Carrie

Imagine having the extraordinary ability to destroy all your wounds and the bullies, just with your mind. A hellish idea, but it's not just the secret to the success of "Carrie".

How did "Carrie" begin? At the start, there was Carrie. The blood dripping on the readers' heads in her first published novel. A bold novel about a woman, injustice, bullying, and religious fanaticism. And the woman's suffering even to herself. "Jesus watches from the wall, But his face is cold as stone, And if he loves me As she tells me Why do I feel so all alone?" The novel was published in 1974, before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, before the Wahhabi state in the Arabian Peninsula... before the return to the idea that a woman is shameful and sinful and should be hidden and her existence concealed. Because this is always associated with religion.

It was sad that her time was to read about a mother who was religiously fanatical in that crazy way... not even whispering to her daughter about the most important and delicate things in the life of any girl on the verge of puberty. And imagine the horror that Carrie felt in the school locker room after a physical education class, when Carrie had her first period, announcing her womanhood, but she didn't know... and she was scared of all that blood... in front of her classmates.

Her upbringing in a completely封闭, complex environment didn't make Carrie popular in school. On the contrary, it made her completely logical, strange in the eyes of her classmates, vulnerable to bullying and ridicule. Now imagine their reaction. Imagine the savagery and cruelty of the girls at that age towards those who are different, innocent by nature like Carrie... the heroine of the first "Carrie" novels, the queen of horror novels since its publication in 1974 and for generations to come. And don't forget... it's not just a horror story as much as it's the story of Carrie... the girl.

In the 1970s, Stephen King was just an English teacher and a writer of short stories based on his love for reading and movies, especially horror and thriller ones. He hadn't completed a full novel and published it yet. He was writing short stories and publishing them in some magazines at that time. Until the challenge came. The challenge was from a woman who said that all his novels were about men and he couldn't write about a woman. Challenge Accepted. He decided to write a short story about a girl... and a very sensitive topic at that. He wrote that story, the part mentioned earlier in the review. The scene of Carrie's discovery of blood in front of her classmates in the school locker room. And that Carrie also has the "ability to move things with her mind", and with her puberty and feeling all this shame and humiliation, she will bring destruction to all those who mocked her for her extraordinary ability.

He wrote this scene and threw the three pages into the wastebasket. Who would read a story about such a topic? Then his wife came, picked up the three pages, and showed her admiration for the idea that he wasn't convinced of. She encouraged him to make it a full novel and would help him write about women's issues since the whole story was centered around a woman. And so the story of Carrie was completed as a long novel. King didn't expect to receive a telegram accepting its publication for a significant amount, and for the first time in his life, a book with his name would be published. And perhaps he never expected to receive all this success and sales.

But the novel is excellent and has a unique style. That's why it deserved all this and made King move from his first novel. From his first novel, Stephen King's narrative style is cinematic or realistic, in a way that makes you read it as if you were seeing it and living it. (Also notice from King's early novels those slashes that break the narrative and which he writes what's going on in the character's mind at the time the events are taking place). Moreover, the novel itself is excellently structured, divided into three parts with a resemblance between the beginning and end of each part. (The first part, The Falling of Blood: It starts with the falling of blood and ends with the dripping of blood. The second part, The Prom: It starts with the preparation for the prom and ends with the unexpected end of the prom. The third part, The Destruction: It's a resemblance that closes the circle of the novel from the narrative of the story or excerpts from the books).

So "Carrie" is considered one of the allegorical novels. And for those who like to read Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's novels, especially the Beyond Nature series, they will definitely recognize its style. It's an old style, and you'll find a similar one in Bram Stoker's "Dracula", "1984" and others. What it means is that in addition to the natural narrative of the fictional events, the narrative is interspersed with messages, articles from newspapers and magazines, excerpts from other mostly fictional books, pages from research... and others. All these excerpts complete the story and are necessary for the course of events.

