A basic story well told, Carrie by Stephen King is an easy, uncomplicated, and enjoyable read.
As with all my reviews, I’ll be objective about the writing technicalities, and specify where I feel something is valid but not to my taste. My final rating will be an average of my objective score and my personal opinion.
I use the following star scale:
1 = did not like it
2 = it was ok
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = it was amazing
There are no spoilers in this review.
So what is it?
short_synopsis
A paranormal horror in which a bullied teen girl, the titular Carrie, uses telekinesis to get revenge.
plot
The story is simple, predictable, yet satisfying. There’s a short epilogue, but really it’s told in two almost equal parts: the first is the build-up; the second is centred around one event and is basically one long finale.
The inciting incident at the beginning involves horrible bullying, and everything else spins directly from that – there are no twists or turns. We’re constantly jumping between a traditional past-tense telling of events and snippets from reports and books that tease what will happen.
When it reaches the second half, there’s some grim curiosity to find out what Carrie did, but no tension.
For me, the best scene was quite early, when the school’s principal faces off against one of the parents who’s threatening legal action. It played into the theme of bullying that ran throughout.
people
Carrie is a sympathetic character for the majority of the book, until she flips to be a caricature of a villain at the end. Whilst I could understand her initial reaction during the finale, where it went after that felt slightly unearned.
There are some odd explanations given for Carrie’s telekinesis and her history with it. Plus, she gets an extra power at the end that comes from nowhere: it felt like a convenient plot device.
Most of the kids are treated as one whole for most of the time, with only four (besides Carrie) standing out. There aren’t many shades of grey here; they’re treated as either good or bad.
place
The first half is set almost exclusively in the school and in Carrie’s home; in the second half, we take in most of the rest of the town as events spread. It feels like a typical American town – there’s not much to make it stand out; this may have been deliberate to make it seem like this could have happened anywhere.
The snippets of commission reports and survivor interviews from after the events of the book give a sense of how big a deal this was outside of the town.
prose
I can’t remember being particularly impressed by any turn of phrase, but likewise I can’t remember a clunky passage either. The author gets out of the way and tells the story in a straightforward manner that draws you in.
Considering how uncomplicated the story was, this could have been a boring read. It takes a good storyteller to make these ingredients into an engaging whole.
conclusion
Should you read Carrie? Don’t be put off if you have concerns about it being too scary or too graphic. Really, this is a tale about a girl getting revenge on her bullies, which I think most people can enjoy. If you like that kind of story and want something similar, but without the paranormal slant, I have a book to sell you.
This was my first Stephen King book. I’ll be interested to read more from him – hopefully something that’s a little less basic.
Personally, I couldn’t rate this more than a three out of five. Objectively and technically, there’s nothing wrong here, but it’s only King’s skill as a storyteller that elevates this above bland obscurity.
My score: 3 out of 5
A list of the book reviews posted to my blog is here.
