Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Christine

by Stephen King, Marie Milpois (Translator)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 · rating details · 83,787 ratings · 965 reviews

Evil is alive in Libertyville. It inhabits a custom-painted red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury and the teenage boy, Arnold Cunningham, who buys it from the strange Roland LeBay.

Helped by Arnold's girlfriend Leigh Cabot, Dennis Guilder embarks to find out the real truth behind Christine and finds more than he bargained for: from murder, to suicide, and a strange feeling that...more

Paperback, 411 pages

Published June 13th 2001 by LGF (first published April 29th 1983)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best of Stephen King

27th out of 95 books — 1,566 voters

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

The BOOK was BETTER than the MOVIE

164th out of 1,145 books — 14,888 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 26, 2013 Dirk Grobbelaar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, horror

If I admitted that I probably enjoyed this more than The Shining – would that amount to sacrilege?

Good Review vs Evil Review

Good Review
There isn’t much I didn’t particularly enjoy about the novel, except perhaps for one or two pacing issues. Then again, the book is only about 500 pages, which is a lot less than some of those other King books. It is incredibly creepy at times, which I found surprising, since the idea of a “haunted car” might seem a bit, well, corny. It’s everything but. In fact...more

26 likes · like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Finished this book last night. This was my first real attempt at a Stephen King novel. The Mist had me warmed up to King and I figured I'd snag an other good ol' book of his from my library. Unlike the mist, this finally had an ending (which I'm glad about because after over 500 pages, I would have screamed if it left it with no closure). Sure, it wasn't exactly the happiest and there were still a few things left open ended but it was sufficient. My only question now is:
Does Stephen King have ra...more

10 likes · like · see review

May 01, 2012 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Christine is not one of Stephen King's greatest works by any means, but it is still a good story with moments of real suspense and terror. I feel that one of King's biggest short-comings with this novel was having the tale told by a future Dennis. To me, this takes away a lot of suspense from some of the most tense scenes in the book because the reader is being told the tale by a character who is involved in a near-death experience, therefore revealing that the narrator survived his experience....more

8 likes · like · see review

Dec 27, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, own-book-form

Finally have read this one. Great book - it almost completely follows the movie but there is a major difference to be had. While the events are the same basically, the story behind it is altered majorly. I was a bit peeved about Dennis and Leigh, and it was odd with King's point of view -- for the first 200 pages or so he told the story through first-person (Dennis, the friend.) Suddenly, he switches to multiple viewpoints until page 350 or so. Then he stays in first person, Dennis only, for the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 19, 2007 Kerstin rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have a real guilty-pleasure, love/love realtionship with Stephen King books. I don't care how literarily unhip that is. Christine was the first big-girl book I ever read--I was in the fourth grade and we'd just moved to California. I didn't have any friends or anywhere to go yet, so I spent my days poking around in the library, like any good nerd. I'd heard somewhere that Stephen King books contained scandalous curse words, so I picked it out of the library's King collection because the title...more

32 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king

Saw the movie first and the book is so much better (I know it always is but this movie wasn't bad so..) It will make you think twice before walking up on a car alone in the dark.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 04, 2011 John Dow rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Took me a long time to read this, due to various external factors, but it was well worth the effort. I think I was about 14 when I read it the first time and the re-reading brought back a whole pile of happy (and not so happy) memories. It seems that books have an ability to connect me to my past that nothing else comes close to.

4 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2013 Walter Przybylowski rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excessively, King spends five hundred pages on what amounts to a haunted car story. He never meets the challenge brought by the excess and, breaking the narrative into three almost novella-like sections, you can see him, like a war surgeon, sewing the pieces together, hoping it all works out. Christine, from 2013, now reads like the precursor to so many anime and science-fiction tales of disaffected youth merging flesh and technology for autonomy, but losing their soul in the process. King's app...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 05, 2013 *~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis) rated it 5 of 5 stars

I fell in love with this book. I zoomed right through it in a matter of three days. First, the character, Arnie, reminded me strongly of someone I know in real life, as did other characters and their actions. Arnie was strikingly like people I know, even when he became possessed. It wAs creepy, and I know I'll steer clear of that person for they might have some dead person rising with them.