Here the novel starts with a newspaper report about a rain of stones falling on the perimeter of only one house in a neighborhood, the house of the White family where Margaret White and her daughter Carrie, who is three years old, live alone after the father's death. Then the events begin 13 years later with the terrifying and pitiful shower scene. But between each scene, you'll find excerpts from books talking about a horrible incident that happened in the town of Chamberlain, Maine. A horrible incident called "Carrie" itself. So the events move between the falling of blood at the beginning with Carrie in the normal narrative and the articles about the destruction at the end. Part goes forward and part goes backward. Until you reach the climax that doesn't need fire; the icon of King's novels and horror movies of the 1970s and even the 1990s. The falling of blood on Carrie.

The articles are not only about the end of the events, but also there is a narrative in the middle of the articles about the past of the White family and the mother's intense religious fanaticism and the incident of the falling of stones, for example. Also, there are scientific and philosophical articles about the idea of "the ability to move things with the mind" and its implications - in the light of what happened in the novel - and how the idea of conducting experiments on children and adolescents to discover who has that ability is a dangerous social idea that could lead to misusing, isolating or even classifying (executing) without guilt.

This part reminds me strongly of the stories of the "X-Men" comics, and then later of course the society of witches in Harry Potter, and the Obscurus in the wonderful movie "Fantastic Beasts". Well, the construction of this wonderful novel is a pleasure. Although you almost know the end since the first quarter of the novel, you'll find yourself following with excitement to know how all this happened. Not only because of the style, but also because of the characters.

It's hard to really like Carrie. Maybe you'll feel sorry for her, maybe it will only come later. Maybe Stephen King was really right when he felt that when writing the first scene on which the events were based. Maybe he felt a mix of sadness for such a character... pity mixed with a bit of horror. But page after page in the middle of the events, your heart must soften. When you get to know her more. You get to know Carrie... the girl. When you realize that she's like any girl... just that her mother killed her childhood and innocence with her religious fanaticism. When you realize that she's a girl whose heart is still pure despite the hatred and loathing that everyone throws at her. She's just a girl who wants to be accepted in a natural way. To be accepted in a normal way, for God's sake. She's just a girl who feels alone. She's just a girl. (Oh, mommy, I'm scared, mommy). And, after everything, at the climax of the events, if you're not affected even slightly when you read her feelings at the end... her scream as she calls out to her mother after all this... then I think you haven't given the novel a good reading. This scene affected me deeply to the point of crying... she's just a girl... calling out to her mother. (Oh, mommy, I'm sorry, mommy, where are you).

As for her mother, she's a character inspired by Stephen King's novels. Margaret White, the religious fanatic with extreme hysteria... who believes that a woman is a sinner and that blood is God's punishment for women. One who uses religion as a means to terrorize and kill life instead of nurturing it. Just like the dark sheikhs and their priests. As for the girls... between the rebellious, bullying, and deluded adolescent feelings like Christine... and the ordinary girl who, despite her flaws, still has a conscience like Sue Snell... between a teacher and a school monitor who don't pay enough attention to the students' problems, problems that could lead to disasters. Between all these characters, you'll find a good variety. Maybe the portrayal of the characters - unlike Carrie and her mother - you won't find as much development and depth as what moves the events. The course of events mostly. But this course of events and the description of the characters and their treatment with realism as if they were real characters will make you follow the events until the end with enjoyment despite all the side distractions - as is the case with King and which will increase in his future novels.

Yes, the novel has been advertised since its release that it's about the ordinary girl with extraordinary power. And the advertisement of the movie adapted from it just two years later in 1976 said that if you want a share of horror, then accompany Carrie to the prom. For God's sake, don't you think this is an injustice to Carrie? She's just a girl... only her mother killed her childhood and innocence with her religious fanaticism. She's a girl whose heart is still pure despite the hatred and loathing that everyone throws at her. She's just a girl who wants to be accepted in a natural way. To be accepted in a normal way, for God's sake. She's just a girl who feels alone. She's just a girl.

