The Shining. 'Salem's Lot. Carrie by Stephen King (1987-09-17)

I was introduced to the mind of Stephen King in an odder way than most. I was on a school bus, 8th grade or so. And there was a new kid going to our school. I introduced myself. "Hi, my name is Carrie." And he just looked at me for a few seconds. Then he said, "Is your mom into horror?" I had no idea what he meant, and so I asked my mom. She pulled a book off my dad's bookshelf (the cover almost worn away) and handed me Stephen King's Carrie. "It has nothing to do with you," she said. But she was wrong.

Though it was an awkward introduction, reading Carrie was one of several critical inspirations that made me an avid reader and author myself. It's just one of those books that pulls you away into a different world. If you have any imagination at all, you have probably wondered what it would be like if only you could do things just by thinking them. What awesome power would such a gift provide?

King selects telekinesis as the subject for his first novel. And he chooses an unlikely girl for this gift. Carrie is not powerful. She isn't even cool. She is an outcast with a secret she is afraid to use. Bullied at school and tormented by a religious fanatic mother at home, Carrie tries to find her place in a world that seems always to be closed to her. She hides her ability to do things just by thinking about them, until fitting in becomes too hard. Though the supernatural powers in the novel are frightening, the story's darkest heart rests in small town secrets, dysfunctional family life and the everyday cruelties we are all willing to do to each other. By the time the reader follows Carrie to its explosive and bloody conclusion, it's hard not to wish for her sweet revenge. Who of us has not wanted to show "them" they shouldn't have done that?

The writing, as always is exceptional. And King's ability to get into the heart and mind of his characters is readily on display, even in this earliest work. The pacing and suspense are slightly different than in later novels where King truly hits his stride, but Carrie remains a fascinating read that will grip you long after you put it down.

Carrie Salo
Author of the Supernatural Thriller - The Sounding

Besides the fact that this book was the first published book by Stephen King, it has nothing that claims for attention, nothing special.
Sometimes known as an author for teenagers, Stephen King shows in that book why. The plot, that is not very rich - but is powerful, revolves around a teenager who doesn't know nothing about the world becauser her mother is a religion fanatic, and think this world is crazy - well, I wouldn't disagree with that hehe - and think that it would be better to lock her daughter inside her houser than let her become a lost soul in this world. The other girls tease her because of her innocence, and people find her ridiculous in general. And, much to her mother's chagrin, she also has a power called telecinesy, through whick she can move what and whoever she wants just looking and wanting to do it. The problem is that this power is not under her control - and that's when the horror begins - and she gives pain even for the ones who do not deserve it.
The plot is good, and I couldn't think of it in another way better than the way it was written... Not exactly the way, but the scenarios where it took place: house of Carrie, School, end of grade's day... All in a small town. The book, completely different in its taste and matureness, hold the reader, yes, but books like IT, THE SHINING, PET SEMATARY and CHRISTINE are obviously much better than that book. Anyway, this is a wonderful Stephen King piece as any other could be. Ever a joy!
Marco Aurelio.

Though lacking some of the style and poise of later King works, Carrie is nonetheless a chilling tale from The Master. Despite being an unlikeable personality, we feel sympathy towards the protagonist, Carrie, so at the end we aren't sure whether to condemn her actions or root for her. This is strange because King recently admitted that he never liked her, and felt that she deserved the abuse she got. Seemingly, he based Carrie White on two people that he taught before he took up writing full time.
As Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974, no one could have predicted that Carrie would be the beginning of what would become the biggest publishing phenomenon in history. But it is surprising how well this tale of a young girl with telekinetic powers holds up after twenty-one years. Perhaps it is because the novel is still intense, still vivid, and still an apt commentary on modern life. Even after years of slasher films, mass murderers, and nuclear threat, Carrie still has bite. It is the classic Cinderella tale, with a twist. A twist so violent that the final one third of the novel burns with total wreckage, loss, and repercussions.
Carrie sets the stage for much of what Stephen King experimented with in later novels, but it is also a remarkably solid novel in its own right. Well written and chillingly realistic (even in the face of the supernatural), this novel will resonate for many more years to come

I picked this book up because everyone was raving about it and this is supposedly the best Stephen King book to start with if you haven't read his work before. (I know, I know.) I even managed to avoid seeing the movies and hearing anything about them so I only knew the most basic of things. I'm so happy I went into this book blind because it's a gem.

Margaret, Carrie's mom, was disturbing. Margaret was a controlling and abusive religious nut. I could picture her so clearly harassing Carrie and spitting bible verses at her. I probably should have been disturbed by Carrie but I couldn't be after reading about everything she endured from her mother and all of her peers. It's scary to think that everything that happened could have been prevented had she been born into a different family, even if she still had the TK gene. This book takes the popular debate of nature vs. nurture and blows it to smithereens. When someone is the product of a monster and therefore treated like a joke, how do people expect her to act?

I really liked the format of this book. Having official and academic articles as well as a first hand account outside the White family dispersed throughout the book created a nice contrast. Because some of these other accounts were throughout the book, a lot of the events that happened were known prior to them happening. This made the book very character focused and man are Stephen King's characters brilliant. I can't wait to read more of his books.

Stephen King's first book, Carrie, is the story of Carrie White, a nerdy girl who has the power to move things with her mind. Living with her repressed mother, a religious fanatic who is almost comically over-the-top in her fear of sexuality (a theme that King would later treat with a more subtle hand in most of his later books). In the book's justifiably famous opening, 16 year-old Carrie starts her first menstural cycle while in the shower after gym class. The other girls in her class have a rather cruel, if all-too believable, reaction to Carrie's fright and this sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Carrie being invited to prom by the most popular (and apparently the only genuinely nice) boy in school, yet another terribly cruel practical joke being played on Carrie, and finally Carrie White's revenge. King's narrative alternates between telling Carrie's story and presenting "evidence" in the forms of excerpts from a survivor's memoir, articles in Esquire and Reader's Digest, a nicely off-center psychology textbook, and the reports of the government commission set up to cover up the implications of Carrie's final rampage. It all comes together in an effective but rather jagged mosiac that confirms that King had talent from the beginning but still makes for an uneven read. Indeed, King's trademark ability to create a cast of credible characters isn't extremely evident here with the key exception of the title character. Carrie White is, for all intents and purposes, a nerd and the pain that she feels and her conflicting responses of self-loathing with self-righteous, almost arrogant fury at how she is treated will be almost painfully familiar for anyone else who spent high school in that outcast social group (it certainly brought back a lot of not-quite cherished memories for myself). Its almost saddening to discover that King himself disliked Carrie and held her responsible for her misfortunes because his recreation of her pain is so spot on perfect that one finds it hard to wonder how her creator couldn't have felt badly for her. No, she isn't always sympathetic and her final, destructive vengeance is carried out with intentionally murderous intent but its hard not to understand how her hatred was generated at the hands of the often thoughtless cruelty of teenage culture. I don't know how someone who was popular in high school might react to the book but as a former high school nerd, I can say this brought back a lot of uncherished memories and Carrie's plight kept me enthralled despite the many times when the book felt rather uneven.
Though it might not matter much in the overall scheme of things, King also does a good job of making credible Tommy Ross, the jock wiseman who agrees to be seen at his school's prom with the school's most unpopular student, an action that sets forward the book's apocalyptic conclusion. Ross's noble choice in asking Carrie to the dance is not an entirely credible action and King, at times, is obviously trying to convince himself as much as the reader that this could actually realistically happen. However, in his few scenes, Tommy Ross is drawn as a sympathetic, believable character and is presented with such skill that one comes as close as possible to actually buying into the credibility of his actions. Though a relatively minor character, Tommy Ross is an early prototype for the plain-spoken, intelligent but unpretentious, defiantly blue collar characters who would make up the majority of King's future protaganists.
Back before he became THE Stephen King, Stephen King was a generally down-on-his-luck teacher living in obscurity in Maine and making a few extra bucks selling a few well-written horror stories to racy magazines (some of which, King has often recalled, ended up going out of business before getting around to publishing his fiction). Though it wasn't the first book he completed. It is a novel of a writer still searching for his voice and who is writing in a genre that he is not totally comfortable embracing. Indeed, while the novel can be labelled a work of horror, it still contains signs of the insecurities and pretensions of the not-yet succesful King with Carrie's story, at times, being forced rather roughly into a metaphor for the whole decline of society in general. However, this is all probably meaningless nitpicking because in the end, the only that matters is that Carrie -- whatever its flaws -- is still a gripping read that grabs the reader's attention for page one and shows signs of the talent that would later make Stephen King a brand name.

I saw Carrie (1976) several years ago, and remember hiding behind my couch for a good part of the movie. The same thing happened with the 2002 made-for-tv movie about a year after that. Why, then, did I decide to read the original source material for my year of nightmares, you ask? I wanted to start reading Stephen King, and decided the beginning was the best place to start.

To be honest, I started this book last October but only got around to finishing it now, lol. Anyway, the book, for the most part, was pretty slow. There was definitely a feel of anticipation to the flow, and you could always tell something was about to happen, but it didn't. Not until the end, or close to it, at least.

I like the way King told the story: through letters, newspaper and magazine articles, books, and interviews. And then of course, the actual narrative structure, told mainly in Carrie's point of view, but also the other character's. It shifted back and forth between the two story structures very nicely and swiftly.

My favorite character would probably be Sue Snell. She appeared to be just another one of the bitchy girls, much like Chris, but turned around to be a completely different character... she was actually dynamic, and had a different side she learned to show. A side filled with love, care, and honesty. Chris was a total bitca, as was her boyfriend, whose name escapes me (lol and I like JUST finished :P). They were definitely the villains of the book, alongside Margaret White, who I will get to later.

The story was more of an depressing one than a scary one. Sure, there were creepy and eerie parts, but overall, the novel felt like an emotional metaphorical journey of a girl on the verge of adolescence, and who didn't know how to deal with it .The supernatural element was added by King, I assume, to fictionalize the story more and make it seem like something that it wasn't.

The only character I found to be actually frightening was Margaret White, Carrie's mother. She tried to kill her daughter! No sane person does that. She's overtly religious and thought Carrie was the spawn of Satan. Um, okay. For one, you're the one that conceived her! Do not ridicule and abuse your daughter just because you can find no other way of escape. Bitch. Rot in hell.

So, the ending was also pretty creepy, but in the naive way... like, the letter the woman wrote to her sister was so full of innocence, that it was just sad and creepy knowing what might come and happen.

So, in the end, this novel was a great introduction into the mind of Stephen King, and I recommend it to everyone.

I can't hold up CARRIE as an extremely deep or enlightening novel, but it was one that I had a lot of trouble putting down at the end of the day. It takes a fairly simple premise and milks it for all that it's worth. It's not particularly frightening or scary, just a simple, tense story told very, very well.
The characterization is really nothing to write home about here. The people have their places and their actions to perform, but don't really exist in all three dimensions. I didn't find this to be a problem though, as I wasn't expecting anything particularly outstanding in this department. However, one character's shallowness did begin to annoy me after a while. The eponymous Carrie has a mother, of course, and to describe this woman as a clichéd and one-dimensional stereotype would be to pay a compliment to the characterization. I'm not particularly offended by the single portrayal of an over the top, religious, fanatical fundamentalist, but the sheer superficiality began to seriously annoy me. Now, obviously, the book is set up in a way that the reader isn't supposed to empathize with this insane woman, yet I felt as if I was being hit over the head with this crude caricature. Having a character that the audience can boo and hiss at is one thing, but to draw a person whose very presence in the story made me want to hurl the book the length of the room is another thing entirely. If she had just been a little toned down, I doubt she would have been nearly so aggravating.
The story-line is quite simple and probably known to many more people than have actually read the book (or seen the film). But this doesn't work against the book. Indeed, the story constantly undermines climactic moments, by telling us the events far in advance of their appearance in the narrative. Nearly every shocking event that occurs in the book has already been mentioned in the little asides that are scattered throughout. This is a very effective way of heightening the tension. Learning a lesson from Hitchcock, Stephen King knows that it's the suspense rather than the actual blood that keeps an audience hooked. We know precisely what's coming, but it's the journey itself that is of supreme importance. With every hint the book drops, the tension is racked up a notch. By the time I reached the conclusion, that I had already anticipated, I was completely spellbound.
CARRIE is a simple story of childhood bullying, nonconformity and revenge, with a healthy sprinkling of horror thrown in. The characters don't need to be terribly deep, because anyone who ever interacted with children know these people already and can fill in the gaps. It feels slightly uneven and sloppy in places, but that certainly isn't enough to derail the whole book. This was the first Stephen King book that I'd ever read, and based on my enjoyment of this one, it certainly won't be the last.

Carrie is of course entertaining, what King novel isn't?, but it does have it's problems. Carrie is about an outcast in a small rural town named Carrie White. Carrie has a fanatically religious mother and is picked on relentlessly by the other girls in her high school. When the girls finally push Carrie over the edge in a horrifying scene in the girls shower, she realizes she has telekenisis, and she intends to use it.
Overall Carrie was an entertaining novel. What I didn't like is the completly unbelievable portrayal of Carries mother. She doesn't even say anything that isn't fire and brimestone or she doesn't do anything but pray and kick Carrie into the closet. Most of King's psychopaths are fairly believable, like Jack Mort in Drawing of the Three and Jack Torrance in The Shining, but he misses the mark this time. I also thought the villians like Chris and Billy were very one dimensional. They are not complex and they are totally unsympathetic.
I won't grade down to much for these problems because this is his first novel and it's a damn good first novel. I liked how he used newspaper articles and excerpts from books to fill in the background of characters. Overall if your a King fan you'll like this, but if your wanting to get into King, read The Shining or Salem's Lot, you'll like those better.

I finally got to read this book, and I'm very glad I did.
The main strength of 'Carrie' is definitely its story, which is simple, chilling and painful. The plot aches with tension as it unfolds, helped by the articles and books interspersed with the dialogue which foreshadow the violent conclusion. This conclusion is inevitable - things had to play out as they did because of the characters of the people involved - and this is one of the most tragic things about the story.
However, this book isn't perfect. I can well believe it was King's first novel because although it's a good read, it is in some ways rather amateur. My main complaint is that I would have appreciated more information about the 'villains' of the piece, that is, Margaret White and Chris Hargensen. Both of them are truly horrible characters, yet there's little or no explanation of why they are like this. Margaret seems to have been a fundamentalist from an early age, but we aren't told why, and considering that her religious beliefs go a long way towards making Carrie what she is, more information would not have been out of place. Chris has even less information, and consequently comes across as pretty two-dimensional.
The other main problem was that of Sue Snell. King seems to have been unsure whether she was as important a character as Carrie - although she contributes to the story by asking Tommy to take Carrie to the prom, etc, her own plotline seems a little superfluous. Her pregnancy fears are unexplored and difficult to empathise with simply because of this. I would have liked a little more interaction between her and Carrie simply because this would make Carrie's death scene with her less - unexpected. Sue just doesn't seem to interact with Carrie enough for the story to demand that she be present at Carrie's death.
However, I still recommend this book. If nothing else, it's a good read, and it does make you think about high-school politics and bullying and if you have picked on someone like Carrie you'd feel pretty guilty. It's a very dramatic story - the writing is vivid and you can see the scenes play out in your mind - and it lingers in your mind after you've read it. Partly this is due to the fact that you are both very sorry for Carrie and horrified at what she's done - it's very hard to make a decision about her. Also the realistic academic books, newspaper articles and courtroom transcriptions add a nice touch because they root the story firmly in the real world (I feel this is especially valuable when talking about telekinesis, as this has often been written about and is very much identified with ghosts and unreal situations.)
Read this book. You'll be left wishing King had said more about various things, but read it anyway...

Stephen King's 1974 novel "Carrie" was the fourth book King wrote, but the first he had published.

He based the book on two girls he went to school with who were shy and introverted and in the novel he brought both girls together and formed Carrie who possesses telekinetic powers who seeks revenge on her clasmates who have tormented her for years. In the book Carrie is also being raised by a Bible-thumping nut of a mother who only makes life for Carrie even more hellish.

This was the first book of King's to be made into a motion picture and it starred Sissy Spacek in the title role and garnered her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress, something rare for a horror movie. That film spawned many sequels and remakes with the latest to come out in 2013 and starring Julianne Moore as the mother.

I tried to read King's first novel years ago and just couldn't for some reason. I have no idea why. After reading The Shining, however, I thought I'd give it a try again and am very glad I did. The Shining was very good but I was a bit disappointed that some of the key scenes from the original movie wasn't in it. (that's Hollywood for you.) Not so with Carrie. That movie gave me the creeps as a kid and so did the book at 25! It's a fast read (200 pages) and jam packed full of action and suspense. The best part of this book by far is the character development. I felt so....bad is the only word I can think of....for Carrie in the end. The book really makes you understand and feel sorry for what she has had to endure throughout her short life. I'm not a very emotional person, but that just about made me tear up a little. That's what I look for in anything (books, movies, music, art)....some kind of emotion, whatever it may be. This one touches a few: it makes you very sad, at times mad, horrified, and scared. I've heard a rumor that King actually threw this book away after writing it and his wife retrieved it and made him send it in. If it's true, the entertainment world as we know it owes a great thanks to Tabitha King. Could you imagine a world that never had a Stephen King? Scary.

Raised by a very religious mother, Carietta White finds out that she has strong telekinetic abilities. Against the advice of her mother, Carrie - as a high-school student - tries to be accepted by the society of football players and cheer-leaders. But unfortunately she will discover that she isn't accepted at all. Being the victim of a cruel mockery, she want's revenge.

What I admire in Stephen King is his ability to show his readers that Evil comes from within us. In "Carrie" the cruel 'joke' makes her raving mad and she's responsible for all the sadistic violence that ensues (for the psychologists among you, is Stephen King responsible for the cruelty of his personage? In other words: is there really such a difference between fantasy and reality?). I think that an experienced writer like Stephen King is capable to draw a line between his world and the world of his novels. Anyway, Stephen King knows that our subconscious is not a nice old lady on a tea-garden visit but a nasty little devil.

It's a cruel world out there and where are the innocent? I'll send you a word when I find out.

...we have Carrie White, the mousey, constantly put-upon brunt of everyone's joke with the ferocious gift in Stephen King's first published novel. Originally released in 1974, it was a harbinger of the vicious talent King himself would demonstrate for blowing us all away book after book after book.

Carrie's is an apocraphal tale of the ultimate loser, the ultimate prank, and the ultimate revenge. It is also a razor sharp examination of the kid-Cuisinart known as high-school, its often comical and cynical tone belying King's own past as a weary English teacher. Thrown into the mix is the obligatory-for-70's-horror religious allegory, with mother Margaret White an overpowering vision of evangelical madness and Carrie her sacrificial Jesus figure. And King also taps into the taboo of mysterious and often terrifying female biologogy to unforgetably shock the audience...the opening is a shower scene as worthy of timelessness as Hitchcock's Psycho.

