A review by colin_s
Carrie by Stephen King

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Quote:

“High school isn't a very important place. When you're going you think it's a big deal, but when it's over nobody really thinks it was great unless they're beered up.”

Setting:

Taking place in Chamberlain Maine in the late 1970s we follow out main character Carrie who is a 16 year old high schooler. While our story focuses on Carrie, the town of Chamberlain is a bit of a character itself and we see several aspects of it in our short time here.

Plot:

Carrie has been bullied most of her life and we join her on one especially tough and painful bulling session. When the teacher realizes what is happen (which takes her a while at first) she jumps in and sends Carrie home while punishing those who bullied her. This leads to the bully getting upset and looking to find a way to get revenge, little does she know Carrie isn't one to mess with.

Writing:

This is the first story I've read that is epistolary in nature and at first I did not care for it at all as it can break up the flow of a story pretty badly. However towards the middle and end I started to come around as the multiple viewpoint can help the emotional pulls of certain events. Stephen King's writing as a whole is very strong for a first published novel, I look forward to reading more of both his writing and epistolary novels as well.

Characters:

Our story Follows Carrie, the books name sake, as well as her mother and several of her bullies at school. Carrie in my opinion is the only fully fleshed out character as the rest sort of fit the singular mold needed for the plot. However Sue Snell, one of the bullies who tries to repent does start to become fleshed out more towards the second half of the book.

Pros:

Very quick read
Rich writing style

Cons:

Constant flipping viewpoint slows action
Fairly one dimensional characters

Recommendation:

First off this book doesn't exactly feel like a first published work. Stephen King's writing is very strong and unique way of telling this story helps it out a lot. I'd often heard that Stephen King doesn't know how or when to end a story and while the ending of Carrie isn't anything to write home about, it certainly doesn't leave you upset either. I strongly recommend this book and plan to read more Stephen King for sure as time permits.



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