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What are readers saying about Carrie?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-12-09 02:51:11.
(Language: English)
 
First rate. Not what I thought it would be. But that's a good thing. I saw the movie, so many years ago, but it's much better than the movie. I think if the remade teh mvie, and followed how the book was written, it would make for a better movie. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-10 05:44:20.
(Language: English)
Wasn’t that impressed, it was easy to see that this was king's first book. The way he tired to tell the story from the girl’s eyes was embarrassing. The story went by too quickly and there wasn’t too much suspense. Hey I think almost everyone would like to have Carrie’s power (including me) but this book wasn't well written. King has greatly improved over the years though. Also on a ridiculous note a dry tampon is not going to stick to you if thrown at you in a certain spot, if you know what I mean. You could do it all day long and it won't happen.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-01-14 02:27:25.
(Language: English)
Revisiting Stephen King's books from the outset. His first was Carrie, about a girl with powers of telekinesis. Absolutely cracking read, which I finished in 2 days. If you have never read it, read it! Cracking!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-02 08:02:43.
(Language: English)
Okay, I decided I was going to try and read most of Stephen King’s books (as you’ve already noticed) and was curious to see how it all began. I figured that since Carrie was his earliest publication, that it might show some insight into his raw writing format. But before I start going into what I thought of it, let's go over what the general plot of the story was all about. Carrie is a teenage girl that was raised by an extremely religious single mother. Because of her living situation, she has always been criticized by her peers at school and in her neighborhood. What those people don't understand is that ever since Carrie was a child, she has always had the amazing ability to move things with her mind during the most emotional moments of her life. That ability has grown stronger now that Carrie has start menstruating and she has learned to control it and use it whenever she wants. Coincidentally, a young girl, who feels bad for her treatment of Carrie has asked her popular boyfriend to take Carrie to the senior prom. Carrie reluctantly accepts the young man's invitation and allows herself to become enthralled with the concept that she, too, can have a good time without worrying about the treatment of her peers. All of that is tested, however, when another girl who has always disliked Carrie plots a prank on Carrie during her wonderful night out. What she doesn't know is that Carrie is tired of the games and has already begun to develop the skills she needs to make anyone that attempts to make her the butt of a joke pay for their actions. I guess I was somewhat disappointed because the book is really not that long at all. It’s more like a novella if I am being completely honest. Another downside is that it’s not very well written, resembling an average story that could have been written by one of the high school students that are within the story. It’s nothing like any of King’s later works and took me forever to get into it, just “The Breathing Method” from his ‘Different Seasons’ publication. I guess that I’m glad to have read this one because I now see that a novelist doesn’t have to be as good at his beginning as he is during his prime, and people will still respect his work (which should give any of us hope if we are ever wanting to put thoughts to paper). If you want to read it, just know that this wasn’t all that good and the movie was much better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-22 09:14:11.
(Language: English)
The funny thing about King's horror novels is that the supernatural/alien/ghost/possessed/demon elements always end up far less horrifying than the actions or personalities of some of the "regular people." This novel is a perfect example. Carrie is the one with the supernatural power that is supposed to be so scary, but her fundamentalist mother, the whoreish girl who set up the prom prank, and the psychotic rapist head greaser are the characters that truely send shivers down my spine.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-29 12:29:11.
(Language: English)
Being his first novel, you can forgive the format. There are no real chapter breaks, and they are used sparingly so you are left in clumps of different story lines. Also, it can be confusing. Carrie is a novel with two stories, one with Carrie's plight as a social outcast and the other a collection of newspaper articles and reports foreshadowing the aftermath of the climax. I feel the swap from article to narrative is kind of jarring, but without it there would be little to no interest until the pay off at the end. The movie version does this well, but the book goes into deeper memories and flashbacks to flesh out the characters. A gripping and morbid affair, Carrie is a solid debut from author Stephen KIng.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-23 01:45:25.
(Language: French)
J'ai littéralement ADORE!! Effectivement, pour moi, dans ce livre, l'horreur ne se profile pas dans le sens "terreur"! Mais surtout dans le sens de la réaction des gens! Comment l'être humain peut-il être aussi cruel, comment une enfant peut-elle endurer de tels épreuves? Cette Carrie, malgré le drame terrible qu'elle a produit, peut-on lui en vouloir? Pour ma part, non! Depuis sa plus jeune enfance, elle côtoie un monde de délire, entre sa mère fanatique et la haine des autres... Ce qu'elle va subir est l'humiliation de trop, qui va déchaîner sa colère...sans limite... Je pense que ce roman peut faire réagir les gens sur les limites à ne pas dépasser...
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-11 08:22:19.
(Language: English)
Wow! I had taken a break from Stephen King for a little while because I didn't want to OD on him... well Uncle Stevie, you are awesome! I could not put this book down. I like the excerpts from other (fictional) authors. The contrasting the publications that follow the incident with the actual narration is great. It's a truly disturbing book, if not for the carnage than for the misunderstanding of the scholars evaluating the incident. It leaves you with the question of who is the monster Carrie or the people who pushed her over the edge?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-11 11:27:07.