I know it's bad to quote from my references... but this part had to be repeated here. Carrie's amazing ability to move things, to destroy, is a metaphor and a symbol for the idea... that power is her nature as a woman, which the religious fanaticism and men want to suppress, and even some girls out of envy for her purity. And suppression will only lead to an explosion. Notice that the power increased and grew with her puberty... even though the phenomenon started with the falling of stones on the house. (Notice that it came with the first awareness of Carrie's puberty). (Notice King's influence by Shirley Jackson, the author of The Haunting of Hill House, and in her book, she also associated the ability to move things with the mind with the falling of stones and the time of intense stress).

Yes, you can overlook all these symbols and metaphors... and enjoy it as a thrilling horror novel with an exciting part based on real science, presented realistically and skillfully. And you can also see King as a pioneer sitting on the throne of writing this kind. Because his novels, as mentioned, offer entertainment, excitement, horror, imagination, and science. They also offer a symbol, a message, and a goal. And the challenge was completed, and Stephen King succeeded in answering that woman who said that he couldn't write about a woman. So the novel "Carrie" was completed. With the essential help and encouragement of his wife. Is there a woman behind every great man?

Mohamed Al-Arabi
From February 28, 2018
To March 5, 2018
-After reading Stephen King's latest novel... also about a woman-
Sleeping Beauties

3.5 stars

My initial foray into the world of Stephen King led me to begin with his earliest published work, Carrie, which also happens to be one of his shorter books. Having never witnessed any of the movie adaptations, yet being influenced by the omnipresent pop culture, I believed I had a general understanding of the story of Carrie and the events that unfold on prom night.

However, what truly took me by surprise was the depth of my empathy for Carrie. In this concise narrative, King masterfully crafts a complex young woman, oppressed by her overbearing and fanatically religious mother, persistently bullied, and neglected by those who should be safeguarding her. When combined with her unstable psyche and telekinesis ability, it is inevitable that the story will culminate in disaster. And when she finally reaches her breaking point and unleashes her full fury, I could fully comprehend the reasoning behind it.

I also found the format of the book quite engaging, with the narrative interspersed with articles and interviews of survivors. While at times this disrupted the flow of the story, making it feel stilted, I felt that it added an extra dimension to the plot. Nevertheless, I must admit that the text itself has not aged particularly gracefully. There are numerous racist and offhand remarks, along with scenes of violence against women that made me uncomfortable to read and seemed superfluous. Additionally, some scenes were overly detailed, such as the extensive description of Billy setting up the buckets, which felt unnecessary and convoluted.

Overall, Carrie is a decent story that I would classify as paranormal rather than horror, featuring some iconic scenes. I am glad to have read this and look forward to delving further into King's back catalogue, as he possesses some truly unique ideas and concepts.

I have this crazy idea of starting a special shelf. It would be filled with "books-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child-with-stories-of-girls-who-just-could-not-stop-gushing-blood-Down-There." But right now, aside from this concept and Bell Jar, I can't seem to think of any others. I know in Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, they just couldn't stop TALKING about it, but I think that was a bit different. It was more perplexing and annoying than truly traumatic.

Any suggestions?

Um, by the way, this book is AMAZING. I really should give it more than three stars. There! Done. Four stars it is! This is one of those books that makes you go, "DUDE, how did you even come UP with these THOUGHTS?" I mean, we might take it all for granted now, but honestly, this book is just amazing. There's so MUCH to it. From the scary religious fanatic mom to the pig's blood to the downed telephone wires and so on. I haven't read this in a hundred years, but I still remember many scenes in it so vividly, and not just because of the movie (which is, of course, also great).

