Back in 2015, I decided to read all of Stephen King's books - in their order of publication - and write reviews for them along the way. I managed to read the first 42 of his books, but only managed reviews for the first 8. Mostly because I was able to read on the job at that time, so I was able to continue reading even as I was unable to actually review. I've decided to take up the project again, with a few modifications - namely that I will not be reading them in publication order.
Still, I wanted to start with Carrie, King's first published book. Part of it is that I genuinely enjoy the book and wanted an excuse to re-read it. I also wanted to see how my review would change over the 6(?!) years since I had last sat down to write about it.
And honestly? It doesn't change much. This is still a solid book - King's fourth written, though the other three had not been published at the time. I don't feel the need to summarize - who doesn't know the basics of the story at this point? Instead, I want to point out a few things I didn't notice from the first go-around because I wasn't as familiar with certain tropes.
The main thing I noticed this time is how King used the framing device - a series of interviews with residents/excerpts from books written about 'the White incident' - to push forward the story in a decidedly different way than he has used since. I won't say he uses it as a crutch - he was far too talented a writer even at this early stage to use it in a lazy way - but he definitely changed how he normally writes stories for this one.
The other aspect I noted this time was his definite unfamiliarity with writing women characters. I've come across multiple 'how a man writes a woman/how a woman writes a woman' breakdowns that King, unfortunately, falls into - notably in his having several of his characters think about their breasts in a very 'male' way. Not anything book-ruining, but once I was made aware of this particular trope, it was hard not to notice it.
Otherwise, this is still a great book - not one of King's greatest, but definitely a great 'coming out' moment for King. The characters of Carrie, Sue, Chris, and Margaret all resonate still, and even lesser characters like Billy, Miss Desjardin, and Tommy still feel well-rounded. A definite recommend.
4 out of 5
Stats:
Pages: 199
Movie?: Carrie (1976), Carrie (2013)
Dark Tower?: This might be the only non-Bachman book that is not connected to The Dark Tower in some way
Child Deaths?: All of the teens killed during Prom Night. Not mentioned in the book, but possibly some killed when Carrie destroys parts of Chamberlain
No comments:
Post a Comment