I thought it was so cool, how Arnie seemed to be shifting from who he was to someone else entirely who had...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Katia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ce roman met en scène Christine, une voiture qui a tout d'une femme, et qui ensorcèle Arnie. Peu de surprise, dès le départ l'ambiance que crée l'auteur laisse présager que cette voiture n'est pas un simple véhicule, mais un protagoniste à part entière, et pas des plus gentil. La suite du roman ne fait que confirmer cette idée, et pourtant on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde. Chaque personnage sait attirer notre attention par son histoire, ses questionnements et son expérience ; chaque personnage est...more

like · see review

Jan 08, 2013 Daniel Padulo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Christine by Stephen King was without a doubt one of Stephen King's best novels just from the fact that he made such a suspenseful and scary novel using a car as the murderer. The story is about Dennis' nerdy best friend Arnie who buys a car off a strange man and the car just so happens to be possessed. The car (named Christine) seems to come alive and wants only Arnie; in fact, it would kill for him. With Christine murdering anyone who gets in the way of it and Arnie, Arnie has no choice but to...more

like · see review

Oct 01, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-fiction

Above average. Not great, but entertaining.

STORY BRIEF:
Unpopular pimply faced high school senior Arnie falls in love at first sight with a used car. He buys it. It’s obsessive love. There are supernatural elements to this car. Arnie has one good friend Dennis who narrates the story.

OPINION:
A lot of the story is depicting high school and family life with interesting and engaging characters, dialogue, and events. The other part is the car and the supernatural. I love revenge stories, and the car g...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 17, 2012 Tom M rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A 1958 Plymouth Fury takes on a mind of it's own.

After suspending disbelief, I really enjoyed this book. King's automotive descriptions relating to the Fury were detailed, the way he describes Arnie's transformation into ______ (no spoilers here), and how people keep mysteriously dying when nobody is around, I thought, were told well. Most importantly, the ending; I had no idea where King was going with it and I wasn't disappointed. The epilogue also pleased me as I enjoy that type of plot devic...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 26, 2012 Gilbert Patten-Elliott rated it 4 of 5 stars

I decided to read this book because I got it for christmas.
It is about a nerdy guy called Arnie who buys a car because he falls in love with it from the moment he sees it. His friend Dennis doesn't like the car, he thinks there's something dodgy about it, but he doesn't know what. People are found dead and the deaths are linked to the car.
Dennis knows whats happening but no one would believe it. It's up to dennis to do something but there's something happening to Arnie too. It's like he's posse...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 21, 2012 David Sarkies rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I have read a few Stephen King books and I must say that my favourites so far would be this book and Firestarter. In high school my English teacher had a chip on his shoulder regarding Stephen King books, referring to them a pulp literature and airport trash (a term that he used to describe books that you purchase at airport bookshops to read on the plane, his thoughts being that such books tend to have little literary merit and are simply read to while away the time). While I had read quite a...more I have read a few Stephen King books and I must say that my favourites so far would be this book and Firestarter. In high school my English teacher had a chip on his shoulder regarding Stephen King books, referring to them a pulp literature and airport trash (a term that he used to describe books that you purchase at airport bookshops to read on the plane, his thoughts being that such books tend to have little literary merit and are simply read to while away the time). While I had read quite a lot of books up until that time, I held the belief that simply reading was a beneficial activity, and it was only when I started his class that it was suggested that while reading was good, one needs to be selective of the books that one reads because not every book is considered to be literature. While I do sort of agree, one of the things that I decided to do (though I should have performed this challenge when I was in his class) was to question his opinion in relation to whether Stephen King does have any literary merit.
Stephen King did cause a bit of controversy recently when he said "If you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that." One might suggest that he has a personal interest in people being able to read (namely so that they will by his books), but remember that he has had quite a few of his books adapted for the cinema, so one does not necessarily need to be able to read to enjoy a Stephen King story (though I must suggest that I do prefer the books to the films in pretty much every case). However I do believe that he has a point. While one might have a few more employment options beyond the army if one cannot read, they do tend to be quite limited. He is right in that being able to read gives one a choice, a choice in what job they will want do, and the ability to think and reason. Reading is important, and more important than simply creating a market for a author to sell their books.
We all know Stephen King as being a horror novelist, and that he is, but in many cases his books do tend to have a science-fiction or fantasy element to them. King is actually one of the only horror writers that I have ever read, and I find that his books have a distinctive quality to them. I get the same feel from the adaptations that have been made of his books. When I think of horror movies I generally think of slasher flicks like Nightmare on Elm Street and the like, and while some of King's stories do have a slasher element to them, as well as demonic antagonists, there tends to be a deeper aspect to his horror than simply running away from a guy wearing hedge-clippers. His horror tends to reflect real situations and how these real situations can haunt us.
Christine is an example of this. Granted that the movie is about a demon possessed car, but the horror of the story is not so much the demon that possesses the car, but how the car itself becomes such a focus of the hero's life that the car itself begins to possess him. The horror of the story is basically about how our possessions cease to be owned by us and begin to own us rather than a demon possessed car running the streets of small town America killing people at random. In fact, Christine (which is the name of the car) does not seem to actually kill people at random, but rather will have a purpose in killing people, and it is usually in defense of Arnie (the protagonist).
I do not think the car has Arnie's best interests at heart, and that is usually the case in such stories. While it appears that Christine is Arnie's superhero friend (for want of a better word) it is Arnie that is being used and drained. The changes begin very subtly, and begin after he purchases the car as an old wreck. However, as he begins to clean it, the car itself begins to repair itself (though this goes unnoticed by him). It is at the beginning as Arnie lovingly attempts to return Christine to for former glory that we at first see the slight changes in his own personality. He begins the story as the local nerd, is elevated during the story to one of the popular boys, but then his newfound status slowly corrupts him and he finishes up becoming a shadow of the person that he once was.
It is suggestive of anything that we seek to change who we are. It is like many of us in our teenage years. We seek companionship, popularity, and to be one of the in crowd. Sometimes we get there, and in many cases it does take time. Sometimes, though, we try to artificially create it (as happens in Arnie's case), and while the change may come quickly, it is not without a price. Many times we actually ignore and forget the people who really are our friends, the people who will stick by us through thick and thin. Christine is a story about those challenges, and a boy who tries to take a short cut their. At first it seems innocent, but it is like a snowball, getting bigger and faster as it rolls down hill until its destructive power ruins all that we love and cherish.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Damon Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 12th-grade-advisory-books

