"Dépêche A.P. 27 mai 1979. 23 h 46.
Un sinistre d'une ampleur tragique frappe la ville de Chamberlain, Maine. Des centaines de morts..."
Une mère puritaine, obsédée par le diable et le péché; des camarades de classe dont elle est le souffre-douleur : Carrie est profondément malheureuse, laide,
toujours perdante.
Mais à seize ans resurgit en elle le souvenir d'un "don" étrange qui avait marqué fugitivement son enfance : de par sa seule volonté elle pouvait faire se déplacer des objets à distance. Et ce pouvoir réapparaît aujourd'hui, plus impérieux, plus impatient...
Une surprise bouleverse soudain la vie de Carrie lorsqu'elle est invitée au bal de l'école par Tommy Ross, le boy-friend d'une de ses ennemies, n'est-ce pas un piège plus cruel encore que les autres ?
--back cover
I often struggle with narratives where there is such overt, cruel, and public bullying happening over a long period of time. It speaks to such a large societal failure to deal with such instances that it beggars belief.
I thought I would feel the same way about Carrie, but I don't. She and her family are so messed up that people don't know what to do about them. Sue and Tommy, for good reasons or not, actually make an attempt to help her. And when it all goes to hell it does so in such a way that it becomes hard to feel that much pity for Carrie in the end.
It's a tense, fast, terrible story that never really tries to surprise you but always has you hooked in anyways. Super good read.
Review of 'Carrie (Los Jet De Plaza & Janes. Biblioteca De Stephen King. 102, 8)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is another one of those books that, being a Stephen King fan, I can’t believe I’d never read. Second book written, first one published, if I remember correctly (for what it’s worth, I don’t think Carrie was as good as [b:'Salem's Lot|11590|'Salem's Lot|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891565l/11590.SY75.jpg|3048937]).
I saw the movie a really long time ago, in the 80s or maybe the early 90s. I can’t remember very much of it at all, but I’m almost certain it wasn’t as detailed, or as gruesome or heart-wrenching, as the book.
Carrie is the ultimate story of bullying gone wrong. My book, [b:Stingers|49404106|Stingers|Graham Downs|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576660938l/49404106.SY75.jpg|40865726], doesn’t even come close (prove me wrong: read both of them and tell me what you think!). The horrors that girl’s peers put her through... not to mention the isolation her mother put her through. To be a seventeen-year-old girl and not know what a period …
This is another one of those books that, being a Stephen King fan, I can’t believe I’d never read. Second book written, first one published, if I remember correctly (for what it’s worth, I don’t think Carrie was as good as [b:'Salem's Lot|11590|'Salem's Lot|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891565l/11590.SY75.jpg|3048937]).
I saw the movie a really long time ago, in the 80s or maybe the early 90s. I can’t remember very much of it at all, but I’m almost certain it wasn’t as detailed, or as gruesome or heart-wrenching, as the book.
Carrie is the ultimate story of bullying gone wrong. My book, [b:Stingers|49404106|Stingers|Graham Downs|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576660938l/49404106.SY75.jpg|40865726], doesn’t even come close (prove me wrong: read both of them and tell me what you think!). The horrors that girl’s peers put her through... not to mention the isolation her mother put her through. To be a seventeen-year-old girl and not know what a period is, the mind boggles. It’s almost unbelievable, but then it’s just believable enough, because I can absolutely imagine some really cloistered, fundamental Christian parents being like that.
Stephen King always knew how to incite emotion with his writing, and this book is good, but it still feels like a debut novel. It’s better than millions of other debut novels, to be sure, but it’s still a debut novel. The writing’s not as tight, the voice’s not as refined; the editing’s not as good.
Again, I feel like Salem’s Lot was better in those respects. But that might be down to better editing (being the second book to be published, the publisher could’ve been prepared to devote more budget to getting it edited), and anyway it’s unfair to compare them because they’re such different stories.
Anyway, I’m glad I finally read this book. It’s a piece of history. It’s required reading for any Stephen King fan, and it’s given me massive insights into where it all began for the man.
