Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Carrie” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

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

Open Preview

Carrie

Stephen King (Goodreads Author),

Sissy Spacek (Translation)

3.97 · Rating details · 543,424 ratings · 15,085 reviews

A modern classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction -- Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time.

Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...Carrie
--back cov ...more

Get A Copy

Mass Market Paperback, 253 pages

Published November 1st 2005 by Pocket Books (first published April 5th 1974)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

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

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Carrie, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best of Stephen King

141 books — 3,523 voters

Best Horror Novels

1,785 books — 5,454 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.97 ·

Rating details

· 543,424 ratings · 15,085 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Carrie

Oct 19, 2020 _ngallagher rated it it was ok

god this was boring

flag 519 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it really liked it

Shelves: king-stephen

When people talk about bathroom scenes, there is always this psychobabble, but I prefer to remember this ode on teenage dirtbag cruelty with psi.

I assume everyone knows the story, so there are unmarked spoilers in the spookhouse club.

King loves outsiders, losers, and outlaws, so what could be better than to start one´s career with a meanwhile legendary pop cultural reference to serious puberty issues and female problems? So that the unwilling antagonist unleashed, but sadly not controlled and c When people talk about bathroom scenes, there is always this psychobabble, but I prefer to remember this ode on teenage dirtbag cruelty with psi.

I assume everyone knows the story, so there are unmarked spoilers in the spookhouse club.

King loves outsiders, losers, and outlaws, so what could be better than to start one´s career with a meanwhile legendary pop cultural reference to serious puberty issues and female problems? So that the unwilling antagonist unleashed, but sadly not controlled and cultivated, dark elemental forces, to become for instance instead a classy dark fantasy black witch and thematized premenstrual syndrome. Sorry, I couldn´t withstand the bad pun, please don´t high voltage energize and burn me.

There is definitively symbolism I should have had more focus on when reading it the first time, but even without that, the idea of using menstruation as a plot device is something predestined for the master of horror. Probably there are cultures censoring this part, but leaving the slaughter in it. Blood out of piles of corpses good, sexual related blood bad style.

I guess everyone knows the story that it nearly wouldn´t have come to King´s career if his wife wouldn´t have found the manuscript, but there is something else about the development of this book I keep asking myself. Did he get this inspiration while working as a teacher, was a young lady who asked to go to the toilet or home because she had cramps the reason why one of the best authors of all time had his breakthrough? Is human reproduction to thank for that we got all these amazing works?

The harshness and directness of this very young writing King is amazing, I remember so many details although there is close to no real action or plot until everyone gets a surprising finale event fun horror bloodbath.

Religion and its potential negative side effects on the wellbeing, extraversion, and self confidence, not too speak of sex education, play a key role here too, because all of this couldn´t have been possible without a mixture of hardliner extremism and madness, resulting in poor Carrie having anger management problems that are not really reduced by the sociodynamics of hormone high high schoolers with horrible attitudes highlighted through the hilariousness of human culture and tradition. I don´t know why I h ed so much, sorry, maybe possession, especially strange because I am a bit too old for that and have the wrong gender, possibly and hopefully it´s a succubus after long, hard years of trying to invoke one or, why not, as many as possible.

It could have happened so much earlier if there wouldn´t have been this lack of virginity and already inherent madness problems that made me look less attractive to possess than an innocent, naive virgin, I have to keep an aesthetic, erotic, sadomasochistic, love hate , sick roleplay, memory picture for the next resurgence to wait and save myself up for the perfect monster girl and discipline my weak flesh to not faint in the face of other, cheap, worthless, earthy, fading, seduction. But finally, the self flagellation, animal sacrifices, and sexy female devil worship have made sense and I bravely sacrifice myself to help expanding their power.

But whatever demon it might really be, if it´s true, beware many enemies mine. Everything is possible for a true believer in the dark forces. Mwahahaha

Fun fact: It speaks for itself that the movie adaption of a tale about a victimized girl exaggerating self defense had the German title „Carrie Des Satans jüngste Tochter.“ Carrie, the youngest daughter of Satan. I find it extremely inappropriate that she has been discriminated and falsely accused of satanism, when her only real crime was killing a few hundred people. Shame on my native tongue!