503 pages

It was in the 1970’s where Dennis Guilder and Arnold Cunningham found a red Plymouth Fury, it was an old and used car, it was DILAPDATING. The owner makes Arnie a deal and sold the car for $250. The name of the car was Christine and Dennis and Arnold decides to buy it, while Arnie was in the house with the owner doing the papers and stuff, Dennis hops in the car. Dennis felt as though he was in the 1950’s he was freaked out and warned him not to get it. This is where it really gave me...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 12, 2011 Jade rated it 4 of 5 stars

Christine and Carrie were the first two books I had ever read from Stephen King and I personally think they're two of the best he's ever written--greatly because they were early works and that's where King truly thrives. At first I wasn't sure how I would be able to connect to a book with a demonic car, but as I read I got it. I can relate to Arnie Cunningham and his love with this car. I've got an older muscle car and the pure power makes you fall in love with it. Only Arnie gets to make it bea...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 13, 2011 Wayne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of King's earlier works which I had never read. There are only a couple more, which I am rationing, lest I end up having to face the fact that there are no SK books I have not read unless a new one comes out. Luckily that seems to happen with some regularity, but it is still a fact I will resist having come to pass, at least for now.
Anyway, to the book at hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it. Old King works have a magic to them that the new stuff still can't captur...more

like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 Vicki G rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is yet another reason why I don't like him. He thinks he's allowed to change all the rules of fiction then stand there with his thumb in his nose at the rest of the world's authors, as if to say 'Nya nya ha ha, I can do what I want and everyone else has to follow the rules.'
But switching from third-person to first-person or first-person to third-person wasn't really necessary in this story, and I feel like he just did it for that very reason of giving a mental (if not an outright obvious) h...more This is yet another reason why I don't like him. He thinks he's allowed to change all the rules of fiction then stand there with his thumb in his nose at the rest of the world's authors, as if to say 'Nya nya ha ha, I can do what I want and everyone else has to follow the rules.'
But switching from third-person to first-person or first-person to third-person wasn't really necessary in this story, and I feel like he just did it for that very reason of giving a mental (if not an outright obvious) ha-ha to people who CAN'T do the same.
He could have, at the very least, had the narrating person mention that a friend takes over telling the story after the narrator gets hurt and goes to the hospital--instead of dropping into third-person out of nowhere just b/c that's what the author can do so, by God, he's going to do it.
At least it would have made more sense to the story's ending if the narrator had mentioned it (or even if the friend of the narrator had said something.