(Language: English)
This is probably the worst book I have ever read, a little bit different from the movie adaptation with John Travolta, however the plot is similar: anti-social seeks revenge using her tele-kinetic powers. Stephen King will never be as great as Chuck Palahniuk, or Bret Easton Ellis. Maybe writing more than 200 stories and sitting at his typewriter has metamorphed him into a horrible writer, I know this is a harsh review, but for those wishing to read this novel, let me forewarn you, that it is not as scary as people say it is, nor will you like and admire the book. Sorry Stephen King.
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Marcel posted a review at 2009-12-19 04:39:28.
(Language: English)
But I would suggest that there's painting and then there's overpainting. Stephen King makes the point in his enjoyable ON WRITING that he almost never gives a precise physical description of his characters since a few shorthand and even vague references will allow the reader to fill in the rest. (i.e, Carrie was a "loser with a bad complexion" -- and since everyone who's gone through high school has known such a loser, every reader can collaborate on the details without needing to agree with the author or each other.) He's absolutely right to a great extent -- too many amateurs have their characters, especially the women (for some unknown reason), appraising themselves in front of a full-length mirror somewhere on page one. It's a cliche and a bad idea and a sign of the amateur.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-09 11:24:12.
(Language: English)
It's not nice to screw with a socially awkward high school girl who has telekinetic powers and the ability to make people catch on fire and die. CARRIE is such a well-known story that it's easy to overlook all the superior writing that went into setting up the main character and the ultra-religious mother who spawned her. Just one more deftly written master work from the best horror writer America has ever produced (sorry, Edgar Allen).
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-22 02:07:42.
(Language: English)
King's first novel, and a good one. I wasn't as big a fan of this one, though, as I was of others. Maybe it was just that I didn't always identify with Carrie, the teenage, unpopular girl who gets picked on. I mean, at some level anyone can empathize with that, but I'm a guy, I was never the kid getting picked on (nor the one doing the bullying, so I didn't identify with the bully either), and I was a little uncomfortable with a couple of the scenes early on. That said, it was extremely well-written, with an interesting stylistic technique. Parts of the story are done as excerpts from books published years after the fact--a couple scholarly books on the "TK Phenomenon" and a memoirs from one of the survivors--and I thought it was a nice touch. Worth the read if you like Stephen King, but not his best work.
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Elizabeth posted a review at 2010-06-13 01:29:07.
(Language: English)
hat's what started it all! Stephen King was bowled over when he was told that this rather short novel was going to grant him $400000 for the economic edition, back in 1974, and he probably hoped that it could mark the beginning of an astonishing - and possibly remunerative - career. Well, that's exactly what happened. "Carrie" is definitely a classic. One of those works of fiction that remain absolutely untouched by the relentless passing of time, as well as by the equally relentless alternation of paperbacks on the shelves of your bookstore. Go there, you'll find "her"…waiting for you to relive those never-to-be-forgotten hours at the prom. Carrie White is a special teenager. Her life is plagued by the manic religiousness of her mother Margareth, who's moulded her through the years into a timorous, sheepish and naive girl. She's an outcast to the eyes of her schoolmates, a defenceless victim of their unmerciful pranks. Yet she's also telekinetic, even though the power of interacting with the material world with the sheer force of her mind has surged in all its fearsome potential only in a couple of memorable occasions during her childhood. Chamberlain, Maine, has never been a pleasant place for Carrie, so when the little, hostile world surrounding her pushes her boundaries beyond the limit… her revenge will be ruthless. The story unfolds through a sequence of short paragraphs, each one different in style from the previous one. The book, in fact, features an uncommon pattern: there's the bare story, in which we're given the standard third person narration; then there are other various sources contributing to the plot, such as scraps of newspapers, pages of scientific essays dealing with the "Carrie White phenomenon", snippets of law reports or extracts from official trials and whatnot. An odd combination of styles that forced King to shift the tone of his narration from beginning to end, but which he managed to master with extremely secure hand, calibrating the suspense-factor and never allowing the pace to ease off. This is the novel of blood, which acts as the multifaceted element around which the whole story revolves. There's the blood of sin and corruption, the blood of purification and redemption, but there's also the blood of hatred, as well as the blood of revenge. Most of the characters are forced to deal with it, in one way or another, and each time its significance is pinpointed in a shocking, disturbing way. The whole work, in fact, is actually steeped in this discomforting rather than horryfying aura, which is thickened by the vividness of descriptions - even of sexual kind, being sex another pivotal, recurring element - and enhanced by the madness and meanness that literally "ooze" from the plot. One of those books that will be probably read time and again throughout the following years, both for some very well known scenes and for the original way in which it tackles a theme like the rejection of someone "different" from the standardized ruck of people.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-01 07:29:41.
