I was on my way to becoming an adult. And I think I realized then that what scares us is growing up. It is the end of our learning how to live stage - that is, the childhood stage - and the beginning of learning how to die.

If you have seen the movie based on the novel, forget it completely and come here to embark on new and different horizons that will keep your souls captive despite your belief that you know in advance what will happen, but you will discover how much you have imagined. As usual, King plays with us an idea that is not entirely new and if he has dealt with it in a style, let's say you won't find it with others.

The heroes, in my opinion, were three, each of them was different in the end until everything became one that does not accept division except for itself. The old Libyan who sold the car, the teenager Arnie who bought the car, and the car itself.

In the few hundred pages that you will devour with accusations, I can only leave you with the novel that every time I endeavored to add another word, I thought I would burn the fast-paced events that I hope you will enjoy.

Okay, enough is enough. I've been postponing writing reviews for months. The reason? I prefer them to be extensive and well-thought-out, complete with quotes, clear pros and cons, and everything. But it turns out that when it comes to writing these, I procrastinate like crazy just because I think "they need to be perfect". Well, that's over now. I haven't been very active here for a long time, but that's about to change.

Now, let's talk about Christine. The book began beautifully. There was just the right amount of foreshadowing and mystery to keep me engaged for page after page. I adored the way Christine the car started to haunt Arnie and gradually change him, first subtly and then more forcefully. The death scenes when Christine acts on her own are also written splendidly. I particularly loved the scene where her dashboard lights turn into eyes as Leigh is choking.

So, what was my issue with the book? Well, it dragged on for far too long. I can't quite put my finger on the exact moment when I first started to feel this way, but I found myself reading and thinking, "Why doesn't this end?? What else could there possibly be??" At some point during that, the "magic" of the book wore off, and it became tiresome.

However, my biggest gripe with the book is something entirely different. The fact that Christine wasn't actually a sentient car, but was merely haunted by the ghost of her previous owner. This immediately made me lose interest because I was hoping for a story about a monster (a sentient car would definitely count as a monster for me), not a story about an evil person who continued to be evil in the afterlife and, predictably, ~never fully went away~. There are parts that suggest that Christine was already somewhat sentient and evil on her own even before LeBay got her and added his negative energy to her. For example, there's a mention of "the terrible female power in Christine" (paraphrased). But still, we're told that Christine only "moves by herself" when LeBay's ghost is driving her, which requires all of his willpower (Arnie says that the only times LeBay leaves him alone is when he's driving Christine). So, without the ghost, Christine wouldn't be able to move, and that makes her a haunted car, giving the book a rather dull plot of "It was a human's fault all along!!" At least, it was dull for me.

Maybe the above criticism is just a matter of personal preference. For me, though, it would have been so much more interesting if LeBay was just Christine's victim and nothing more instead of being the mastermind behind it all (for lack of a better term). But hey, I'm not King, and I'm not a bestselling author like him, so take my thoughts as you will.

Christine holds special significance for me.

Firstly, it is the only book by Stephen King that I have read, which led me to copy the movie (although the movie, despite being directed by John Carpenter, falls far short of the book).

Secondly, it was the catalyst for my return to reading, which had been overshadowed by my love for music. It enabled me to start buying books without restraint and made me read it non-stop in two days.

The story is told from the perspective of Arnie Cunningham (the unfortunate and possessed Arnie), with the events recounted by his best friend, Dennis Guilder, and finally, in the third part, by King himself, as he takes the wheel of Christine. That 1958 Plymouth Fury is a true killing gem!

Overall, Christine has had a profound impact on my reading habits and my appreciation for the power of a great story. It has shown me that sometimes, the simplest of things can have the greatest effect.

I will always remember Christine as the book that brought me back to the wonderful world of reading.