I don't like anything about him and find even less to recommend him, and really don't care who that pisses off. If you have to like a person just so it doesn't make someone online upset then you might as well go offline.
You're not going to like someone just b/c someone ELSE likes him. Nobody is, but I definitely won't. And I believe in being myself even if it costs me a 'friend,' b/c I don't believe someone is really a friend if the person stops liking you for such a dumb reason. Or dumb IMO.
I like LOTS of people who claim they like George Bush Jr., but merely liking him isn't exactly what I'd call a sin, even if I don't agree with anything he does, which I personally don't. But it's not that simple to just stop liking someone else, b/c said person likes a famous person you happen to dislike or vice versa. Anyway, I've had people drop me like a hot potato on Facebook too, as soon as they hear that President Obama inspires me.
They don't think to ask WHY he does, they just make their assumptions and leave--and have been wrong every time, b/c the deficit has nothing to do w/ what it is about him that inspired me.
The point is that it's not that simple to judge a person you see on a daily basis, I don't see how in the world anyone can think they have the right to do so when they don't even see them at all--as is the case in probably 99% of online relationships.
The whole thing around online 'relationships' frankly baffles all hell out of me.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Geoff added it · review of another edition

This is a pretty good King book – it ranks up there with some of his best work. I was surprised by this, so this was an enjoyable surprise. The Reader of the audio does a good job, not fantastic, but well. I especially like the way the reader changed his voice for Arnie; when Arnie was in control and when he wasn’t. So the audio version is a good way to absorb this book.

The story starts right away with Arnie Cunningham and his best friend, Dennis Guilder, coming across the car known as Christine...more This is a pretty good King book – it ranks up there with some of his best work. I was surprised by this, so this was an enjoyable surprise. The Reader of the audio does a good job, not fantastic, but well. I especially like the way the reader changed his voice for Arnie; when Arnie was in control and when he wasn’t. So the audio version is a good way to absorb this book.

The story starts right away with Arnie Cunningham and his best friend, Dennis Guilder, coming across the car known as Christine for sale in the front yard of Roland DeBay. The car is a piece of junk but to Dennis’ amazement Arnie buys the car. What follows is the rapid decay of Arnie and his obsession with his new car Christine, a 1958 Plymouth Fury (the story is set in the late 70’s). Christine has a supernatural aura around her and it has taken a hold of Arnie, and Arnie changes dramatically for the worst. Arnie now spends all his time fixing the car at Will Darnell’s garage; he forsakes Dennis (who gets injured during a football game) along with his family and focuses mostly on the car. During the time of this novel Arnie gets a girlfriend and loses a girlfriend named Leigh Cabot. She loves Arnie but knows there is something bad about the car. Dennis and Leigh are the only people who know Christine is not a normal car, and they are really the only help for Arnie even though Arnie doesn’t want their help. Obviously since this is a horror story, things don’t go very well for Arnie or many of the characters in the novel.

The character development along with the back-history and mythology of Roland LeBay’s Plymouth Fury named Christine is top-notch and it is what makes this story so engaging. You come to know all the characters so well and become attached to them, we get about 6 months of time here so we all get a half-year to live the lives of these characters. The mystery surrounding Arnie, and Christine, and the murders that keep happening are all interesting and keeps you wondering at how it’s going to end up. And the ending is a good one for King. Sometimes King doesn’t always put together a solid ending – here he does. From start-to-finish this book was rock solid storytelling that was fun to read/listen to.(less)