(Language: English)
I recently decided to read Stephen King and I am starting at the beginning. Carrie, his first book, is about a teenage girl with telekinetic abilities. She lives with her ultra-radical fundamentalist mother and is constantly treated badly by her classmates. The intense emotional torture that she is subjected to every day leads her to lose control and use her abilities to kill and destroy. What I found most interesting about this book (besides the actual story) was the author's method of conveying the tale. He uses newspaper articles, books, and eyewitness interviews to construct the story. Sometimes the quotes reveal Carrie's past and other times they reveal later events. He shows what will happen at the conclusion early in the story in such a way that doesn't spoil the story, but rather adds to the suspense. The story is good, the characters are very real and believable, the conclusion is dramatic and explosive. The problem with Carrie is that it is forgettable. I don't feel that I've really gained much by reading it. It lacks something, and not having ventured far into the horror genre I am unable to determine exactly what's missing. I know, from reading reviews, that King improves, and I hope that the elusive, missing quality is present in Salem's Lot, which I intend to read soon.
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Kew posted a review at 2011-07-03 03:28:33.
(Language: English)
Why have I been borrowing so many random books and leaving King in the lurch? King may not be a lyrical writer, but he is *the* storyteller for me. It's so good to come back to a writer I'm familiar with and not have to struggle for weeks to finish a novel. I finished this book in almost one night, and am now curious to watch the original movie. I like how the story is told in several forms - part narrative, part post-disaster articles, part post-disaster book excerpts. My only complaint is that, while reading the book, I couldn't put a face to Carrie. King didn't describe her physical appearance consistently. However, the characterization of all the key characters was adequate, something I'm sure the movie would not be able to do.
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Louise posted a review at 2011-01-24 12:58:50.
(Language: English)
A girl with "powers" gets revenge on a group of girls who ruin her dress at the high school prom. After being teased and harrassed for the entire school year, these girls have no idea what lies ahead for them.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-31 11:30:49.
(Language: English)
Normally I'm not a King fan: The Langoliers annoyed me with its implausibility and Through the Eyes of the Dragon disgusted me with its voyeurism. But he did something right with Carrie, his first novel, which he only wrote due to the help and support of his wife. This novel, first published in 74, perfectly describes an act which is essentially a school shooting, and the psychology and social background of the shooter. Much better than the movie, King's narrative is much wider, dealing with the large social issue as well as with the thoughts and motivations of the other characters. Well worth the read. This indepth study makes Carrie more haunting than anything that goes bump in the night. For, as with any great work of horror, the monster is us.
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Jesse posted a review at 2010-02-12 06:31:39.
(Language: English)
Classic novel. This was the first Stephen King book I got hooked on, and this is now the third time I have read it. Anyone who is interested in discovering a new author should track down a copy of this book and give it a go. Even if you don't like reading, hunt down the film and give it a watch. The book does a great job at telling the events of the story through 'recognised sources' and adds an interesting aspect to a great story about a girl who never was accepted.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-28 12:01:12.
(Language: English)
This was the first Stephen King novel I read. Perversely, my father brought it to my hospital room after I was hit by a car while crossing a street when I was twelve. Thank you, dad, for starting me on a lifetime relationship with an author whose talents and range have grown as I have aged, even though you just meant it as a sick joke. I haven't re-read Carrie since I took her for that first spin around the block, but have re-visited some other of King's early works. Along the arc (or wheel?) of King's literary career, the early works do not hold up as well as his more recent offerings. However, he wouldn't get where he is without first having been where he was, so I can't rate it too low.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-30 06:13:07.
(Language: English)
This on is about a girl who had a very catholic mother who locked her in the closet for a day or two if she did something she didn`t approve. She started her period and she was so isolated from the world she didn`t know what that was and she was called a devil. She had teleknesis powers with her mind and when these kids dumped pig blood on her during her prom that she burned the school down with her mind and took care of business. Rhonda
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-29 09:29:50.
(Language: English)
This is the second Stephen King book i finished. Did i find it as good as "Thinner"? no i did not. I knew how it ended going into reading it. Everyone does, but he clearly got better writing as his career advanced.
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Louise posted a review at 2011-01-24 03:01:39.
(Language: English)
Previously reviewed on another page.
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Terry posted a review at 2008-11-01 05:18:22.
(Language: English)
I have always been a fan of Stephen King, but had never read this, his first novel, "Carrie." It was fantastic! I've always felt that King lost out when his novels were made into movies. This is not the case with "Carrie." The movie truly captured the spirit of the book; yet, the last quarter of the movie is nothing like the book -- which really made the book fun to read. One night I went to bed at 11:00 p.m. -- thought I'd only bee reading for a half-hour, but the clock read 12:38 p.m.! A fantastic book!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-05-05 02:51:34.
(Language: English)
Its a good book of terror, but i thought more about the emotional front of the science explained in that. Its difficult being different and thats Carrie for us. Saw the movie did some justice to the book there are 2 versions of movies one in 1976 with holhum and drama of a horror movie and another version in 2002 modern adaptation of an american school.
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