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ...more

flag 317 likes · Like · see review

Nov 16, 2007 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: telekinetic would-be ugly duckling prom queens with a heavy flow

Shelves: chicklits, groups-of-people, crazy-ladies

I want to start a shelf of "books-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child-with-stories-of-girls-who-just-could-not-stop-gushing-blood-Down-There," but I can't think of any others besides this and Bell Jar. I know in Are You There God, It's Me Margaret they just couldn't stop TALKING about it, but I think that was different, more just perplexing and annoying than actually traumatic.

Any suggestions?

Um, BTW, this book is AMAZING. I should give it more than three stars. There! Done. Four! This is one of thos I want to start a shelf of "books-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child-with-stories-of-girls-who-just-could-not-stop-gushing-blood-Down-There," but I can't think of any others besides this and Bell Jar. I know in Are You There God, It's Me Margaret they just couldn't stop TALKING about it, but I think that was different, more just perplexing and annoying than actually traumatic.

Any suggestions?

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

I really think this took a lot of guts to write. I mean, the girls' locker room scene, 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 guts 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. And it was.

But it WORKED. This novel was insane and fearless and 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! ...more

flag 299 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2013 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, supernatural, 2018, audio, 2014, read-more-than-once, horror, stephen-king, kindle, revenge

I have decided to go back and reread all the Stephen King books as audiobooks this time. Ones I have read recently or that I have already reread I may not do. I am starting at the very beginning with Carrie which I originally read on Kindle in 2014.

You might be saying, ”But, Matthew, that was his first book! You didn’t read it for the first time until 2014!?” There are a couple of reasons for that:
1. Carrie is referenced a lot in pop culture. Growing up in the 80s and 90s you really didn’t need I have decided to go back and reread all the Stephen King books as audiobooks this time. Ones I have read recently or that I have already reread I may not do. I am starting at the very beginning with Carrie which I originally read on Kindle in 2014.

You might be saying, ”But, Matthew, that was his first book! You didn’t read it for the first time until 2014!?” There are a couple of reasons for that:
1. Carrie is referenced a lot in pop culture. Growing up in the 80s and 90s you really didn’t need to read Carrie to know the story.
2. I did have a paperback copy once (mid 90s or so). It fell apart when I was part way through. I didn’t get back to it until 2014. I know, I know . . . serious procrastination!

Well, I have now read it twice and it really is quite an amazing book. Lots of suspense and terrifying scenes crammed into a small package. In the intro, King said that he was working on this as a short story when it expanded into a novel – and I can see that. He was mainly a short story guy at the time, but a bit more started pouring out and he just couldn’t stop! It’s amazing to think the same guy that started with short stories and short novels ended up writing books like The Stand and It!

One thing that I think people who do not read King but who only know him as the master of horror through movies and hearsay are missing a lot. He is not just horror. Certainly there are many horrific scenarios in Carrie, but there is so much in there about humanity; how we treat each other and how our actions toward others may have a wider effect than expected. In a world where we are starting to treat other people more poorly than ever, Carrie could serve as a cautionary tale if you don’t just look at it as a creepy horror novel.

King started here, so should you? Carrie is not usually a book I recommend to people wanting to try King for the first time. I am not sure why this is, but I usually recommend The Dead Zone or Pet Sematary. After my second time through, I stand by this. I think that Carrie is something to try out after you have given a few of his other books a try. But, you can try it first, too, probably doesn’t matter – it is just my gut feeling that you should wait!
...more

flag 233 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2018 Luca Ambrosino rated it really liked it · review of another edition

English (Carrie)/ Italiano

«News item from the Westover (Me) Weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966:

RAIN OF STONES REPORTED

It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlin on 17th August. The stones feel principally on the home of Mrs Margaret White, damaging the roof extensively and ruining two gutters and a downspout valued at $25. Mrs White, a widow, lives with her three year old daughter, Carrieta»

Carrie is a t

English (Carrie)/ Italiano

«News item from the Westover (Me) Weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966:

RAIN OF STONES REPORTED

It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlin on 17th August. The stones feel principally on the home of Mrs Margaret White, damaging the roof extensively and ruining two gutters and a downspout valued at $25. Mrs White, a widow, lives with her three year old daughter, Carrieta»

Carrie is a teenager chasing an ordinary life, never able to catch it. This is not due to her telekinetic powers, the problem has far more to do with her mother, a person that we will define religious zealot, to say the least. Consequence: Carrie is definitely fringe at school, she is constantly bullied. And unfortunately Carrie is about to reach her breaking point...

