"Carrie" by Stephen King: An appreciation post

Reading "Carrie" by Stephen King during my first year of high school was one of the best gifts I ever gave myself. For All Hallows Read this is my book to you. I can't give a copy of "Carrie" to every single one of you but if you haven't read it then you must. Please go down to your book stores and libraries and look for it. Search for it online at Amazong (I'll put links to the book below)

For me this was a strangely empowering read and I think I found it at the exact right moment in my life. Carrie, to me, follows an awkward girl who says no to being bullied. She finds something strong and extraordinary in herself. It's the kind of underdog tale we often look for but with a gruesome twist. When I was reading Carrie I was the nerdy girl. I worked in the library (which is where I found Carrie) and I recall a moment where I was sitting on the bus reading Carrie. Some snotty kids sat behind me reading passages of the book out loud (it was that infamous shower/menstruation point right at the beginning) and one of the kids took the book from my hands and started to hit me round the head with it. The more I read, the more I sympathised with Carrie. The book, for me, was strangely empowering. I felt I embodied much of Carrie's character in my own teenage awkwardness and lack of voice. The book almost gave me the confidence to thicken my skin and endure the bullying I was going through at the time. That was my power. This book will always hold a special place in my heart and so, for all Hallows Read, I simply ask that you take a copy of this book out from your local library or buy a copy. I'll put an Amazon link to it below.

The original film adaptation featured the wonderful "Sissy Spacek" as Carrie White. I think that Sissy gave a miraculous performance. She totally resembles that awkward, mousy high school girl in a strange but charming way. In my opinion this is the best of the three Carrie movies. There's the Angela Bettis one which doesn't live up to the Spacek original. Now there's a newer adaptation with the sweet Chloe Grace Moretz playing Carrie White. For me Moretz is almost too sweet and likeable to play Carrie White. Sissy Spacek has this awkward face and isn't traditionally beautiful and so she really makes sense in the role. Moretz is just too lovely.

I'll be honest though: I love Julianne Moore. I respect her as an actress and a person. I do really want to see her portrayal of Carrie's crazy, religious mother. This particular character, to me at least, really shapes the book and provides for real moments of discomfort.

I've not seen the latest Carrie, I'm not even sure if it's been released yet, but I did see the trailer and was so utterly pissed off because they managed to pretty much show the entire plot of the film in the trailer. They were advertising it to a generation of kids who probably didn't know the Carrie plot like so many of the rest of us do. They had a real opportunity here to interest people in a horror classic but whoever cut the trailers gave away far too much which utterly defeats the purpose of advertising a film and rebooting this excellent story.



I'll certainly watch the new Carrie when I can for contrast, I just have very mixed feelings at this moment in time.

So please, read this book and find out for yourself.
You won't regret it: