Why read Carrie? Stephen King himself has said that he finds his early work "raw," and Brian De Palma's movie was so successful that we feel like we have read the novel even if we never have. The simple answer is that this is a very scary story, one that works as well--if not better--on the page as on the screen. Carrie White, menaced by bullies at school and her religious nut of a mother at home, gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers, powers that will eventually be turned on her tormentors. King has a way of getting under the skin of his readers by creating an utterly believable world that throbs with menace before finally exploding. He builds the tension in this early work by piecing together extracts from newspaper reports, journals, and scientific papers, as well as more traditional first- and third-person narrative in order to reveal what lurks beneath the surface of Chamberlain, Maine.

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 Chamberlain on August 17th."

One of the best books I've ever read!

The book "Carrie" is about a teenage girl who has no friends and has been the butt of every joke. She has a very religous mother and has no father. The sweet thing about Carrie is that she has a power, telekinesis. She just discovers her power and at first doesn't really use it for anything bad, but as things get worse for her in school and at home she starts "flexing" her power. Then the biggest and meanest trick the kids at school could ever play on her, at prom, happened and Carrie went crazy. If you want to know more about this book then you'll have to read it yourself.

A moving, short King read

I have read nearly all of King's more recent books and am just now getting to some of his older ones. This is a great book. It's scary, moving, and sad. Carrie is a short book that reads at an excellent pace. A must for any King fan.

So Far Fetched...but Yet So True

Everyone knows that Carrie is a loner in her high school in Maine. All her life, she's been harassed in any way, shape, or form you can imagine. Her father is dead and her widowed mother, Margaret White is a religious nut who's abusive and believes strange things, such as showers are sinful. One day in the locker room, Carrie gets her first period. (This is later than the regular age a female should get one.) She gets frustrated and when she gets out of the shower, all the girls throw period pads and tampons at her. She's given permission to go home and is addressed as Cassie, which upsets her. Prom's coming up, and the gym teacher that cares for Carrie deeply, punishes the girls that were involved. She gives them detention, and Chris, one student who hates Carrie, isn't happy about this and vows to get revenge on her. Her friend, Sue Snell seems to have learned her lesson and doesn't really hold anything against Carrie anymore. She pities Carrie and asks her steady boyfriend, Tommy Ross, who's the most popular boy in the school, to take Carrie to the prom. So they go. (Carrie's momma did disapprove of this, but she went anyway.) Carrie is having a good time and Tommy treats her well and even confesses that she's beautiful. Carrie and Tommy are voted as prom queen and king. Carrie feels so wonderful. She feels like she is finally accepted. Then it happened. Pig's blood is poured on her. This was planned by the rotten students who would do anything to make outsiders miserable. These people are really out there, and this is where Stephen King's story is actually true. But they don't know about Carrie's amazing telekinesis powers. In short, she destroys the gym where prom takes place. People get electrocuted and those who didn't escape right away die. This chaos is bought out to the streets. This concludes in a small graduating class. The staff of the school has mixed feelings towards the unbelievable tragedy and the gym teacher regrets she did not reach out to Carrie, who eventually dies. Sue Snell is one of the survivors because she didn't attend prom of course. She writes about her feelings towards Carrie and it was better late than never that someone finally shaped up and understood Carrie's miserable life. Anyone should read this book, whether you're a horror story fan or not, pick it up. This plot may seem strange, but its true meaning is real. Even the people who have a large social life should read this. One will get to know what it's like to be a lonely outcast. This is why this is such a popular book-So many people are like Carrie at one point in their lives or worse, all the time.