Book Review: Carrie by Stephen King

Carrie may be picked on by her classmates, but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem. Then, an act of kindness, as spontaneous as the vicious taunts of her classmates, offers Carrie a chance to be normal...until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of horror and destruction that no one will ever forget. (Carrie)

Where to begin.

As I was reading this book, the main emotion felt was sadness. And this is because Carrie reads more like a suspenseful tragedy than a terrifying gore fest--although the book is not lacking in blood. It is a tragic account of a powerful yet broken girl who is finally pushed to her breaking point. Carrie White is a lonely, telekinetic, teenage girl, bullied by her classmates, misunderstood by her teachers and neighbors, and tormented by her equally outcast mother--a religious fanatic.

When I picked up Carrie from the bookstore, eager to feed my new craving for anything Stephen King put to print, I expected to scream "The horror! The horror!" as I read this story of an adolescent reeking apocalyptic havoc on a small town. But I was surprised by my overshadowing sorrow and remorse for her.

Saying that Carrie was bullied is an understatement. The girl was practically tortured. And there was no comfort waiting for her with open arms when she returned home everyday. Instead her own mother considered her to be a living sin. You ached for Carrie when she was beaten, you ached for Carrie when she was the cause of cruel laughter, you ached for Carrie when she was scorned, you ached for Carrie when she was considered less than human. You ached for Carrie. She was a terrified young girl as frightened of her super powers as she was of her late-coming menstrual cycle. This wasn't the story of a monster born, this was the story of a monster created. By the time the story had reached its climax, I could definitely see why Carrie was driven to famously come into her power and seek violent vengeance. And I have to say, part of me was rooting for her--not to kill and destroy, but to stand in her power and rid herself of being the victim.

“She did not know if her gift came from the lord of light or of darkness, and now, finally finding that she didn't care which, she was overcome with almost indescribable relief, as if a huge weight, long carried, had slipped from her shoulders.”

The book doesn't get too deep into character development or sub-plots (the story is less than 300 pages), but there is just enough of both to be satisfying for a book so short. The "bad" characters had their complexities like the "good" characters. Everyone was pretty much in the grey area (well...dark grey.). No black and white, two dimensional, cardboard cutouts here. And I enjoyed the way the book unfolded. It's a quick story told through a series of articles, scientific journals, news reports, interviews, and third-person accounts. You jump back and forth between past and present, and there are really no surprises. You know as soon as you read the first page how the story will end. But Stephen King did a great job of pacing the story, leaving you with just enough suspense to keep you reading until you reach the inevitable.

This was King's first published novel and while it wasn't my favorite of his books, I enjoyed it as a story that affected me in a way I definitely didn't expect. There was still plenty of horror, drama, shock, suspense and of course blood. It's definitely a Stephen King classic you should add to your list, especially if you're curious to take your first peek behind the horror genre curtain. 

(5/5⭐)


                                                                            xo Nina