A history of bullying, a topic that the author describes so well also in many other pages, in my opinion. Object of the abuse each time is a character who, in the eyes of many, seems weird. The beautiful paradox of this novel is that, to other kids, Carrie's weird thing is not telekinesis. She always managed to bury this talent. Carrie's marginalisation simply results from her mum's fundamentalism, her real nemesis. It's not an horror novel: it's a drama, plain and simple.

I was expecting a bit green work, something testifying this is the first published novel of one of the most prolific author I know (and one of my favorites). But no. Carrie is a beautiful piece of art not because filled with that rough beauty typical of early works, revealing a blooming talent. No. This novel is a beautiful piece of art, that's all.

Vote: 8,5

«Notizia di cronaca riportata dal settimanale Enterprise di Westover (Maine) il 19 agosto 1966:

PIOGGIA DI PIETRE.

Ci viene riferito che una pioggia di pietre è caduta da un cielo perfettamente sereno su Carlin Street, nella città di Chamberlain, il 17 agosto. Diverse persone sarebbero state testimoni. Le pietre sono cadute sulla casa della signora Margaret White, rovinando gravemente il tetto e sfondando due grondaie e un tubo di scolo per un danno di circa 25 dollari. La signora White, vedova, abita nella casa di Grin Street con la figlioletta di tre anni, Carrie»

Carrie è una ragazzina che insegue una vita normale, senza mai raggiungerla. E questo non perché dotata di poteri telecinetici, ma perché si ritrova per madre una persona che a volerla definire fanatica per il suo modo di interpretare la religione cattolica significa farle un complimento. Conseguenza: Carrie a scuola è un'emarginata, viene costantemente bullizzata. E purtroppo, Carrie sta per raggiungere il limite di sopportazione...

Torna uno dei temi secondo me più cari all'autore, presente spesso in molte sue pagine: il bullismo. Oggetto delle prevaricazioni altrui è ogni volta un personaggio che agli occhi di molti appare strano, diverso. Il bellissimo paradosso di questo romanzo è che per gli altri ragazzi la stranezza di Carrie non sta nella telecinesi. Questo talento è sempre riuscita a tenerlo nascosto. L'emarginazione di Carrie deriva più semplicemente dal fondamentalismo della madre, la sua vera nemesi. Più che horror, questo è un dramma bello e buono.

Mi aspettavo un'opera un po' acerba, che testimoniasse insomma di essere il primo romanzo ad essere pubblicato da uno degli autori più prolifici che io conosca (nonché uno dei miei preferiti). E invece no. Carrie è un'opera bella non perché dotata di quella bellezza grezza delle opere prime, che lasciano intravedere un talento che sta per esplodere. No. Questo romanzo è bello e basta.

Voto: 8.5

...more

flag 216 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2020 Baba rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-aiiiiiiiie, constant-readers

It was 13 years since the last time I read this book; this remarkable epistolary debut novel by King. When first published it was ahead of its time, and still feels pertinent today. In this work there are so many brave choices for a debut novelistl; with this debut King came out the blocks all-guns blazing in is career as a writer. Utterly and totally a classic old school King read. Typifying his future work, this story focuses on the outsiders, on how they're treated by the majority, and where ...more

flag 164 likes · Like · see review

Sep 19, 2013 Alejandro rated it really liked it

Shelves: alternate-reality, novel, horror, religion, paranormal

Everybody is invited to the Prom Dance!

THAT ENDING THAT YOU'RE EXPECTING...

It's very interesting to read Carrie finally.

I have watched the Brian de Palma's adaptation, so I wasn't unfamiliar with what would happen.

However, the way as Stephen King wrote this book was in such great way that the novel is still engaging not matter if you already know the main highlights.

There are some books that if you knew what will happen...kaput! All the fun was spoiled and you won't get interested on re ...more

flag 162 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2017 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fiction, united-states, paranormal, 20th-century, fantasy

Carrie, Stephen King

Carrie is a novel by American author Stephen King. It was his first published novel, released on April 5, 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie White, an unpopular friendless misfit and bullied high school girl who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who torment her.