like · see review

Jul 20, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ever wondered about those guys who say: “I love my car”, and look like they really mean it? Have you ever sympathized with wives and girlfriends who had a pained expression on their face as they complained: “He loves that car more than me”?
Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Fury, as red as the blood spilt during every term of ownership, in one of author Stephen King’s best horror stories about man’s abiding passion for cars, the need for speed, a greedy jealous love, and an obsession that turns into p...more Ever wondered about those guys who say: “I love my car”, and look like they really mean it? Have you ever sympathized with wives and girlfriends who had a pained expression on their face as they complained: “He loves that car more than me”?
Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Fury, as red as the blood spilt during every term of ownership, in one of author Stephen King’s best horror stories about man’s abiding passion for cars, the need for speed, a greedy jealous love, and an obsession that turns into possession.
Arnie Cunningham is a lonely dork, bullied and rejected at school because of his looks and demeanor, in a plot thread reminiscent of King’s earlier book, Carrie, with the tormented being pushed to breaking point and taking bloody revenge on their tormentors. In Christine, the bullies are rebel Buddy Repperton and his gang, who torture weaker kids whenever they get the chance. Arnie’s only friend is football playing jock, Dennis Guilder, who narrates the story as a witness to the unfolding horror and ensuing tragedy. Arnie’s talent and passion is for auto-mechanics and he yearns for his own set of wheels. When he sees Christine, rusting and rotting away, in caustic old timer Roland D. Lebay’s driveway, it’s love at first sight.
Unknown to Arnie, Christine is possessed by a malign evil force that at first seduces and then destroys every owner.
Arnie’s attitude changes with his taste in clothes. His mood becomes darker and belligerent as he fixes up Christine, wins the most lusted-after girl in school, Leigh Cabot, and then alienates both his parents and Dennis.
For a while, Christine becomes the only good thing in Arnie’s life. She makes him feel invincible. But, like some bad people in society; the narcissistic, the sociopathic, those with no conscience who use, discard when there’s nothing left, then move on to the next victim, Christine is spiteful, seductively evil and relentless in her quest to take her owners on a fast ride straight to hell.
It was filmed and directed by John Carpenter in 1983 and still stands as one of the most memorable movies of that decade, with an effective soundtrack and some great moments, particularly in the scene where the car rebuilds itself as Arnie watches on, and other scenes where the car communicates via the lyrics of rock ‘n’ roll songs from the era it was built.
Like Arnie points out: the thing about love … it eats … it has a voracious, all-consuming appetite, leaving no room for anything or anyone else.
How far will you go for your love?
When you look at that prized possession in your life, that which Stephen King might have referred to in another of his stories as a “needful thing”, ask yourself a question: do you own it, or does it own you? (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 27, 2011 Bre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: got-me-into-reading

I loved this book- In fact, it is the first ever Stephen King book that I have ever read.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just lightly give a short summary of what I thought about 'Carrie'.

When I heard that 'Carrie' it was about a High School girl going through 'problems', it instantly made me think that this was an overall mediocre book. But, alas, I picked it off the shelf anyways.
My thoughts before I read 'Carrie' were completely obliterated once I was into the first few pages. The w...more

like · see review

Apr 21, 2011 Austin James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I was skeptical about this book because I'm not interested in cars... I don't know how to drive, I'm not interested in car mechanics, and a book about a "killer" car didn't sound like a great plot.

But that was before. Now, I'm glad I read the book. I really liked it. It's not just about a car... it's about youth, the freedom that comes with growing up (symbolized by getting your first car), and the trouble that comes with growing up... it's also a damn good story.

I didn't find this to be as scar...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 10, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: King Fans

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, horror, popular-fiction, fiction, novels

This isn't my favorite by a long-shot of King's novels. I'd name The Shining and Salem's Lot as his scariest, It (despite all its many flaws) the most moving and Cujo the most harrowing among those novels by King I've read. Unusual among the King novels I've read because much of it--the first and third parts--are told first person by Dennis, a friend of Arnie, a teen who will come to possess--and be possessed--by "Christine"--a red Plymouth Fury--a demonic automobile. That might sound cheesy--an...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 09, 2012 Crosby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read purely for entertainment. I mostly read non-fiction but occasionally will pick up a book for no reason other than to just to enjoy someone else's imagination. Stephen King is obviously a person with a tremendous imagination albeit warped occasionally. Anyway, for those who like Stephen King, I imagine that they will like this book. Especially if they enjoy his ability to build tension and horror. It seems to be ideal for the guy that likes cars, girls, sports, food, and especially music. Th...more

like · see review

Apr 25, 2012 Anirban Ganguly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Where do I begin to describe Christine. Let me be the first one to admit, before starting the books I did not have very many high hopes. I mean I think Stephen King is amazing but to make a car the focal point of a book was too much for me to take. Alas! the author won the debate in front of the synopsis and I started reading. And in the next few hours actually got pretty scared by the end of it.

The book follows Arnie and his car. The car in question is but obvious Christine. The other two impor...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2010 Tasmina712 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 7th-grade, abandoned-books

I have to admit, at the beginning when I was reading the prologue I thought that the main character: Arnie fell inn love with this dangerous girl named Christine. But then as I read on, I realized that Christine was actually a vehicle. Kind of weird I have to say, to be attracted to a car but really its not as weird as I thought.