I really think it took a lot of guts to write this. Take the girls' locker room scene, for example. Come ON! I mean, who did he think he WAS when he WROTE that? I think he was still drinking then. He must have been. How much courage would that take? To be like, "I'm this guy and I'm going to write this completely balls-out preposterous scene of what I imagine it could be like inside a high school girls' locker room, even though I obviously have NO IDEA. Oh, yeah, and this unpopular naked teenage girl's going to be in there getting her period for the first time, and it's going to be INSANE. Insanely bloody, that's what it's gonna be! Yeah, that's right, blood EVERYWHERE. It's a horror novel! I'm gonna start out with gore! What could possibly be more disgusting and disturbing than bleeding out of one's most private orifice? Well, I'm sure I have no idea what that's like, really can't imagine it, the whole idea sounds totally crazy to me, that such a gross thing would happen to anyone... but being inside a girls' locker room, wow, well that really sounds intense too. Though come to think of it, I have no idea what THAT would realistically be like either! So yeah, but I'm gonna write this scene anyway, gushing blood and mean naked high school girls and it's going to be COMPETELY @#*%ing CRAZY." And he did it. And it was crazy.

But it WORKED. This novel was insane and fearless. It was obviously written by someone who had this story in him that needed to gush out like Carrie's menstrual blood and crazy telekinetic angst. This is one of the books I think of when I get depressed about the idea of workshopped writing and the internal observing critic and all the rest of that limiting quality-control type stuff. Sometimes people need to tell the nasally fact-checkers in their fevered brains to sit down and shut up, and drown out the voices of reason and temperance so they can let the wild stuff come out. And when they do, that's when they write Carrie.

Is this the Classic of Western Literature? No, not by most people's standards, and definitely not by mine. But it is a damn good story, and I'm glad he told it!

\n  Everybody is invited to the Prom Dance!\n


\n  THAT ENDING THAT YOU'RE EXPECTING...\n

Finally reading Carrie is truly an interesting experience. I had already watched Brian de Palma's adaptation, so I wasn't completely in the dark about what was going to happen. However, Stephen King's writing in this book is so masterful that the novel remains engaging even if you're already familiar with the main highlights. There are some books where once you know the outcome, it's all over. The fun is spoiled, and you lose interest in reading. But in Carrie, King gives you the highlights right from the start. You don't even have to read a few pages before you know that Carrie White has telekinetic powers and that something really bad occurs on Prom Night.

\n  THE BOOK WHICH STARTED STEPHEN KING'S CAREER\n

I believe this is the best testament to Stephen King's genius in his very first published novel (although it was actually the fourth one he wrote). At that time, he couldn't have known that the book would become a huge success and a staple in the horror genre. But thinking about it now, it was a clever move not to wait too long in the narrative to reveal the main highlights. In today's world, with the internet, social networks, online news, and chatting forums, it's extremely difficult to avoid getting spoiled when something becomes popular. But with King's debut novel, it doesn't matter. You can read it almost 40 years later, knowing the story in advance, and still be captivated by the author's great management of the story's presentation.

\n  UNUSUAL BUT BRILLIANT NARRATIVE STYLE\n

Perhaps today, the way the story is told might seem relatively standard, but 40 years ago, it was visionary. The narrative plays with "current" events in the story and includes excerpts from supposed books and documents written in the "future" of the story. You also have to consider that the novel is kind of an alternate history since it's set in "1979" but was published in 1974, and there are many references to supposed investigative books with even later dates. Another powerful aspect of Carrie is that its main topic, bullying, is still as relevant today as it was in 1974. Bullying is the main trigger in the story, and unfortunately, it's a topic that remains just as important (if not more so) today. Because of this, Carrie has not aged and still retains its appeal to new readers. I think the main storyline and plot are well set and developed.

\n  GETTING INTO THEIR SKINS\n

My only criticism would be in the area of character development and the justification of some actions. While the "evil" characters like Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan are satisfyingly developed with really interesting reactions, in the case of Miss Dejardin and Sue Snell, I think their motivations to help Carrie White could have been better established. It seems a bit too sudden. More interaction between Carrie White and her mother would also have been nice. On a different note, I think there's a general misconception that Carrie White went insane or crazy. But that's not the case. She wasn't crazy. A crazy person doesn't think clearly, and it's obvious that once Carrie unleashed her rage, she took steps to protect her work that a crazy person wouldn't do. Of course, I'm not saying that Carrie was a "sane" person. She was definitely a psychopathic person, which is very different from a "crazy person." Even some events in her confrontation with her mother and later her encounter with Sue Snell leave clear evidence that Carrie White was thinking at a certain level of "rational logic," perhaps irrational to us but understandable when you try to put yourself in her shoes. Finally, the novel even leaves an open frame for a potential sequel. Forty years later, you might think that would never happen, but seeing a recently published sequel for The Shining, anything is possible.