All the King's literary touches are present: excerpts from newsclippings and after-the-fact biographies to provide different access points into the story, the italicized
(my god will I string together another awkward compound sentence)
inner-thoughts of the characters, the telegraphing of story elements to sharpen the dread of the inevitable doom to come. It's all here, and while it may be as subtle as a nuclear first strike, it's never boring and always cathartic. Upon release it proved Stephen King a force to be reckoned with, as the master of disaster draws first blood.

The story of Carrie White, although not told conventionally, is a fast and fun read, if not one of King's best.

Carrie White is the student you probably remember from one of your schooling experiences: the plump outcast who never achieved any semblance of popularity and remained something of an outcast from the clique-based social hierarchy. I remember a girl like Carrie White well, albeit in elementary school not High School. King developes Carrie well, a character to be sympathized with but not pitied, a somewhat lowly character but not a pathetic one. Character development is also important in the characterization of Carrie's mother, who cannot be made too evil or over-the-top while still being oppressive, and King strays close to the line without going over.

But then again, people rarely talk about the characterization in a King novel, so I suppose I must devote time to the sci-fi element: Carrie White is a telekenetic, capable of moving objects with her mind. Like Ramona Quimby in Roald Dahl's children's book "Ramona", Carrie begins to train herself and develop her powers, until she is capable of essentially everything, something she proves in the tour-de-force latter third of the novel.

As mentioned, Carrie is not told conventially. King abandons the traditional novel format and instead tells the story as if it really happened, citing invented scientific studies, autobiographies, eye-witnesses, police reports and interveiws. This either adds to or detracts from the novel, depending on your opinion. I'm on the fence; while on one hand this is certainly fresh, on the other it seems perhaps King did not have enough material to fill a traditonal novel and resorted to this format instead. Similarily, I am tempted to give the book 5 stars, but the negative part of me is going to prevail, if only because the specific event that leads to Carrie's unleashing of her power seems poorly thought out for such a significant event. 7.5/10

I would really like to see King rewrite this book. Just to go back over and smooth down some of those rough spots, turn this book from a good horror novel with a few weaknesses into a first-rate horror/thriller.
Much of this book is good. The characters are believable, if a little static. The setting manages to help the story along without become too much a part of the action. King's explanation for Carrie's abilities, along with the behaviour of her mother, foreshadows the end long before it comes, but that's all right. Horror isn't about the shock, really, it's about the moments that lead up to it.
The only problem is, in a lot of places where you'd expect the story to speed up, it slows down. This'd be all right if it slowed up for a purpose, but it's usually just for a bit of someone's jounral of a scrap of a newspaper article. Later on, King would learn more about how to mix together mundane sub-plots with the horrific plot to make the horror build all the better, but here it feels more forced, more artifical somehow.
Still, for being the first book that every made me jump with surprise in a public place, four stars.

I saw the movie a couple of years ago and I thought it was ok, nothing that special. Not even a really good horror movie. So I never bothered to read the books. Well that was a mistake because the book is so much better than the movie…well that’s a hardly surprising, movies are seldom better than the book. Carrie is not a horror book in its essence, yes it has elements of horror, but mostly the book is just a tragic tale of girl who finally snaps, who after years of abuse, both at home and in school just finally just not going to take it anymore and she has power.

So she unleash hell. Big Time!

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about reading this book in 2001 is that I read it in the shadows of such horrific real-life tragedies as the Columbine High School shootings, and the more recent shootings in San Diego. I certainly don't want to be an apologist for Carrie, or for her real-life counterparts, but this novel should be a lesson--whether King meant to teach it or not--that the bullying and teasing and harassing kids can do in school has severe, negative emotional consequences on the victim. So first and foremost, this book is excellent because King is able to make his readers root for a character who exacts revenge on her tormentors in a most spectacular fashion.
"Carrie" also is a good read because of the use of "book" and "commission" references King sticks in throughout as a device to move the action along. This allows the reader to get a "distance" perspective of events even as the events are unfolding. It also lends "credibility" to the story, giving the reader the feeling that this story is factual, and as such, far more scary.

I have read just about everything that Stephen King has written and I can only think of a couple of short stories like 'the Mist', and maybe just one book 'Salem's Lot' that I enjoyed more than Carrie. Primarily the reason I enjoyed this book so much is that it is a real departure from his later day formula writing. This is one of Kings very first books and it is a little raw in comparison to his later work 'Shaw Shank', 'Bag of Bones', but in many ways that rough quality adds to the books appeal.

Of course, even if you haven't read the book yet (like myself until a couple of days ago), it will almost be impossible to be surprised by the ending. Who amongst us has not seen Sissy Spasek drenched in blood at her prom, it's an iconic American image. But that aside, this is a very enjoyable book because it really gets close to the 'horror' label that King has been slapped with his entire career. I can always get into a King book because it stumbles around the edge of terror, but am pretty much always disappointed because of his insane need to offer up a very happy ending. I'm sure that King has sold twenty times the amount of books that he would have had he continued on this edgier path. But I often think of what could have been had he been a little more daring. Its kind of like Elvis ending up singing Blue Hawaii in a Las Vegas night club when he had started off as such an edgy charismatic youngster.

Anyways, I highly recommend this book if you like King at all. If you have yet to read much King and are wondering where to start out, try 'Salem's Lot' as a novel, or even better, a collection of his short stories like 'Skeleton Crew.'

Carrie is the first novel of Stephen King's which I have read and which is not part of the Dark Tower sequence. It is also his first published novel which could mean that the writing was a little rough around the edges but damn, King can tell a story!

The title character is Carietta White. You know the girl. She was in your high school, just with a different name. She was different. Her family was different. The other kids flocked like vultures and teased her without mercy. You know the girl. She grew up mostly without friends. Even the other outcasts wouldn't go near her. Carrie's mother was ultra-religious and certainly stunted Carrie's social growth and skills. Even the teachers didn't really like her. This is Carrie.

But Carrie is different. Carrie has powers she barely understands. Carrie can make things happen. Telekenesis. She can move things with her mind. Under very stressful circumstances things happen. A rain of stones which only falls on her house. Exploding lightbulbs. Shaking bookcases. Things happen.

When Carrie has her first period in the girls shower after gym at the age of seventeen and thinks she is bleeding to death because she does not know what is happening the other girls are mean, like a pack of jackals literally smelling blood. Now it's begun. Both the novel and the transformation of Carrie White starts here.

This is Stephen King we're talking about. Things will take a turn for the worse and end in that famous prom sequence we've heard about and seen in the movies. Carietta gets pushed one too many times and her power makes her very, very dangerous.

Like I said, King can tell a good story. There is a bit of clunk around some of the edges, but King's writing has passion and we can feel for Carrie even when we see her slowly slipping and slowly cracking and slowly snapping. Carrie isn't the villain here, which would be a twist on a normal horror story. Carrie is a victim who snaps. A broken protagonist.

I didn't know that King could write this well. Sure he's sold a kabillion copies of his books, but from Carrie I think it's clear: this is a special talent. He writes books people want to read. The American Dickens in his first novel.

-Joe Sherry

Carrie

By Sai Hendrij

Stephen Kings Carrie is a book of the horror genre; it describes the isolation of teenage youth at an evanescent level. Basically often unseen by anyone who is not a teenager themselves or someone who can relate to that feeling. That's the main reason I recommend it to the teenage public more so than adults and much more so than the younger audiences.

To start, Carrie is a teenage girl who still has not reached puberty. Until now on her sixteenth year and with it has come a new type of power. The TK gene in her body is growing and is now taking affect and when her mother and the whole student body takes their cruel jokes a little too far Carrie will pull the strings in the biggest and worst, first, and last joke of her life

Overall review
All in all I thought that Carrie was an awesome book. Considering the fact that horror stories are the only ones I can really get into. I think Stephen King did a great job especially for such an old society he lived in. I feel that I should also commend on the news articles that switch time schemes from the past and present without being confusing about what was still happening. It was also a different kind of way of building suspense up to the pinnacle of the story.
This is a book you should definitely read.

Recommended for ages 15+
For alcohol sexual references and violence

Like many, I unfortunately saw the movie before reading the book so there were expectations. Although most movie adaptions of King's work are not true to the source material, "Carrie" is an exception. The plot plays out pretty much like the movie (except for the ending), but it's still worth reading. The reason is that the book more effectively gets inside of the heads of the characters and you're left with a better understanding of the situation and feel more sympathy (or anger) towards the characters. This is naturally easier in this medium than in movies and King accomplishes this. Carrie is not a villian but a distraught teenage girl who has to deal with the typical problems of adolescence in addition to a borderline-psychotic hyper-religious mother. Oh, and she paranormal powers. The book does an excellent job at describing her tormented life and the odd behaviour of her mother. Motivations are better understood than in the movie and it's much easier to feel sympathy towards Carrie. Although most people think of the ending scenes when they hear of "Carrie", the build-up is the best part. Her and her mother make up a very twisted family. Their dysfunctionallity is fascinating and Carrie's demons will undoubtedly evoke sympathy, if not a little bit of empathy.

The book is barely a horror novel. The perpetrator of the supernatural crimes is presented in a sympathetic fashion and there is no monster except for the mother and Carrie's peers. Instead of being horrified, I was honestly pleased with Carrie's reaction. The supernatural elements could have been removed and not much would have been lost. For this reason, I would even recommend this novel to those who don't normally enjoy horror and fantasy.