While in this process, she causes one of the worst local disasters the town has ever had. King has commented that he finds the work to be "raw" and "with a surprising po Carrie, Stephen King

Carrie is a novel by American author Stephen King. It was his first published novel, released on April 5, 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie White, an unpopular friendless misfit and bullied high school girl who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who torment her.

While in this process, she causes one of the worst local disasters the town has ever had. King has commented that he finds the work to be "raw" and "with a surprising power to hurt and horrify."

It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools. Much of the book uses newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books to tell how Carrie destroyed the fictional town of Chamberlain, Maine while exacting revenge on her sadistic classmates and her own mother Margaret.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و هشتم ماه ژانویه سال 2014میلادی

عنوان: کری؛ نویسنده: استیون کینگ؛ مترجم: بهاره ملازم؛ تهران، افراز، 1390؛ ئدر 280ص؛ شابک 9789642435821؛ موضوع: داستانهای ترسناک از نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20م

داستان بلوغ و قدرت‌های فرابشری «کری وایت» است، «کری وایت»، دختر خجالتی و کمروی مدرسه، به شدت از سوی دوستانش مورد تمسخر قرار میگیرد؛ او در خانه هم با مادری به شدت مذهبی و پریشان، زندگی میکند، که به «کری» اجازه ی ارتباط با دیگران را نمیدهد؛ روزی که دخترِ شلوغ و شرّ مدرسه، «کریس»، که از «کری» متنفر است، تصمیم میگیرد بلایی سرِ او بیاورد، روزی است که خشمِ فرا طبیعیِ «کری» را به دنبال دارد؛ از این داستان دو فیلم زیر نیز اقتباس و ساخته و پرداخته شده است

نام فیلم: کری؛ کارگردان: برایان دی پالما؛ نویسنده: استیون کینگ؛ بازیگران: سیسی اسپیسک؛ جان تراولتا؛ پایپر لوری؛ پاملا جین سولز؛ موسیقی: پینو دوناجو؛ تدوین: پال هرش؛ توزیع‌ کننده: یونایتد آرتیستس؛ تاریخ‌های انتشار: روز سوم ماه نوامبر سال 1976میلادی؛ مدت زمان: 98دقیقه؛ کشور: ایالات متحده؛ زبان: انگلیسی؛ هزینهٔ فیلم: یک میلیون و هشتصد هزار دلار؛ فروش گیشه: 33میلیون و هشتصد هزار دلار

نام فیلم: کری؛ کارگردان: کیمبرلی پرس؛ تهیه‌ کننده: کوین میشر؛ فیلم‌نامه‌ نویس: روبرتو آگیر-سکزا؛ بر پایه داستان کری اثر: استیون کینگ؛ بازیگران: کلویی مورتز؛ جولیان مور؛ جودی گریر؛ گابریلا وایلد؛ پورتیا دوبلدی؛ درک مک‌گرث؛ بری شاباکا هنلی؛ موسیقی: مارکو بلترامی؛ فیلم‌برداری: استیو یدلین؛ تدوین: لی پرسی؛ شرکت تولید: میشر فیلمز؛ توزیع‌ کننده: مترو گلدوین مایر؛ اسکرین جمز؛ تاریخ (های) انتشار: روز هجدهم ماه اکتبر سال 2013میلادی؛ مدت: 99دقیقه؛ کشور: آمریکا؛ زبان: انگلیسی؛ بودجه: 30میلیون دلار؛ گیشه: 84790678دلار؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

flag 162 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2019 The Burning Rose (Jess) marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, 2020-goal, horror

I'm taking this off the currently reading shelf at the moment because I really can't get into this book. ...more

flag 141 likes · Like · see review

Jan 24, 2014 Lazaros rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: thriller addicts

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal, horror

“People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.”

This is pizza, the freaky flavor.

I loved how intertwined with religion it was. Not churches and stuff like that. I mean hardcore stuff about the point where religion stops being religion and transforms into fanaticism and how a person can drive themselves crazy with it, especially if you already have the tendency towards the crazy.

A ...more

flag 129 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-thriller, 2017-reads, fiction

“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?”