The second King book I'm reading, and I now understand that his epithet truly reflects his literary talent. What have you gone and created, King?

The character sketching, their way of thinking, their motifs, the fragile yet powerful world of Carrie were some of the strong points of the book.

I extremely liked the structure of the story. All these excerpts from witness depositions, books, and articles about the events described gave a completely surreal feeling. I had the impression that these were real events that had actually taken place somewhere at some point. Well, now that I think about it, I must go and see if such a thing really happened.

He combined with absolute mastery all the elements of the story from third parties (thoughts, speculations) with the source, namely Carrie and her mother. He showed us where exaggeration, fanatical belief, and bullying can lead. In these few pages, he presented the harshness of teenagers and the natural reluctance of people to accept difference. Through the story, he conveyed that no matter how different a person may seem, in reality, they don't differ much. Every different person still has the same desires, the same emotions, a fragile psychology and soul. And most importantly, reading between the lines, we understand that many evils can be avoided if we show a little kindness to one another. Why are such simple and obvious things... Difficult to say? They're not difficult. Complicated? No either.

How much does it cost to be a good person?

How many Carries would have been saved?

How many consciences would have been silenced?

How many....?

It may be a horror and fantasy book, but in reality, it gives food for thought and reflection, if not of the world then of ourselves. And the whole world starts with ourselves.

His affinity for outsiders is only half the story of Stephen King's success.

His willingness to also exploit his heroes (who, as in the case of Carrie, are also the victims) is the other necessary half.

In other genres, this could have been a problem, but it is only natural when it comes to horror.

Stephen King has a unique ability to create characters that are both relatable and terrifying.

His stories often explore the dark side of human nature, and his heroes are no exception.

By exploiting their weaknesses and fears, he is able to create a sense of tension and suspense that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Still, I think that Stephen King can't compete with his adaptations, at least when they are good.

Some scenes are complete only when the movie comes out, and that's also the case with Carrie.

The movie adaptation of Carrie was able to bring the story to life in a way that the book simply couldn't.

The special effects, the acting, and the direction all contributed to making the movie a classic of the horror genre.

While Stephen King's writing is undoubtedly excellent, his adaptations are sometimes even better.

“Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not at the subconscious level where savage things grow. On the surface, all the girls in the shower room were shocked, thrilled, ashamed, or simply glad that the White b---h had taken it in the mouth again. Some of them might also have claimed surprise, but of course their claim was untrue. Carrie had been going to school with some of them since the first grade, and this had been building since that time, building slowly and immutably, in accordance with all the laws that govern human nature, building with all the steadiness of a chain reaction approaching critical mass. What none of them knew, of course, was that Carrie White was telekinetic…”

- Stephen King, Carrie

Even if Carrie was terrible, it would be worth checking out, simply because it is Stephen King’s first published novel. The author of more than sixty books and some two-hundred short stories, the unbelievably prolific King can write a 600-page behemoth in the time it takes most people to tap out a Tweet. Besides the sheer output, there is also the quality. King’s works are typically huge bestsellers, many of them so inherently cinematic that they have become beloved television shows, miniseries, and movies. The popularity is well-deserved. Despite often being pigeonholed as a “horror writer,” many of King’s novels transcend the genre and can only be judged as literary classics.

Thankfully, Carrie is not terrible. It is also – unlike some of King’s tomes – short and to the point, meaning that it is no chore to read. However, that said, Carrie isn’t all that great either, and for me, it falls under the heading of interesting more than anything else. If you were to ask whether the King novel or Brian DePalma’s iconic film version is better, I’d have to say it’s a push.