Arnie is a young teenage boy. And he seems not to have many friends. In fact I think his only friend is Dennis. I'm wondering why it is that no one can stand him. I get...more

like · see review

May 26, 2013 Keith Parker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Audible version: I had never read the story of Arnie Cunningham's obsession with everyone's favorite 1958 Plymouth Fury, but I'm glad I finally "picked it up" and doubly-glad that I listened to Holter Graham's narration; he's highly recommended. On one level Christine is simply preposterous: A haunted car possesses a high school kid and goes on a killing spree. But King's storytelling prowess is enough to even overcome the oddity of this whacky premise because, at its heart, this is the tale of...more Audible version: I had never read the story of Arnie Cunningham's obsession with everyone's favorite 1958 Plymouth Fury, but I'm glad I finally "picked it up" and doubly-glad that I listened to Holter Graham's narration; he's highly recommended. On one level Christine is simply preposterous: A haunted car possesses a high school kid and goes on a killing spree. But King's storytelling prowess is enough to even overcome the oddity of this whacky premise because, at its heart, this is the tale of how anyone can become consumed by a material object in order to complete their sense of self, even if that "completion" is an illusion. The first and third sections of the novel are written in first person from the perspective of Arnie's best friend, Dennis, and King does a masterful job of making us suspend disbelief as Dennis tells his weird story. Dennis' POV is both sympathetic and down-to-earth. The middle section of the novel is written in 3rd-limited, ostensibly because Dennis is in the hospital and is not privy to the action; this part of the book has drawn ire, I've noticed, and it is a bit of jolt since King does not explain this explicitly.

I felt like I knew Dennis by the time the novel was over, and I also felt like I knew Arnie, although I would've clearly preferred knowing the nerdy-Arnie to the obsessed, angry and mean Arnie that develops as a result of his "addiction" to the car. And I think that's why stories like this endure despite the fact that was simply "beach reading" 30 years ago: King gets us into the heads of the characters, to the point that we are as incredulous as they are about the supernatural events swirling around them. The character of Leigh, the girlfriend, was not as well-developed, and could've used some more fleshing out.

Another thing King does superbly is to evoke humor, often crude, into his novels and short stories. While this might seem odd for a fantasist of weird tales, the reader soon comes to realize that horror and humor are a remarkably powerful storytelling combination. (less)

like · see review

Oct 26, 2012 Chris King rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

King has done it to me again! He kept giving hints that something was going to happen, but I wasn't sure when the bomb was going to hit, but when it did, wow! The charaters and their families in this book remind me of parts of my own family and friends. It made me smile when the book named two games I have always loved, Cribbage and Clue, in the same chapter! Ok, moving on. The relationship between the two male characters reminds me of the bond I still have with one of my cousins even to this da...more

like · see review

Jan 25, 2010 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is maybe my favourite King novel so far. What I like most about it is that it give meticulous character introductions and really instigates the reader's interest from the start in a pair of teens looking to fix up a car and latterly, the creepy old man selling it.

Through Kings meandering p.o.v storytelling the novel chronologically shoots from the perspective of three or so people, to describe the individuals points of view, this is slightly distorting when we have initially been led to bel...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Who really was Christine, and how did she end up haunting a car?	10	137	10. Juni, 06:45 Uhr
Stephen King Fans: Christine	22	158	25. April, 04:45 Uhr

combine
Other Editions (81)

More editions...

Genres

Horror

2,032 users

Thriller

152 users

Fantasy

82 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

72 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

52 users

Mystery

44 users

Suspense

37 users

Adult

33 users

Science Fiction

31 users

Novels

30 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Archidamian War
by Donald Kagan
Creepshow
by Bernie Wrightson (Adaptor, Illustrator)
Strange Highways
by Dean Koontz
Stephen King Illustrated Companion: Manuscripts, Correspondence, Drawings, and Memorabilia from the Master of Modern Horror
by Bev Vincent
The Stephen King Companion
by George Beahm

About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

More about Stephen King...

Books by Stephen King

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Christine

13 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Christine

“I think part of being a parent is trying to kill your kids.” — 100 people liked it

“As soon as you have a child, you see your own tombstone” — 4 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Christine
avg rating	preview: Christine Goodreads rating: 3.60 (83787 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10629.Christine?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327270815l/10629.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10629.Christine?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Christine by Stephen King[/url]

Christine

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website