I remember watching the movie when I was very little, I was pretty much petrified by it. The image of a poor girl covered in pig blood, going on a killing spree haunted me, and here I am today reading it for the first time awfully distraught and yet incredibly mesmerized by King's writing. No wonder he is where he is today. A true genius! ...more

flag 117 likes · Like · see review

Oct 19, 2020 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, horror

“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, i ...more

flag 117 likes · Like · see review

Oct 12, 2017 Dan Schwent rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2017, 2017-books

Outcast Carrie White has a secret. She's telekinetic. When a popular girl's boyfriend invites her to prom as atonement, she accepts, completely unaware of the horrors lurking on the horizon...

Carrie is Stephen King's first novel and has been part of our cultural landscape since it was made into a movie in the late 1970s. Somehow, I've escaped reading it or seeing the movie until now. I knew (or thought I knew) most of the wrinkles of the plot going in, due to sai King's On Writing: A Memoir of t ...more

flag 108 likes · Like · see review

Apr 12, 2019 Erin rated it really liked it

Shelves: king-me, april-2019, movie

Carrie is Stephen King's debut novel and you can tell. That's not "shade" because Carrie is still fucking great but as a "Constant Reader" I could see how his writing has improved over the years. I first read Carrie when I was 13 or 14 years old and it was my first King book. Back then I would've giving it 10 Stars because I absolutely loved it. I watched the movie (the original) and I raided my sister's (she's a huge King fan) King collection and while everyone else my age was reading Harry Pot ...more

flag 100 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2013 Scarlet rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, stephen-king

Don’t let the brevity of this book fool you. Carrie may be one of King’s less thick books but right from the scandalous opening scene to the very last page, it’s a relentlessly harrowing read.

King pieces together Carrie's story through a series of reports and articles concerning a telekinetic catastrophe in Maine. I knew how terrible the end would be before it even happened, so reading the book was an excruciating experience - the dread just kept building page after page, I could see what everyt ...more

flag 89 likes · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction, fantasy

Everything progressed along as it should in the first half. The story moved at a good pace and the writing - though not moving - was adequate.

Then the climatic scene happened soon after the halfway mark. I'll rephrase that. The climax happened in the middle…the middle!

"An odd place for a climatic scene," I remember thinking. Nonetheless, I pushed on...and on and on through a rising tide of detail-cheating adverbs. "Oh mama, no!" I cried when, without warning/without notice/like lightning/like a ...more

flag 87 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2019 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

I first read Carrie in secondary school, I was 13/14 and i distinctly remember ignoring the whole world until i had finished this book, i didn't eat or talk (I was at my nans that day and I ignored her all day) until id read every single sentance, this reread has been pretty much on the same lines.

I love this book and I love Carrie, for entirely different reasons today than 20 years ago.

On my first read of Carrie I loved Carrie because the whole book consumed me, engaged me, and after the last s ...more

flag 83 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2017 Lyn rated it really liked it

Was Carrie White a literary active shooter?

Let’s break it down: from an abusive, negligent home life with dark theological and religious hobgoblins; she is picked on and teased at school, relentlessly, by other girls and the bullying is allowed (somewhat) by the school administration. She feels alone and without any relief and she is finally subjected to a humiliation that breaks a wall, crosses a line and then she crosses a line and people die.

Stephen King crashes the writing party with a bold Was Carrie White a literary active shooter?

Let’s break it down: from an abusive, negligent home life with dark theological and religious hobgoblins; she is picked on and teased at school, relentlessly, by other girls and the bullying is allowed (somewhat) by the school administration. She feels alone and without any relief and she is finally subjected to a humiliation that breaks a wall, crosses a line and then she crosses a line and people die.

Stephen King crashes the writing party with a bold statement, declaring that he belongs and will be around for a while. Readers in 1974 when this was first published probably noticed the talent and maybe thought here was a young writer who had some more in the tank for down the road. Little did they know then that this HELLACIOUS kick ass, grudge match throw down of a first book was just the opening salvo in a long, genre defining career that is still scaring the heebie jeebies out of paying customers worldwide.

So back to the active shooter idea. Scary as King made the 70s, he had no idea how scary we would be a few years later. Before Columbine, before all the sad, sad CNN breaking news reports since, King showed us what could happen when the bullied, terrorized, terrifying, disenfranchised, chased up a tree and backed into a corner fat kid, picked last for the game and been on the receiving end of a laughing, pointing finger can do if she thinks about it too hard. Carrie’s powers become an allegory for an assault weapon with duffle bags full of ammo clips.