It seems that Stephen King was following some sort of Template when writing this book. Because this book is so bare, so naked, so "should've-been-longer" that I'm surprised that it got so famous.
I won't go into plot details because it's been gone over and over in all the other reviews. The book is divided in three parts. The shower room and it's consequences, before the prom and after the prom.
The book starts at a breakneck speed with the shower room scene and slows down to a screeching halt afterwards. The pace only picks up when Carrie and her mother are on scene.
King wrote this book in a very interesting manner. He put up fictional newspaper and book articles on the story. Without them the book would be even shorter.
IT seemed to me that King should've elaborated more on Carrie's past. The other pranks the kids put on her.
Without the prom scene (Which is described to perfection) this book would've been a two star book at best. It literally saves this book.

Stephen King made a big, bloody splash with his first novel CARRIE, written in the early 70's and published in 1974. It ushered in a new era in Horror fiction. Instead of Gothic Horror dealing with vampires, or Frontier Horror dealing with werewolves, this was the genesis of Modern Horror: taking a modern-day dramatic situation using ordinary, everyday characters and letting the horror grow out of the situation and the characters.
I can see that, when the book was released, how CARRIE was lauded as a modern masterpiece. I guess it is; after all, it put Stephen King on the map and began the career of the most successful American novelist of our times. The advent of Modern Horror was momentous---and a cash cow---for the fiction industry. But I saw the film first (actually, at least three or four times before buying and reading the book), and by comparison, it disappointed me. I liked the narrative of the film better, I found Carrie more sympathetic in the film (for example, in the book, she knows she will kill her mother when she gets home) and I just flat-out enjoyed it more. However, for any Stephen King fan, I definitely recommend going back to the beginning, where it all started for him---and us.
RECOMMENDED; AGES 14 & UP.

Carrie is Stephen Kings first published book. I like how this story is told in a kind of interview style. It keeps it exciting throughout. Everyone knows the 70's version of this movie with Sissy Spacek and John Travolta. I would say that the book and movie are pretty close. There was a remake made in the 00's that is more accurate, but you get the idea. If you dont know what this story is about (there cant be many that dont) Carrie is picked on all her life and discovers she has telekenetic powers. She ends up "getting even" with everyone at the prom. The insanity of Carries mother, Margaret is the creepiest thing about this book. Anyone with a mother like that really has no chance of being normal. Lets hope there arent any others as insane as her in the world (although there probably are) Carrie is less that 200 pages, a very quick easy read. Like all other SK books, I definitely recommend it.

Though "Carrie" is definitely the work of a writer who is still finding his voice, it is a remarkably tight and gripping book, and remains one of my personal favorites of King's work.
The tale told by King and King's wife Tabitha, about how she literally pulled the first pages of the book out of a trash can, read them, and then encouraged King to continue with the story he had started, is somewhat apocryphal now. Nevertheless, upon reading the first few chapters of "Carrie" one can see what grabbed her attention. The reader is immediately involved in the story and irresistably drawn all the way to the end.
The story of Carrie White is that of someone who is essentially ordinary (almost painfully so), but with an extraordinary ability. How these two elements come together is the substance of the book, and there is a lot of substance here, both in terms of storytelling and thematic material. King's talent for strong character and capturing the feel of everyday life is already obvious in this book, and it is put to good use.
"Carrie" remains one of King's most compelling works, even 30 years after it was written. Thank goodness Mrs. King had the wherewithal to get him to finish it!

I'm one of the people -- and I suspect there are many -- who was drawn to CARRIE because I was always branded as an outcast and tormented by my peers. Since some publicity pictures of Mr. King show him wearing strong glasses, and since my own thick glasses were what got me into the let's-pick-on-this-guy category, I assumed that King had suffered a similar fate and that CARRIE had been inspired by empathy for the outcast character.
I was dismayed to discover that I'd assumed wrong. In his nonfiction book ON WRITING, King tells us that one of the reason he almost abandoned CARRIE was that he didn't like the title character. He also tells us that he occasionally joined in the harassment of some of his outcast classmates. Still, it's to King's credit that he could create a sympathetic point of view for a character that he actually viewed with contempt.
But there was one major problem I had with the book even before I found out where King was and wasn't coming from with respect to the title character. I felt he should have given us one major plot complication, rather than trying to balance two. The core of the story is Carrie's telekinetic power and how it enables her to punish her tormentor at the prom. But there's this insane religious fanatic mother she has to deal with, who I think muddies the waters a bit. I would have preferred that King write two books, one about the telekinetic girl and one about the girl with the insane religious fanatic mother.
Still, both of these are admittedly subjective complaints. The fact remains that King is a good story teller and can write speculative fiction in which the characters don't get overshadowed by the speculation. In this case, I also felt the snippets of court transcripts and other official documents were an effective touch. (In fact, I wish the movie had retained the idea of a government investigation into the incident.) The book deserves its popularity. I wonder, though, if this was one time when telling the whole truth was a bad idea.

Carrie is a novel that is often unfairly branded with the horror label because it was written by Stephen King. It's not a blood-and-guts, gory sort of monster or ghost story, it's a drama/thriller with supernatural elements that would probably be labeled a tragedy if that was a term used for novels. The oppression suffered by the title character at the hands of her merciless classmates and fundamentalist mother seems all too realistic, and a large portion of the book focuses on her torment in facing these real-life ordeals. The inclusion of her telekinesis, which finally empowers her to lash out at those who cause her misery, could be attributed to the fantasies of a young writer who had faced bullying and harassment himself in school hallways. Carrie is one of several stories King wrote about the bitterness and resentment young people experience as a result of social awkwardness and anxiety, including Christine and the Richard Bachman novel Rage. Carrie's most tragic quality comes from how King allows the character a brief moment of knowing how wonderful life could be, giving her a glimmer of hope that she can have the same happiness as everyone else, then subjecting her to traumatic pubic humiliation, followed by the murderous religious fervor of her mother. Their deaths, and those of most of the town's graduating senior class, bring the tragedy to a close and leave the reader to ponder the cruelty and worthlessness of ostracizing or harassing people simply for being different. The spring of 2014 will see the 40th anniversary of the book's publication in April 1974. As much a testament to Stephen King's longevity as a sad commentary on the lack of progress in bullying culture, Carrie teaches a lesson as necessary today as it was 40 years ago.

I enjoyed this book a lot, I had trouble putting it down. Part of the reason for this was the lack of chapters, but it was mainly because this is such a good book.
Carrie is a character that I empathised with a great deal. She faces daily abuse at home and at school -I was myself bullied at school although thankfully my home environment was supportive. I see her as being a kind and attractive young lady who does not deserve any of the abuse she receives. During the course of the book, she discovers that she has powerful telekinetic abilities. I do not see what her actions near the end of the book as revenge, but as what happens when a tortured individual 'snaps'. She didn't plan what she did, it was merely a reaction to the dispicable way in which she had been treated. No one deserves to be bullied, but it happens throughout society. This book sends out the message that bullying is unacceptable.
This book is excellently written with a good storyline and a strong main character, I would recommend it to anyone, this is truly a 'must read' book.

There has to be an outcast like Carrie White in just about every high school in America. I think that is why people can relate to this story. Not just because everyone knows such a misfit, but because at one time or another, everyone has had to deal with helplessness, ridicule or cruelty.
The book also deals with a girl becoming a woman and defying the wishes of her fanatically religious mother. By incorporating religion into the story, King is able to cast Carrie's telekinetic power as seemingly demonic while allowing the reader to feel genuine pity for Carrie.
While Carrie is able to extract a measure of vegeance, this is ultimately a story of tragedy. It is a lesson in the cliques and cruelties of high school and lends particular insight into the heights of human goodness and the depth of human evil. If this story is even remotely similar to what the world of girls is like, I have to thank G-d that I'm a man.
This is a great classic horror novel not to be passed over!

This is King's famous debut novel. Though until Brian de Palma made the film, few people had even heard of it. But the film version launched the careers of King, de Palma, Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, and others.
I admitedly have not yet scene the film version, but the book was great. King seems to be under the impression that this novel is very raw and unpolished, and perhaps he is right--I admit it isn't as polished as many books I've read, but I don't see this is a bad thing; if this is the case, perhaps it is what made the book so good. It was a very riveting book. King was also sucessful at getting at the emotional core of Carrie White, and other characters involved. It is a very worthwhile read, and goes by very quickly as it is only about 200 pages long (the original hardcover is 199 pages in length; I do not know the page count on subsequent volumes.)
I definately recommend this book to anyone fond of the Horror genre or King's work (sadly, many people--dare I say most?--who read King do not read any of the other works within the genre; this is sad because some of the other talents out there surpass him by far.)

I've read a few different SK novels. Some are a little meh, some too long, and others I found so good they've become my favorite stories of all time. IT remains his best work for me so far but Carrie is a great story too. It's a bit disjointed at times, maybe even hard to keep up at times with the different points of views and such, but overall it's a great fast paced read. Finished it in three days and well worth the read. You'll feel for Carrie throughout the entire book. The ending will make you question if you still do. The visuals are easy to see in your mind. It's scary and sad all at once. Best to check it out yourself and see if you love it as much as I did!

My main problem with Stephen King is that he is so blessed with talent and success that he has never had to learn to kill his darlings. In writer-speak (or at least aspiring writer-speak) the darling is that phrase/sentence/paragraph that sticks out and draws the reader's attention to the fact that you, the author, are speaking.

In Carrie, we see King's wonderful gift of characterization. We empathize completely with poor Carrie no matter how foreign her background is. It doesn't matter that she was raised by the sort of person that usually winds up muttering and shouting on a street corner, that her humiliation is so complete that it dwarfs our own, or that Carrie has psychic powers. We feel like we can walk in her shoes.