The plot is simplicity itself. It is a revenge narrative with a supernatural twist. Carrie White, the hemmed-in daughter of a hyper-religious mother, is getting bullied at school, especially after having her period in the shower. Unlike many of the dweebs, nerds, and geeks who’ve been hung in lockers or received wedgies during gym class, Carrie has an unusual gift to get back at her tormentors. She is telekinetic. And prom is coming up. That’s it in a nutshell. King can often be meandering in his plots, but this one is straightforward as it gets. Well, at least relative to King. There are still some throwaway scenes that aren’t really necessary and hint at the digressionary style King would later put to use in The Stand and It. These isolated moments are not necessarily bad – a confrontation between a principal and an irate parent is quite good – but they stand out in an otherwise lean piece of fiction.

The legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock once described the difference between surprise and suspense. Surprise is when a bomb goes off, without you knowing of its prior existence. Suspense is when you see the bomb get set, and the timer starts to count down. Both can be thrilling experiences, but suspense lasts longer, and depending on the skill of the conductor, can be drawn out to agonizing lengths. Suspense, I believe, is what King was going for with Carrie. Early on, he tells you that something terrible happens at prom. Though he is vague about the details, he keeps dropping hints as the story unspools. King also begins telegraphing who is going to live and who is going to die. The mystery – and the book’s tension – comes from discovering how all these destinations get reached.

Thus, whether Carrie works for you or not depends on how well you think that King modulates the rhythms of suspense and how well he delivers the climax. I’m going to be honest when I say that it didn’t work as well for me as I expected, despite King’s self-evident talent and full-throttle imagination. The problem, I think, is in the way Carrie is structured. Instead of being a chronological narrative, King turns this into a partially epistolary novel. There are sections in the main timeline that are told from the third-person. These sections, though, are intercut – sometimes frustratingly – with “excerpts” from books, magazine and newspaper articles, and the testimony of a post-prom board of inquiry. I imagine that King thought he was increasing the tension with these cutaways, giving us fragments of a puzzle without showing us the picture on the box. For me, though, these acted as relief valves, deflating the tension – and my interest – by drifting away from the main character.

Carrie has top billing and has achieved cultural name recognition, but due to King’s framework, she is an elusive central figure. The time we spend with her is fascinating. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, King’s true interest lies elsewhere. There are, for instance, long discussions taken from a fictional book about the science of telekinesis. These portions are doubly irritating because they both drop the main plot thread and indulge in the sin of overexplaining. It’s as though King thought no one would buy his story unless he convinced them that telekinesis was possible. As King would later learn, explaining the supernatural is not only unnecessary but entirely besides the point. I don’t need to know where the dome comes from in Under the Dome or why the pet cemetery in Pet Sematary brings the dead back to life. I only need a good tale to be derived from these notions.

The epistolary interjections become fatal – in my opinion – during the extended denouement. Showing surprising restraint – this is violent, but not graphic, at least by King standards – King delivers a rather long sequence in which Carrie’s bottled-up emotions come pouring forth. Rather than arriving at a powerful conclusion, though, King keeps interrupting the flow by cutting to the transcripts of a board of inquiry. The start-stop nature of the endgame does not maintain suspense, it empties it out. That said, Carrie is a legacy. It was fine to read, buoyed by King’s innate abilities. More than that, it is a sign of things to come, showcasing King’s genius for unforgettable characters colliding in unforgettable contexts.

I made a decision years ago that King's very first published novel would be the very first King book I would read.

This particular book holds an extremely special place within my heart, as it was the one that truly initiated my intense obsession with King's works.

Even if it hadn't been my very first encounter with his writing, it would still remain an outstanding and captivating story.

This is one of those incredibly rare books where King commences with great strength and momentum, and concludes with just as much power and impact, without succumbing to all of the typical and often unnecessary padding that can sometimes be found in the middle of a novel.

It is, without a doubt, a true masterpiece within the horror genre, capable of sending shivers down the spine and leaving a lasting impression on the reader's mind.