We see the scene from the perspective of the bully, the bullied, and the spectrum of third parties who look on and allow it to happen. Readers can relate because it is likely that kids were cruel to one another in caves.

King’s great talent is to find the extraordinary in the everyday and King gives to Carrie White the kind of power that those who are laughed at and not with have dreamed about. Later, in his novella Apt Pupil, King will return to this idea, exploring the active shooter concept in a way more conventional to our desensitized senses, but here with Carrie he has dug down deep and uncovered the same black roots.

With her telekinetic powers and her unstable psyche, Carrie embodies and personifies a dark truth that King has turned a light on, that the ability to be hurt and hurt back is something inherent in us and that we can see in the classrooms, in the post office and in the mirror.

description

...more

flag 80 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2020 Sheena rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, king

They all had it coming :)

flag 75 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2019 R.K. Gold rated it liked it

I’m sitting here still digesting this book and the only word that comes to me is disturbed. If the purpose of fiction is to conjure emotion—even just a single emotion then find book has it in the spades yet I still can’t bring myself to rank it any higher than 3 stars. At its most relatable it felt like a degrading episode and at its worst it felt like Tarantino directed the 700 club. Carrie wasn’t a monster she was just the equal and opposite reaction of her mother and her peers. The only momen ...more

flag 75 likes · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2018 Dannii Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-hazes

I've read quite a few King title but have decided to start again, reading them all in chronological order to better understand the prowess of this master story-teller. This is his first full-length publication.

Ultimately, Carrie is both the namesake, protagonist and antagonist of this story. And despite the many sides to her disturbed character she is also one the reader can not help but side with.

My edition begun with an author's note that told of another bullied girl, much like Carrie. This gi ...more

flag 67 likes · Like · see review

Feb 15, 2019 ALet rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019, favorites

★★★★/ 5

It was a fantastic read! I already read it once, but sadly then I wasn‘t a huge fan, but second time around I really liked it. I found the storytelling fascinating, it just felt like I was reading about real events. Story wasn‘t boring, it captured my attention and because of that it was easy to read. In addition characters were interesting and I felt like I actually knew them.

flag 66 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2012 seak rated it liked it

Shelves: audio, stephen-king, 2013

To begin, I want to tell a quick story about my introduction to Stephen King. I came really late to the party when it comes to the King. I'll not bore you with the same ol' story about my first read, but to make a long story short, I read The Stand and was not a fan right away...to say the least. For some reason, and after numerous recommendations, I started The Dark Tower series and I wasn't even that impressed with the first book, The Gunslinger. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't nearly what eve ...more

flag 64 likes · Like · see review

Oct 17, 2016 Christy rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: king fans

Shelves: telekinesis, school-bullies, revenge, crazy-religious-mother

Alright...

I finally decided to go back to the beginning of Stephen King's catalogue, and read in chronological order everything I have either not read, or did not get enough out of because I had missed so much of the King-verse building along the way. I highly recommend reading his books this way for any true King fan, because in so many ways they build upon each other, and there are several recurrent characters and themes. I am convinced that many of his books absolutely cannot be enjoyed to th ...more

flag 62 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2008 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it really liked it

Shelves: scarry, lit, 2013, horror

Poor Carrie, I feel your pain.

This book was interesting in that it presented facts on scientific phenomena called Psychokinesis, Something I have had personal experience with and I’ll tell you about it at the end of this review as long as you all promise not to call me a freak…..but think that I’m a freak all you want.

Carrie didn’t have it easy in high school. Being raised by an over protective, abusive, and ultra religious mother and no father, she didn’t have the tools to fit in with the crow ...more

flag 57 likes · Like · see review

Apr 23, 2018 Helene Jeppesen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was really good and scary - just what I was hoping for. The pacing of the book was just right because of the various accounts and perspectives we get on the “black prom” and what exactly happened, and the scary scenes WERE scary.
However, I especially appreciate how this is a book that tackles bullying and what that can do to a person’s mental health. Carrie is fragile after years of meanness and bullying, and what happens at prom night pushes her over the edge. Only, the difference between ...more

flag 57 likes · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2014 Sadie Hartmann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: king