We get also get a hint of the wonderful writer's voice that fully flowers in later years and see a taste for experimentation and rapid pacing that seems to have wandered off and disappeared in his later books.

But man, so many similes. About every page or every other page there is an inappropriate or random simile hanging around like a hooker working a church parking lot (wink). King should stamp them out the same way he stamps out adverbs. Maybe one in ten are worthwhile, the rest jump out and say "Look mom! I can say something is like something else. Ain't it cool?" I mean, it's not just the fact that they are bad, but that he just flat out uses them too much.

So yes, his work is still enjoyable for the reasons mentioned. For most readers this bad habit is a minor nitpick, but they are so persistent that it starts to grate on a guy like me. King is/was obviously talented and intelligent enough to make these sort of simple edits. He just believes in himself so fully that he never has.

While his writing has matured in many ways throughout the years, his verbosity has expanded to the point that it is frustrating to me. It's like he's still gotta make rent and he's getting paid by the word. Carrie, for all of it's first-timer awkwardness, has wonderful pacing that reflects a writer still humble enough to think he needs to earn your attention.

When I read Carrie, I can't help but think that with just a little bit more critical thought and willingness to push himself, King could have been more than a best selling author; he could have been something great.

Carrie was one of the coolest books that I've read in my life. It is scary, funny, suspenseful, and has an enthralling story to go along with those other things. This book is about Carrie, a high-school girl that is misunderstood and made fun of. She can move things using mind force and she learns that what she has is telekinetic powers. After a boy asks her to the prom it looks like she is having a great time until she is prom queen and while sitting in the chair pig blood falls over her. She has had eough and is fed up. Destruction time!!! Carrie, using her telekinetic powers, destroys the whole city and gets her point across. She murders, sets fires, and has police from all over MAine have to come and fight. I won't give away the overall plot but you must read this book. Whether you are a Stephen King fan or just an avid reader you will really enjoy this book by the King of Horror. Don't wait another second before buying this book. You'll really love this enthralling book that will stand out forever!

Better than Brian DePalma's hit movie was the book that spawned it, Carrie, a worthy debut novel from the man who would become the top-selling novelist in (at least) American history. It's easy to explain why King has become so popular. Here, he begins a long tradition of believeable, relatable characters living in relatively normal places that have horrific, impossible situations cast upon them.

Without her powers of telekenesis, Carrie would be simply that invisible girl with no friends, no hope, ridiculed at school, berated and abused by an ultra-religious freakshow at home. In writing her, King not only sets up a modern fable of revenge, he also lashes out against teenage bullying, religious fanaticism, the powerlessness of ordinary, well-meaning authority, and the hell that is adolescence. After that, the supernatural is simply window dressing, a device meant to amplify what we already fear about ourselves as people.

I should say here, too, that the best way to experience this book (although a simple reading will do ya just fine) is to have the miraculous Sissy Spacek (yes, the same actress from the inferior, dated film) read it to you on the audio book. The effect is simply astounding.

(This review has been posted by Marcus Damanda, author of the vampire book "Teeth: a Horror Fantasy".)

I re-read this book, because I've decided to read all of Stephen King, revisiting the books I read as a teen and young adult. I love the epistolary structure weaved into the narrative, and I was often stunned by the writing itself. I may read it a third time, because I can learn a lot from this guy. I should have been learning from him for years, but I was not a careful reader back in the day.

His casual voice makes it look so easy, and it's impossible not to get caught up in the story, so a careful eye trained at how he does it can wander.

It's good to be reading Stephen King again.

Most people feel that after watching the movie, you shouldn't read the book because it will be exactly the same. Not the case here!!!!!! The destruction Carrie causes in the movie is nothing compared to the destruction she causes in the book! It is far from being exactly the same, and even if you have seen the movie and "think" you know the plot, the ending of this book will surprise you nonetheless.
"Carrie" is the story of a lonely, outcast girl with no friends or people to talk to. She is stuck with a religous fanatic, and quite frankly, a madwoman for a mother. Carrie is the butt of every joke, the person you can always make fun of and torment. Finally, after gym class one day, when the girls are in the locker room showering, she is pushed almost to the limit when she gets her period. She doesn't know what is happening (her crazy mother never bothered to tell her because she thinks that having a period is a sin), and thinks she is bleeding to death. The girls all laugh and throw things at her. But that is only the beginning of the story.
Carrie soon discovers that she can do strange things with her mind, such as move an object, lock a door, or make a candle fall over. She discovers that she can take control of a situation using her powers, and she also discovers something else...she can get revenge.
One night at her prom (someone arranged for her to have a date, otherwise she never would have gotten one), she is humiliated one time too many, and finally snaps, using her powers to cause death, destruction, and mayham!
Want to find out how this all ends? Read the book, whether or not you've seen the movie, and behold the true power of Carrie White!

So you think you know Stephen King? You think that he is all vampires and aliens? Well, let his first novel prove you wrong. Man, this book was strange, but very good all and all. King takes this innocent young, tourtured highschool girl and turns her into a person to haunt your dreams. Throughout the book you learn of Carrie White and her power to move things. Now, im sure most people have seen the movie, but the ending is so much creepier in this book than it is in the movie. It is a little bit slow paced, but it is all worth it by the end. It is the kind of scary that makes you shiver. Not like you are afraid to go to sleep, but more in a way that it is just so strange that it messes with your head. This is the book that skyrocketed King's career. His writing style was a little different back then, but not bad. I thought this was a really cool book and most definetly recommend it.

The Carrie of the book inspired as much empathy as Sissy Spacek's movie character, but the others much less so. In the film you felt some empathy for Sue, Miss Desjardin, and Tommy because of their empathy for Carrie. The teacher in the book is basically evil minded, Sue is a mix, and Tommy is on the good side. The most substantial difference is what happens at the prom. In the film, only a few of Chris's friends laugh (it's implied that the other laughter shown is only imagined by Carrie), in the book everyone laughs. In both book and film I'm totally on Carrie's side and applaud her actions; if I had her power in her circumstance I'd do exactly the same. In the book there is a final poignant interaction between Carrie and Sue. I should say finally I consider both the book and film masterpieces. If you want to know the root cause behind Columbine and such read this.

I'm beginning to re-read the entire SK library in order of publication along with author & publisher Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance Puvblications (go to www.stephenkingrevisited.com to join us). I hadn't read Carrie since shortly after it was published (40 years ago) and it was fascinating to "fill in the blanks" around the main part of the story which I remembered quite well. I have a totally new appreciation for just how good this story is...and from a very young King! He was born with the gift of storytelling.

Since it has been nearly 20 years since I read many of Stephen King's books, I thought that it was probably time to start going back and re-reading some of them. I decided to start in chronological order with Carrie. Carrie is the story of an awkward teen that has been continually picked on her entire life and finally takes her revenge upon the world using long-dormant powers. In a sick sort of way you kind of root for her to take the entire town out. At any rate it is one of Stephen King's best stories with enough pulse-pounding anxiety to make you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thankfully it is really short and you can easily burn through it in a few hours. A true masterpiece from the master of horror.

There has to be an outcast like Carrie White in just about every high school in America. I think that is why people can relate to this story. Not just because everyone knows such a misfit, but because at one time or another, everyone has had to deal with helplessness, ridicule or cruelty.
The book also deals with a girl becoming a woman and defying the wishes of her fanatically religious mother. By incorporating religion into the story, King is able to cast Carrie's telekinetic power as seemingly demonic while allowing the reader to feel genuine pity for Carrie.
While Carrie is able to extract a measure of vegeance, this is ultimately a story of tragedy. It is a lesson in the cliques and cruelties of high school and lends particular insight into the heights of human goodness and the depth of human evil. If this story is even remotely similar to what the world of girls is like, I have to thank G-d that I'm a man.
This is a great classic horror novel not to be passed over!

This is King's famous debut novel. Though until Brian de Palma made the film, few people had even heard of it. But the film version launched the careers of King, de Palma, Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, and others.
I admitedly have not yet scene the film version, but the book was great. King seems to be under the impression that this novel is very raw and unpolished, and perhaps he is right--I admit it isn't as polished as many books I've read, but I don't see this is a bad thing; if this is the case, perhaps it is what made the book so good. It was a very riveting book. King was also sucessful at getting at the emotional core of Carrie White, and other characters involved. It is a very worthwhile read, and goes by very quickly as it is only about 200 pages long (the original hardcover is 199 pages in length; I do not know the page count on subsequent volumes.)
I definately recommend this book to anyone fond of the Horror genre or King's work (sadly, many people--dare I say most?--who read King do not read any of the other works within the genre; this is sad because some of the other talents out there surpass him by far.)

This is a good book, I gave it a 5/5 because its scary in a way of what making fun of people/bullying can lead to. This book is about Carrie White who was made fun of her whole school life, especially after her first period. Carrie has telekinetic abilities by which she can control objects and in her past she made rocks drop from the sky. Her mom aka momma is over protective by controlling everything Carrie does. Which eventually led to Carrie fighting back and going to the prom night. The night that the chaos unleashed and set the whole city on fire.

I've read a few different SK novels. Some are a little meh, some too long, and others I found so good they've become my favorite stories of all time. IT remains his best work for me so far but Carrie is a great story too. It's a bit disjointed at times, maybe even hard to keep up at times with the different points of views and such, but overall it's a great fast paced read. Finished it in three days and well worth the read. You'll feel for Carrie throughout the entire book. The ending will make you question if you still do. The visuals are easy to see in your mind. It's scary and sad all at once. Best to check it out yourself and see if you love it as much as I did!

