific.
• The story of Carrie is a very sad tale of a girl who's been bullied all of her life. One day, she's asked to Prom by the coolest guy in her class, and she experiences the best night of her life. Until the inevitable occurs, and she wreaks havoc to the whole town, killing a lot of people who wronged her; who honestly deserved to be punished that way. I'm not saying that what she did was right or wrong. All I'm saying is that I understand.
• If we were to look at this in a realistic way, Carrie's empowerment and how she ends up killing a bunch of students cause of her anger and pain is something that can be paralleled to school shootings. Put yourself in her situation, and think of how you would proceed. There just really comes a moment where you've just had enough of it, and just wanna explode. Which is what unfortunately happens to Carrie in the story.
• Gripes.
•  I hate that it has to end the way it ended. The ending was inevitable, and it was a way for Carrie to get justice for what's been done to her. But just thinking of the story as a whole just makes me want for things to have gone differently every single time. It's just sad. This isn't even a negative comment on the story. I just genuinely wanted the Prom Night to end with Carrie being happy. That's it.

Movie Review:

• Fidelity.
• They caught the spirit of the book, but with that, they changed a bunch of things in the end and also things in the middle. There was supposed to be a backstory of Carrie as a child and her first encounter with her gift. They executed that pretty lazily in the movie, which turned out to have such a different meaning to it. They tried making it into a Horror movie by the very end with that one jump scare. But the rest of the things I won't mention, I don't have a problem with.
• Quality.
• The movie shined best when it came to the Prom Night, and Carrie and Tommy dancing and winning King and Queen. This was the 70's, so in terms of video quality, I guess this one was okay. The way they handled Telekinesis in the movie was fine. Carrie's mother was spot on. Sissy Spacek really embodied Carrie White. She is Carrie White.
• Gripes.
• I'll say it again, I wanted the movie to end before all the shit went down. Carrie is happy. That's it. That's the movie for me.

Conclusion:

• Stephen King originally thought this story was a piece of garbage, and threw it away in the trash. His wife scooped it up and told him to continue on it, and so he did. Think about that every time you're thinking about throwing away the current story you're writing. Can you imagine what the world would be like without Stephen King?
• I actually don't know if I'd even want to pick up another King novel again. Cause so far, the ones that I've read are the ones where it ends in the way you don't it to. 11/22/63 has the same type of ending as Carrie. Both of them are just tragic. But, eh, I'll probably end up buying another one... once I get over Carrie.

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