In 2019 I'm going to go back and review the King books I love and cherished but never fully reviewed for Goodreads because Goodreads wasn't a thing when I was reading King's work in the 90s. You can follow along on Instagram #ReviewKing2019

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I read CARRIE for the first time. I was at my best friend Katie’s house who lived in an old farmhouse off some back roads parallel to the highway.
Katie’s bedroom was in the converted part of the attic sp In 2019 I'm going to go back and review the King books I love and cherished but never fully reviewed for Goodreads because Goodreads wasn't a thing when I was reading King's work in the 90s. You can follow along on Instagram #ReviewKing2019

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I read CARRIE for the first time. I was at my best friend Katie’s house who lived in an old farmhouse off some back roads parallel to the highway.
Katie’s bedroom was in the converted part of the attic space-her bed tucked into one of the dormer windows. I was staying overnight and we were waiting for her parents to go to bed so we could come downstairs and watch Sixteen Candles again. To kill time, we were reading out loud to each other in bed. It was the summer between our eighth grade year so we were fourteen/fifteen years old. Katie had an older sister named Jennifer, who was at a friend’s house for the weekend so we crept into her room and browsed her bookshelf for something small we could read. We chose CARRIE because I was already a Stephen King fan and the cover was gross (a girl’s face with blood running down it in streaks).
“Carrie White eats shit.” I read outloud.
Katie was horrified. “There’s cussing in this book?”
I rolled my eyes and kept reading.
After a few chapters, Katie bailed on the book and she went downstairs because I wouldn’t stop reading. I’m guessing the bits about blood running down Carrie’s leg in the shower and the bullying made her feel uncomfortable. I think she went downstairs and helped her mother make dinner or did her chores or something. All I know is nobody bothered me while I flew through the pages for about an hour or more.
To this day, it astounds me that this is a debut novel--it’s incredibly compelling. I’m also impressed that Stephen King, being a young man, could slide up inside the mind of an awkward teenage girl so effortlessly. The opening scene with Carrie White in the school locker room--the showering--just flawless in its relatability and authenticity. I personally loathed P.E. and dressing down for gym. I was a very skinny girl, underdeveloped for my age and it was just brutal to have to be practically naked in front of girls who already had need of a bra or were starting to wear “sexy underwear” instead of the store bought undies my mom was buying for me. And then the sensitive topic of starting your period when you’re that age is just over-the-top hush-hush secret stuff even your best friend might not know about!
For King to take all this teenage culture and bring it to life so brilliantly was just about the most engaging piece of fiction I had ever read at the time. When the book takes a turn into horror with the introduction of Carrie White’s mother, OH MAN! And then to get all these clues that Carrie has a supernatural ability--well, I was hooked.
I also remember feeling like maybe I shouldn’t be reading a book this mature. I put a bookmark where I left off and then stuck the book in my overnight bag. Later that night, after dinner and watching movies--Katie and I went to bed and I asked her if I could borrow her sister’s book so I could finish it. She didn’t care one bit! (I think she was glad to have it out of the house now that I think about it)
I’ve read the book a few times now and I watched the old movie adaptation and I’m annoyed with the movie, actually. They didn’t get Carrie right. She wasn’t stick thin--she was overweight and had social anxiety from being raised by a total psycho.
The book handled all of the tension with the news article interludes--but the movie sort of blew everything out of proportion and scaled the tension too quickly. It’s actually genius storytelling on King’s part. One of his best in my opinion. At only 300+ pages, it’s concise and controlled. No fluff or filler--not like some of his newer releases (SLEEPING BEAUTIES and the OUTSIDER) which are a little bloated and overwrought. CARRIE is a damn good debut horror novel; transcending the era in which it was written. It’s just as appropriate today as a tale of cruelty and bullying as it was then, if not more. The angst and revenge Carrie White feels could be the anthem behind some of America’s most savage school shootings. A terrifying story because it rides so close to the truth.

...more

flag 64 likes · Like · see review

Oct 13, 2011 Char rated it really liked it

Shelves: dark-fiction, coming-of-age, re-reading, 70s-horror, dysfunctional-family, bullies

5.30.18 Third re-read review.

I finished my third read of Carrie on Sunday. I wanted my thoughts on it to be fresh for an in-person book group meeting at the end of this month. (It is prom season after all!)