My main problem with Stephen King is that he is so blessed with talent and success that he has never had to learn to kill his darlings. In writer-speak (or at least aspiring writer-speak) the darling is that phrase/sentence/paragraph that sticks out and draws the reader's attention to the fact that you, the author, are speaking.

In Carrie, we see King's wonderful gift of characterization. We empathize completely with poor Carrie no matter how foreign her background is. It doesn't matter that she was raised by the sort of person that usually winds up muttering and shouting on a street corner, that her humiliation is so complete that it dwarfs our own, or that Carrie has psychic powers. We feel like we can walk in her shoes.

We get also get a hint of the wonderful writer's voice that fully flowers in later years and see a taste for experimentation and rapid pacing that seems to have wandered off and disappeared in his later books.

But man, so many similes. About every page or every other page there is an inappropriate or random simile hanging around like a hooker working a church parking lot (wink). King should stamp them out the same way he stamps out adverbs. Maybe one in ten are worthwhile, the rest jump out and say "Look mom! I can say something is like something else. Ain't it cool?" I mean, it's not just the fact that they are bad, but that he just flat out uses them too much.

So yes, his work is still enjoyable for the reasons mentioned. For most readers this bad habit is a minor nitpick, but they are so persistent that it starts to grate on a guy like me. King is/was obviously talented and intelligent enough to make these sort of simple edits. He just believes in himself so fully that he never has.

While his writing has matured in many ways throughout the years, his verbosity has expanded to the point that it is frustrating to me. It's like he's still gotta make rent and he's getting paid by the word. Carrie, for all of it's first-timer awkwardness, has wonderful pacing that reflects a writer still humble enough to think he needs to earn your attention.

When I read Carrie, I can't help but think that with just a little bit more critical thought and willingness to push himself, King could have been more than a best selling author; he could have been something great.

Carrie was one of the coolest books that I've read in my life. It is scary, funny, suspenseful, and has an enthralling story to go along with those other things. This book is about Carrie, a high-school girl that is misunderstood and made fun of. She can move things using mind force and she learns that what she has is telekinetic powers. After a boy asks her to the prom it looks like she is having a great time until she is prom queen and while sitting in the chair pig blood falls over her. She has had eough and is fed up. Destruction time!!! Carrie, using her telekinetic powers, destroys the whole city and gets her point across. She murders, sets fires, and has police from all over MAine have to come and fight. I won't give away the overall plot but you must read this book. Whether you are a Stephen King fan or just an avid reader you will really enjoy this book by the King of Horror. Don't wait another second before buying this book. You'll really love this enthralling book that will stand out forever!

Better than Brian DePalma's hit movie was the book that spawned it, Carrie, a worthy debut novel from the man who would become the top-selling novelist in (at least) American history. It's easy to explain why King has become so popular. Here, he begins a long tradition of believeable, relatable characters living in relatively normal places that have horrific, impossible situations cast upon them.

Without her powers of telekenesis, Carrie would be simply that invisible girl with no friends, no hope, ridiculed at school, berated and abused by an ultra-religious freakshow at home. In writing her, King not only sets up a modern fable of revenge, he also lashes out against teenage bullying, religious fanaticism, the powerlessness of ordinary, well-meaning authority, and the hell that is adolescence. After that, the supernatural is simply window dressing, a device meant to amplify what we already fear about ourselves as people.

I should say here, too, that the best way to experience this book (although a simple reading will do ya just fine) is to have the miraculous Sissy Spacek (yes, the same actress from the inferior, dated film) read it to you on the audio book. The effect is simply astounding.

(This review has been posted by Marcus Damanda, author of the vampire book "Teeth: a Horror Fantasy".)

I re-read this book, because I've decided to read all of Stephen King, revisiting the books I read as a teen and young adult. I love the epistolary structure weaved into the narrative, and I was often stunned by the writing itself. I may read it a third time, because I can learn a lot from this guy. I should have been learning from him for years, but I was not a careful reader back in the day.

His casual voice makes it look so easy, and it's impossible not to get caught up in the story, so a careful eye trained at how he does it can wander.

It's good to be reading Stephen King again.

Most people feel that after watching the movie, you shouldn't read the book because it will be exactly the same. Not the case here!!!!!! The destruction Carrie causes in the movie is nothing compared to the destruction she causes in the book! It is far from being exactly the same, and even if you have seen the movie and "think" you know the plot, the ending of this book will surprise you nonetheless.
"Carrie" is the story of a lonely, outcast girl with no friends or people to talk to. She is stuck with a religous fanatic, and quite frankly, a madwoman for a mother. Carrie is the butt of every joke, the person you can always make fun of and torment. Finally, after gym class one day, when the girls are in the locker room showering, she is pushed almost to the limit when she gets her period. She doesn't know what is happening (her crazy mother never bothered to tell her because she thinks that having a period is a sin), and thinks she is bleeding to death. The girls all laugh and throw things at her. But that is only the beginning of the story.
Carrie soon discovers that she can do strange things with her mind, such as move an object, lock a door, or make a candle fall over. She discovers that she can take control of a situation using her powers, and she also discovers something else...she can get revenge.
One night at her prom (someone arranged for her to have a date, otherwise she never would have gotten one), she is humiliated one time too many, and finally snaps, using her powers to cause death, destruction, and mayham!
Want to find out how this all ends? Read the book, whether or not you've seen the movie, and behold the true power of Carrie White!

So you think you know Stephen King? You think that he is all vampires and aliens? Well, let his first novel prove you wrong. Man, this book was strange, but very good all and all. King takes this innocent young, tourtured highschool girl and turns her into a person to haunt your dreams. Throughout the book you learn of Carrie White and her power to move things. Now, im sure most people have seen the movie, but the ending is so much creepier in this book than it is in the movie. It is a little bit slow paced, but it is all worth it by the end. It is the kind of scary that makes you shiver. Not like you are afraid to go to sleep, but more in a way that it is just so strange that it messes with your head. This is the book that skyrocketed King's career. His writing style was a little different back then, but not bad. I thought this was a really cool book and most definetly recommend it.

The Carrie of the book inspired as much empathy as Sissy Spacek's movie character, but the others much less so. In the film you felt some empathy for Sue, Miss Desjardin, and Tommy because of their empathy for Carrie. The teacher in the book is basically evil minded, Sue is a mix, and Tommy is on the good side. The most substantial difference is what happens at the prom. In the film, only a few of Chris's friends laugh (it's implied that the other laughter shown is only imagined by Carrie), in the book everyone laughs. In both book and film I'm totally on Carrie's side and applaud her actions; if I had her power in her circumstance I'd do exactly the same. In the book there is a final poignant interaction between Carrie and Sue. I should say finally I consider both the book and film masterpieces. If you want to know the root cause behind Columbine and such read this.

I'm beginning to re-read the entire SK library in order of publication along with author & publisher Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance Puvblications (go to www.stephenkingrevisited.com to join us). I hadn't read Carrie since shortly after it was published (40 years ago) and it was fascinating to "fill in the blanks" around the main part of the story which I remembered quite well. I have a totally new appreciation for just how good this story is...and from a very young King! He was born with the gift of storytelling.

Since it has been nearly 20 years since I read many of Stephen King's books, I thought that it was probably time to start going back and re-reading some of them. I decided to start in chronological order with Carrie. Carrie is the story of an awkward teen that has been continually picked on her entire life and finally takes her revenge upon the world using long-dormant powers. In a sick sort of way you kind of root for her to take the entire town out. At any rate it is one of Stephen King's best stories with enough pulse-pounding anxiety to make you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thankfully it is really short and you can easily burn through it in a few hours. A true masterpiece from the master of horror.

So here it is. Stephen king's first book that he had published. This wasn't my first reading of stephen king. I had read INSOMNIA previously before reading this one.

Carrie is a blend of life, adolecent behavior, in crowds, blood, blood, and more blood. There seems to be an empahses on the blood.

I admit that the only reaction that I had in me, when I first read the book, was that of disturbing shock. I won't spoil anything here but there are many moments of 'ew' and 'I can believe that person did that' moments.

I was intrigued as to why stephen king used interviews and articles in his story. They were fictional but it did give the story a weight in truth. Clever gimmick, Mr. King.

I guess the book could be labeled as a tragedy. So, read it only if your are in the mood to be really down.

I choose this rating because this book was never dull from beginning to end. This so very creepy and sad and even made me angry at times.. I feel that Carrie didn't deserve to die. I feel like the things that happened to Carrie shouldn't of happen. She felt all alone and she was dealing with abuse and bullying all her life. What could she do. No one cared.

I read this book about two years ago, and I have been in love with Stephen King ever since. Before this book, I never really read. The only books I had read were the ones required for school and I despised those. The only book that I ever read for enjoyment was Where the Red Fern Grows, and that was when I was 8! I remember being in the library, seeing this on the shelf, and deciding, "Hey, what the heck, might as well give it a go." I sat down with this book and I never stopped. I read it in one day, in two sittings, only stopping once to go to the bathroom and get some water. This book completely sucks you in, and doesn't let go till the very end. The book is relatively short, the version I read was only 260 pages. This is extremely short, however, for Stephen King. Most of his books stretch from the 500 to 1000 page mark. In those, King tends to ramble a bit, but in this, because of the length, he kept with it. The only fault I really have with the book, was the "documentary" bits. The book will go a ways following Carrie, but then it will suddenly flip to an "aftermath" perspective looking back on the whole thing. I found this, while interesting, to be a tad jarring, and detracted from the story, and I found myself skipping most of these to keep with the story. All in all, I think this is a great book for anybody just getting into reading and wanting to read a short, fast-paced, scary book. If you want to get into Stephen King, and don't want to tackle the behemoths of It and The Stand, then look no further than Carrie. While not his best work, it sure isn't his worst.
Rating: 4/5

I've read both the book and watched the movie, and can attest to it's staying power. Although not as polished as his later works, the rough edges only add to the obvious torment our dark protagonist feels.
Contending with a bible-belt(?) mother and extremely evil classmates, it's a wonder that Carrie did not snap eariler. Her life seems dismal until she realizes that she has telekinetic powers that enable her to do the extraordinary.
Although the movie is low budget by today's standards (strings and wires are visible if you know where to look) this book remains very enjoyable because you can picture it happening any time. Even if it was intended to deal with the angst felt by the baby boom generation (and quite possibly the frustration women were feeling in narrowed roles)it remains relevant to my generation as well.

