You can tell this was King’s first book; I’ve read seven books by him so far, and this was probably my least favorite. Yes, you can see the groundwork that made King’s writing what it is, but my main impressions are just “boy, did you seem to have parent/child relationship issue”, “so I see where your crude sex obsession originated”, and “well, I’ve read it, and I’m not in that much of a hurry if at all) to ever do that again.”
Having only seen the Sissy Spacek version of the movie (and only from the prom onwards at that), reading the book caused me to realize how vastly I misjudged both Carrie’s looks and the fact of how much she completely and utterly loathed her mother. Wonder why King is so fond of giving children telekinetic powers in his novels? (Carrie, The Shining, Firestarter?) I realize High School girls probably would do it, but what is so derision-worthy about getting your period? Are we all supposed to pretend that it doesn’t happen? I wonder if Carrie saw herself more as a modern-day Joan of Arc, or as the avenging Archangel Michael?
This book left me with many questions. How did the gym teacher escape the gym? Did Chris’s father survive, and if so, did he try to sue someone for her death? Who would he sue anyway? The town? The school board? Sue Snell for suggesting Tommy take Carrie to the Prom in the first place? The gym teacher for punishing Chris, and therefore getting her back up enough to decide to prank Carrie? What’s the insinuation, that Tommy’s vote is what dooms them all? What is King saying, that Margaret was a Shaker without calling herself one? Because Margaret White goes to show what is wrong with any extreme religious fanatic.
Maybe Carrie should’ve just used her powers to get money and a bus ticket out of Chamberlain, Maine and away from her mother instead of going to Prom. Maybe a convent would have been the best option. Though congratulations people; you managed to have a religious fanatic to stop caring if her powers came from God or the Devil, as long as she can kill a boatload of people with them. I appreciate the insinuation that Carrie was just as religiously nuts as her mother, albeit in a slightly different form. I do think it was a nice touch to have the book begin and end with menstrual blood. I would suppose Sue Snell probably never did a good, charitable deed for anyone ever again.
But the main fact is, no one in this book is particularly likable; though I suppose that is King’s aim. You don’t need telekinesis to be a villain; you just have to be oh so human.
(Reading the book, I imagined that Carrie’s eyes always looked like that. Or, like if you hit her in the head with a 2×4, it would take a week or so for the pain to register. Not sure which fits more.)
Still have It left to read (out of the King books I own), and then I’m going to give serious thought to what, if any, books of his I’m going to read from there. Maybe The Stand, maybe not. This book did however make me glad I skipped my Prom.