I still love this style of story-telling which includes snippets from newspaper articles, different (fictional) books and journals, and several eye-witness accounts. I still find myself feeling for Carrie, and mostly those feelings consist of pity and sadness. I think every American schoolkid 5.30.18 Third re-read review.

I finished my third read of Carrie on Sunday. I wanted my thoughts on it to be fresh for an in-person book group meeting at the end of this month. (It is prom season after all!)

I still love this style of story-telling which includes snippets from newspaper articles, different (fictional) books and journals, and several eye-witness accounts. I still find myself feeling for Carrie, and mostly those feelings consist of pity and sadness. I think every American schoolkid has been where she was. I wonder if Carrie would be a school shooter these days instead of a telekinetic time bomb? That may be a crazy thought, but having just re-read RAGE last month, (not to mention seeing the daily news here in America), I think it's natural for such a thing to cross my mind.

Lastly, reading this book while also reading King's latest, THE OUTSIDER, presented the chance for comparison. King was lean and mean in writing Carrie, in fact, I wished for more. THE OUTSIDER, while good, is a bit bloated and not as focused. Is that just his writing style changing over the years? Is it the fact that editing guidelines were different, and tighter back in the day? Whatever it is, there's a definite difference between the two, and despite King's tendency to ramble on? I think some of his largest books will still remain among my favorites of all time.
--
8.21.2012:I just finished a re-read of this book. It was a bit different than I remembered.

I think I took a lot more away from it this time than I did the first. Perhaps it's in light of the current problems regarding bullying amongst teenagers, or perhaps it's just that more than 20 years have passed since I last read it, and I am viewing it from a different perspective. Whichever it is, I enjoyed revisiting the town of Chamberlain and all its residents.

I also enjoyed (very much) how the story was related. Little bits from the White Commission (the investigatory body formed to discern the truth about what happened in Chamberlain), fake AP news articles, and tidbits from books later written about the Carrie White case.

The only thing I would've have liked would be a little more meat to the story. Not something I would normally say in regards to Mr. King! : )

All in all, I'm very glad I re-read this book. ...more

flag 56 likes · Like · see review

Apr 27, 2019 Susan's Reviews rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The one (and only!) other Stephen King novel I have ever finished, apart from The Shining. My sister is a big fan of Stephen King. I prefer to sleep at night! The topic of bullying never seems to go out of fashion. We humans keep repeating history. I'm so glad the schools are addressing this issue, but we still have so far to go. I honestly can't remember whether i saw the movie first, then read the book, or vice versa. Sissy Spacek did a great job, but the actress who played the mother stole th ...more

flag 54 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2015 Diane Wallace rated it liked it

Jumpy read! riveting,good narrative and hauntingly good storyline with also incredible writing (paperback!)

flag 55 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
this is a discussion question	1	1	Dec 23, 2020 01:24AM
Do you have the favorite book of Stephen King?	57	251	Oct 14, 2020 09:02PM
Goodreads Librari...: Wrong Page Numbers of "Göz"	3	18	May 14, 2020 03:13PM
Play Book Tag: (Poll Ballot) Carrie by Stephen King - 5 stars	3	18	Mar 03, 2020 08:57PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Horror

10,753 users

Fiction

3,480 users

Thriller

1,054 users

Fantasy

771 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

766 users

Classics

626 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

410 users

Adult

385 users

Novels

297 users

Audiobook

235 users

See top shelves…

About Stephen King

Stephen King

766,775 followers

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, 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, M Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, 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 them. 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 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 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 met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. 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 were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English 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. ...more

Books by Stephen King

More…

Articles featuring this book

"Horror fiction has traditionally dealt in taboo.… It makes monsters of household pets and begs our affection for psychos. It...

Trivia About Carrie

55 trivia questions
5 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Carrie

“High school isn't a very important place. When you're going you think it's a big deal, but when it's over nobody really thinks it was great unless they're beered up.” — 440 likes

“People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.” — 383 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — Carrie by Stephen King

Carrie

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Stephen King

Books by Stephen King

Articles featuring this book

Trivia About Carrie

Quotes from Carrie

See a Problem?

Preview — Carrie by Stephen King

Carrie

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Stephen King

Books by Stephen King

Articles featuring this book

Trivia About Carrie

Quotes from Carrie

new topic
Discuss This Book