Sadly, I neglected this one too long! It. King manages to put faces and hearts to at least a dozen characters with brutal clarity. The characters are alive and his depictions are so spot on you smell the teen spirit and feel the hateful evil slithering within them. This doesn't just have to happen in Chamberlin; I think its every high school's story, whether the arena is the the gymnasium prom-floor or a the white-blue header of a Facebook hate page.

As with many of his novels, the first 75% rushes along at mach 3 and then you sort of know what's coming at the end - the big supernatural finale. You cringe when it does, but you keep on because it IS SK, after all, not Hocking and you just pray it makes gives SOME semblance of reason and closure. And does it? Well . . . like they say, getting there is half the fun, or in this case, ALL THE FUN.

Superbly written book, masterful crafted characters. Corny ending, in my opinion.

CARRIE is a terrific book on its own; as a debut, it is simply astonishing. King's first effort does not at all seem the work of a novice. I loved the device of using excerpts from books and articles supposedly written about Carrie White and Prom Night; these chapters give an almost documentary feel to the book. In fact, for some reason, this book reminds me vaguely of HELTER SKELTER, which was, of course, a true story.
Another thing that lends atmosphere to this is King's use of parentheses to show the reader his characters' thoughts and impressions (did he invent this? I can't think of another author who does this), giving the reader a real feeling of identity with the characters.
It is also a very moving book; in addition to being a jolly good horror story, the characters evoke real feelings of sympathy. Carrie's plight is a familiar one; King evokes the middle-class high school pecking order with devastating accuracy, and the story, ultimately, is not only scary, but very sad.
It made a very good movie, incidentally. I recommend both. I've read a lot of Stephen King, but this one is still my favorite.

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 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 very enjoyable and well worth my time. I only wish I hadn't put of reading it for so long.

Stephen King's Carrie is not so much a classic tale of horror and retribution as a study of the effects of repression. Carrie White is bullied: by her class mates who see her innocence as a thing to deride; by her mother, a religious zealot who subjects her daughter to bizarre and terrifying rituals.

Carrie also has another factor that ensures it is just a relevant today. It's well written. King ensures that Carrie White's character is no mere thumbnail sketch. He gives her depth as well as flesh, and by the time she wields her terrible power upon a town bent on shutting its gates upon her, well...we're sort of on her side.

King uses several devices that made this book different in its day. The use of letters and newspaper cuttings reminds the reader of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Horror set pieces such as: when Carrie has her first period in the shower and the spiteful reaction of her classmates; the slaughter of a pig with a sledge hammer and the notorious bucket of blood set to christen Carrie as she's crowned queen of the prom.

It's good to see that Carrie has been branded a classic. And to think if it had been up to Mr. King himself the original manuscript would not be gracing the bookshelves of adoring millions, it would still be in his kitchen bin!

Carrie is remembered generally as a story about bizarre superpowers of the mind, but it is a far deeper look into the effects of bullying at school and abuse at home. This particular edition has a very interesting foreword by King that describes the two real-life girls that were his inspiration for the Carrie character.

Yes, there are supernatural powers involved. But even more than the (very good) film, we get a look at how very natural forces shape Carrie into someone that can use those powers for destructive purposes. The book is also more balanced, with the school principal being a sympathetic character rather than yet another bully.

Blood, blood, and more blood. Menstrual blood, pig blood. Gushing blood, thickening blood. Blood dripping from fingers, spilling on legs, splattering from buckets. And a sickeningly sharp portrait of a telekinetic girl cornered by her mother and her high school piers into a dead end which offered only one way out - death. I admit I was lost at times in all the accounts of the Prom Night massacre told by different participants in different mediums, but I loved the resulting climax, the tension and the masterfully woven sense of terror. Love Stephen King, love his work, loved Carrie.

This book has a great story. It's a little slow at times, but it's a nice length and still a pretty quick read. This is the first Stephen King book I ever read, and it definitely made me want to read more. (I've read two since, and am reading another now) The last 30 or 40 pages are incredible and definitely worth chugging along through the slower scenes. I was very impressed with how tense this book got and well it ends. It's a bit of a wait for the grand finale but once it comes you just can't put it down. Carrie is really sad, and takes a while to build suspense, but considering this is King's first published novel I'd say it's probably one of his better novels out there.

This is a good book, like most of King's works. This is far from his best though, but is still a notable work.
This book has 3 parts, but the frusterating part is there is no chapters! It can be very frusterating at times. But that is the only major thing that is wrong with the book.
Storywise, this is a pretty enjoyable book. It starts with Carrie getting made fun of and pushed down into the ground, then she gets her revenge. The ending of the book is better and more shocking then the movie, while the movie has some better parts.
Overall, this book does have its flaws, but is still OK. This isn't really a book for kids, but it is tamer then a lot of his work. Still, there is bad content for youngsters, and it is somewhat scary. Enjoy it, it is fun to read King's older works and compare to the new stuff.

I could tell easily that Carrie had to have been one of King's first novels just by the way it was written. Carrie doesn't read so much like a narrative, but as a collection of different viewpoints trying to tell the same story, one of a tormented young girl with telekenetic powers who exacts revenge on those who treated her badly.
In Carrie, we read selections from the "Carrie White Commission", convened to discern why and how Carrie practically destroyed her community, from Sue Snell's autobiography, which exudes some compassion for Carrie in the aftermath, among others. Overall, the effect did not work for me: I found the book confusing and the writing just subpar of what King has since delivered. I suppose since I had seen the film version before reading the book, that made Carrie tolerable reading.
If you're new to King, I recommend The Shining or Misery, and suggest watching the film version of Carrie instead.

Carrie, one of the best books I have ever read, has a dark and mysterious aura. With the reader not truly knowing what is going to happen next. I personally have always enjoyed Stephen King's distinctive ways of telling a story. I think he is one of the most descriptive authors of all time.
The reader generally does not expect what is going to happen next in the book, as the main character doesn't either. Carrie White is not a regular girl. Everyday she gets constant ridicule and jeering, to then share wit the reader her pain is truly makes this book irresistible!

Carrie White has never had a real friend, let alone a boyfriend. Everyday she puts up with crap from people who get treated like prince and princesses. Anybody that doesn't sympathize for this girl would definitely not enjoy this book. I recommend this book to anybody who likes a sufficient story, full of life and un-imaginable things.
Though, I do not recommend this book to people with a weak stomach. Readers beware; anybody who is not used to blood and gore is not fit to handle this. This is book is a fantastic novel, I will say that this is not for the squeamish. Over all, this is an excellent book for most people who are fans of semi-realistic stories, and or Stephen King.

This is the book that started it all for Stephen King. I have read it over and over, and maybe I should give it five stars, but I can't say that it is an outstanding book. very good, though, and very much worth the effort. The story is both narrative and epistlitory in that it is a series of documents that you are reading after the fact, the way that Dracula is written. this works well, but i think keeps the reader a little distant from the characters. For Stephen King fans, this is a must read. Highly Recommend.

Carrie is, of course, a great story and great novel. I read it about 30 years ago and have seen the original movie, Carrie, many times. I just finished re-reading the book because I want it to be fresh, as I plan to see the new movie.

I've always liked the story. However, being somewhat of a romantic, I've also always longed for a completely different outcome after Carrie accepts the invitation to the prom. The first time I saw the movie, I invented a "happier ending" in my head after seeing it. Too bad there is not an "altered ending" version where Momma gets her butt locked in the "praying room" (via Carrie's talent) while Carrie goes to the prom. Carrie is elected prom queen... BUT, somehow the blood never gets poured on Carrie. She senses it, uses her powers to make Chris pay for her sins with the car wreck and perhaps a bit less spectacular version of her telekinetic episode. Momma then gets thrown into an insane asylum where she belongs, and all turns out well with Carrie actually finally fitting in after everyone sees that she is a real person and how beautiful she really is. Perhaps Tommy and her actually fall in love and eventually marry. Ah... how sweet!

But NO, it's not to be here. This is a much darker tale. Even at that, I can't help feel sorry for Carrie and actually rooting for her revenge. You might say she, ummmm, took it a bit too far, though... :)

Although Rage and The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger pre-date Carrie, this was the first novel Stephen King ever published. The rest is history. Strange how things work out. The right time, the right place and the most popular author on the planet is born. Had Carrie been published today, would Stephen King be the publishing icon that he is now? Great question. What's the answer? I doubt it. As a first novel, Carrie takes us back to high school where Carrie White, the unfortunate 'out' girl is constantly tormented by the more popular kids. Her face is not pretty and her clothes are not fashionable and her mother is a phychotic religious fanatic and that spells ultra persecution for Carrie. But....she has telekinesis. Best not to f*ck with her. Right? No, lets dump pig's blood all over her at the prom as a joke. Kids will never learn and Carrie unleashes hell on earth to those who humiliate her and those who are just unfortunate enough to be there.

