Stephen King's - Carrie

Carrie

Carrie is a true, American horror classic by the master of horror himself, Stephen King. Carrie, published in 1974 by Double-day publication, though it was King's sixth novel, it became his first novel to make it to publication. Carrie is the fictional documentation of a tormented girl named Carrie White in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine. Raised by her mother Margaret, a fundamental Christian fundamentalist, Carrie is misunderstood by all, being chastised by her unstable and vindictive mother at home and is misunderstood and humiliated outside of her home by her classmates. What separated Carrie from other novels that attempt to portray the Anti-Cinderella story is one key detail: Carrie White is telekinetic. As the story progresses and the anxieties that bombard Carrie's life slowly build up to the final climax, which, though it is foreshadowed throughout the story, it is not, fully appreciated until King is able to break down every raw and horrifying detail. Besides the obviously great (yet horrifying) plot, King's use of multiple viewpoints and use of the epistolary structure intertwines seamlessly to create a sense of anxiousness and suspense. In using multiple viewpoints in the story, King is able to illustrate each characters true motive. An example would be how Sue Smell, one of the popular girls and earlier antagonist actually feels remorse for her actions and actually attempts to make amends for her earlier mistakes. King's use of epistolary in the form of letter, documented accounts and newspaper clippings was another great tool to help keep the reader interested and in suspense. In using this epistolary structure, King is able to foreshadow to the eventual climax and buildup with short bits of information that helps tie the story together in the end. What I personally enjoyed from the book and got out of it was the climax. Though the actual event seems psychotic and extreme, it was satisfying to see the underdog get their revenge and the last laugh. King's writing style, which tries to keep the reader in suspense, is a welcome change from the expected ending of other writers. King is able to throw a curve ball, fun to the very end where he gives a bittersweet irony to an unsuspecting character. From it's humble starting on a portable typewriter in a trailer in a Hermon, Maine to becoming one of the most frequently banned booths in U.S. schools, Carrie has always been a book of unknowing adventure. One of the greatest horror classics of all time, Carrie will leave it's reader with mixed feelings of awe and distraught. I recommend this book to any reader looking to be on a rollercoaster of suspense form beginning to end.

*As posed in another thread