Great.

Wow!

Stupendous....

Not really. Carrie is a good effort by a man who would become a legend and that is really all. There is nothing extraordinary about Carrie as a novel. It could have been written by anyone. Stephen King finds his voice very quickly in his second effort 'Salem's Lot, but Carrie is faceless and often dull, just like the main character.

Carrie

by Stephen King

Review by ericapp

Chamberlain, Maine, where Stephen King's Carrie is based is a small, quiet town. That serenity all changes when an always-teased, outcast high school senior, who just happens to be possessed with telekinetic powers, is the butt of another of her classmates' pranks, and she decides to get even with the world. The story of Carrie, whose dominating life factors are her religious-nut mother and her not-so-nice classmates, is told through magazine articles and investigative reports by witnesses and classmates who survived her onslaught.

Carrie White is one of those on-the-outs types that exist in every class. You know the sort: that person has pimples but not friends, is shy, dresses different, is not like anybody else, and is always picked on. Having been raised by an off-the-wall, domineering mother, Margaret White, who believes dating, thinking about sex, and having relationships are sin, how could Carrie be anything but dissimilar? The difference between Carrie and the exile classmates that you and I know is that Carrie possesses telekinetic powers.

In the story, Carrie experiences her period for the first time in the school's locker room shower, and she has no idea what has happened (her mother never told her). Her classmates make fun of her, and they get in trouble for it. Sue Snell, one of the disciplined classmates, is distraught for her actions and wants to make it up to Carrie. Sue coerces her boyfriend, the popular Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the senior prom. Not all of the seditious girls are as forgiving though: Chris Hargeson, another of the subversive girls, decides the senior prom is the perfect opportunity to really humiliate Carrie. After Tommy and Carrie are named king and queen and are on the stage, pig's blood pours onto Carrie from the gymnasium's ceiling. For Carrie, that's the final straw, and now it's time for revenge.

What I liked most about the book is that the characters--both the good and the bad--can be related to by most of us. Haven't we all at one time or another been nasty to those around us and also have been at the other side of the spectrum--picked on? When put in a defenseless position, a typical person will wish he either had the skill to fight back or a "special" power. Although not as good as some of his later work--like Pet Sematary and Christine--King does a good job of putting the reader in each of the character's shoes, and he also makes the characters and situations seem real. Also, the book is not nearly as gory or horrifying as advertised; it is simply a story of an out-of-the-ordinary girl who settles the score.

Though not King's best scribe, Carrie is an easy read, moves along quickly, and is always interesting. I would recommend this book for all readers.

***1/2 stars

Carrie is King's first published book, and I think it's one of his best up to date, along with The Stand and The eyes of the dragon. Carrie is a very unique character. She grew up under the surveillance of a very religious and controling mother who believed that everything related to sex was demoniac. In that kind of environment, the kid couldn't be anything but kind of crazy herself. That would be fine, if she wasn't motive of laughter in the school, and if she hadn't one very special power: telekinetics. The book is very easy to read. The reader must pay attention to every detail, so one can fully understand the subtleties of the plot. For example, the name of the protagonist is Carrie (a carrier) White (the innocence). Very good for a first try. Congratulations, Mr King.

This was the first book I ever read of Stephen King's and I was drawn in, hook, line and sinker (and a few other cliche's that come to mind). Perhaps it was that I was in high school at the time, and so are the main characters. Perhaps it was that I love the `58 Plymouth Fury, which was the focus of the novel. Perhaps it was that I love a blend of ghost stories and psychological thrillers, and Christine fit both. But I think it was all of these, and the magnificent style that Stephen King had; the way he pulled at your mind and made you feel with the characters.
The premise is not too hard to accept for any die hard horror fan: a car with a seemingly evil soul. But what draws you in is Arnie Cunningham. He is the quintessential nerd you either were, or knew in high school. You get to see this pathetec, yet lovable character taken from his own innocence by the evil of the car, and you get to see this through the eyes of his best friend. By the end you feel like you were Arnie's best friend too, right to the very end...
I have enjoyed many of Stephen King's novels since that day I picked this one up, but never have I enjoyed any of them more than this. Many have come close...but none were better.

They say the world will gobble you up if you don't stand tall.

They say the world is a nasty place if you don't know your way around.

They say being a grown up is tough.

I guess "they" never went to High School.

High school can be brutal; can be judgemental, and can be very trying. Kids bothering other kids. Kids making fun of other kids. And when your unpopular, you don't stand a chance in High School. That was the story of one girl called Carrie. A very unpopular girl, that got teased in school like everyone else, kept a secret that nobody knew. Carrie had a gift.

Carrie would concrete on something and it would move. At first scary, then sastisfying, then horrible. Carrie never thought that she would fit in anywhere and she was doomed with this "gift" for the rest of her life.

Then a kind, special thing happened. Carrie was accepted. She was floating on Cloud 9, thinking nothing can stop her now.

Except....(don't you just hate that word)...something happens....something horrible happens. The kids. The school.

And Carrie. Carrie unleashes her "gift" and the kids....well, let's just say they learned their lesson and they will never forget the unpopular girl called....Carrie.

This may shock people, but I've never actually read a work by Stephen King before now, even though I've heard of him. With Carrie though, intrigue outweighed my fear of horror and I was eagar to know, well, what made this book a classic.

I was hooked from the begining of the book, and I loved every aspect, from the narrative style to the characterisations. But if you're looking for horror, well, I didn't feel scared at all. In fact, I thought of it more as a psychological study than a horror story, with its predominant themes of bullying and a twisted bildunsroman story/ending.

A more detailed review can be found at: [...]

To treat it as just 'horror' would only do this coming-of-age-telekenetic-girl-having-her-period-for-nearly-300-pages, an injustice, because it is also an original modern All-american high school tale that is the solid writing undercurrent that carries the high concept pitch that floats on it, this his first novel saved from the bin by his wife who said 'hey, this ain't bad' while they lived in a trailer home, got King his first six digit check, the idea can be summed up the image of huge full size jesus swaying inside the neighbour's trailer living room with the daughter always kneeling down before it, King blatantly lived by the die hard writing tip #1 of -- write what you know... and that is why Carrie is so whacked out.

I read most of Stephen King's books about 10 years ago in high school, and recently I decided to buy them all and read them again. I started with "Carrie" since it was his first novel. It is less polished than his later works but he still has the same story flow that makes you keep reading. One thing I always liked about King's books is that he can change back and forth between subjects without losing you, and by making you interested in both of them. For instance, in this book the constant notes of the Carrie White commission provide premonitions of what is to happen later. Overall, I still like King a lot, especially his stuff before 1990. I'd recommend starting with this one if you haven't read his work before.

At its heart, this novel is a cautionary tale about the evil that can arise when a person is maltreated by society. Carrie's deadly powers are first manifested in this novel while she is being bullied by her classmates in the school showers, and it is the nastiness of her peers that leads to so much destruction in the end. Other themes in the novel include adolescent sexuality, religious fanaticism, and the aforementioned highschool bullying. There is plenty of emotional depth, pathos, and supernatural thrills to make Carrie a potentially GREAT book!

So why the harsh 2-star rating?

well, for some reason this very short novel (by King's standards) felt like a much longer read than it should have been. King chose to intersperse passages of news print, critical articles, legal extracts, and autobiographies into the main narration of the novel, which interrupted the flow of the story. For the first three quarters of the novel this intertextuality was a mild irritation, but then as the plot approached its climax King began to stuff more and more different extracts into the narrative, which made the pace unbearably slow (when really it should have been speeding up). i felt like i had to read through about 8 different accounts of the same event and it became very tedious! King might have been trying to make the story more "believable" by including all those extracts, but instead it produced the opposite effect!

Well, now I'm feeling a bit guilty about criticising a great writer's first novel, albeit one produced several decades ago. This obviously isnt King at the height of his powers. Its just a bit sad that the flawed structure of the story spoiled what could have been a 4-star, or maybe even a 5-star book. I'd only recommend this for aspiring writers who want to learn about some mistakes that should be avoided, or obsessed fans who feel like they need to read everything that King ever wrote. For everyone else, you might like to check out Salem's Lot or Misery (these are my personal fav's).

I never saw the movie, but I knew about "the prom" through scenes you would see here or there. I think that's why I didn't enjoy this as much as if I never heard a thing about the book. Still it's a really good read even if you do know about "the prom". Nice and short (I wish more books edited this way).

King does a great job walking the line between unbelievable and plausible. He gets how human behavior varies with the clever banter he has between his characters, just a joy to read. I'm a late comer in his fan club and I'm looking for my next King novel to read. Recommend!

'Carrie', Stephen King's first novel, is truly remarkable writing! Most authors don't have quite the stinging debut they hoped for, but this book deffinetly did, even today. The story is about a teenage girl named Carrie White who has a trumatic life, where home isn't safe, school isn't safe, and she isn't safe. She grows up with her psycho catholic mother who often locks her in the closet, and at school is constantly cutdown. cutdown doesn't even describe the humiliation and torture, the hell of carries life is the true horror in this story. So all of a sudden Carrie snaps, things start happening when she gets overwhelemed, and she starts gaining telekentic powers and hurting and killing anyone who stands in her way. I appreciated King's writing and description. He truly is a genius of his craft, and creates a realistic cast of characters. The story is really depressing, but if your like me, you enjoy reading the humiliation and torture, and keep reading in your morbid giddiness. This is my first Stephen King novel I have fully read, and I have never seen the movie, which makes the book much more fun. This is a classic.