Read this as a young girl, when it came out in paperback. recently read it again & was simply blown away by King's insight into what makes people tick. His characters (even the troubled or flawed characters) are so beautifully drawn & real. I truly believe that is his great gift!
Carrie was my doorway into King's world. I was about 10 or so. Cousins had it on their shelf, and when we would visit, I would read it. Eventually, they saw me reading it every time we were there, and they let me have it.
Salem's Lot was a much much MUCH better experience for me, the relationship/development of all the characters was mind-blowing in this one. Shining's next
I love his older works, and extremely present in Carrie and Salem's Lot are those little newspaper snippets, found it interesting he doesn't do those anymore
I really like the way he wrote Carrie, using clippings from reports and interviews and such. Margaret White is truly terrifying. The only King extended universe connection I noticed was Teddy's gas station. Never picked up the references to the laundromat in other works. Great video!
There's just something special about Carrie and always has been. There's a feeling of doomed prophecy throughout the whole thing that's just so wonderfully chilling. I think the biggest success and the thing about this novel that makes it so enduring is the decision to make it half 3rd person, and half epistolary. It's just so incredible.
This was my first ever Stephen King book that I read, after trying to read the Stand as my first... I've probably read Carrie three more times and enjoy it more and more every time I read it.... this is a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to get into Stephen King
I also tried to start with The Stand and it was overwhelming. I started with The Shinning then 11/22/63, Carrie and I'm almost done with Salem's Lot. Can't wait for The Stand now.
Dropping a comment just to say that not nearly enough booktubers do deep dives into Stephen King, so I was delighted to find your channel. Found you yesterday and after going through a few videos have the full playlist going now. Please do keep these coming. I tend to comment very little, but love the content
Just read this for the first time over a day and a half…man it is heart wrenching! The part where she says she is scared and just wanted her mom after the whole scene…oof! Got me
I’ve been rewatching all of your King stuff all day and am loving it! He’s my favorite author, too! Hope you and the family are well. Watched your most recent video and you were getting over stomach flu. Take care!😊
This is an excellent review and introduction to King's writing. When I was in my early 20s (mid-1990s) I remember reading three or four of King's books (including "The Stand: Complete and Uncut"), and "Carrie" was by far my favorite. I really liked the way that King pulled the entire story together and I found it to be much scarier than the others - which as someone who isn't really into horror, I was surprised to find that I rather liked. I also remember talking to one of my English professors about it during office hours (the name of his class was "Elements of the Western Comic Grotesque") and he had some interesting thoughts on "Carrie" as well. Thanks to Mike for continuing to do such a great job with this channel, and I would definitely be interested in reading more books that inspired the same feelings in me that "Carrie" did.
12:00 - You have a full size book club edition from the late 90's/early 2000's. A 1st edition is smaller (early Doubleday 1st's are the same size as early book club editions), the Doubleday logo on the spine is text-only (no anchor symbol), the dust jacket has a $5.95 price tag on the front flap, and the copyright page says First Edition.
I finally get to start watching your Into the Multiverse videos! Just finished reading Carrie today and while I didn't love it, I still enjoyed it a good bit and it's got me excited to get into the good stuff.
I just finished Carrie, it was great. I thought there are two villains in Carrie , her mom and Chris to me are the monsters I think Carrie is like the Boris Karloff Frankenstein monster.
I just finished the noval and something that I love about it is that it's almost like a twilight zone episode because when you think about the epilogue of letters/excerpts it is almost like a twilight zone ending. As for the endings the only time when the bad ones are good is when the mini series or film adaptations come with a much worse ending.
"Carrie" was the first Stephen King adaptation I saw. I was young when I saw it and it has always been one of my favorite horror movies - even to this day. Even so, for some reason it took me a while to read the novel -- even though King is one of my favorite authors. It is definitely scary, but in a totally different way than you would expect. For me, the horrific part is all the abuse heaped on Carrie by her mother and peers. When Carrie looses it, I am still rooting for her (to an extent - murder isn't great). Even though it was never that bad for me in school (definitely not at home - thank goodness!), I was labeled a weirdo early on and it followed me from 1st grade through high school. So, having gone through that I really route for and empathize with Carrie. It's one of those things where you know what the ending is, but you keep hoping the story changes and she is able to just graduate from school, move out, and start her own life far away from her mother and everyone she grew up with. I am also doing a re-read, and I am almost done with Carrie and have Salem's Lot on deck! Love that I can look forward to watching these videos once I finish with each novel. Thanks, Mike!
There's a documentary about King (from A&E's "Biography" series) where his wife Tabitha recounts the events of how she found the manuscript for Carrie in the trash, took it out, read it, realized that it was "a significant block of writing", and coaxed King to finish it. You can find the documentary here on TH-cam.
I was picked on and finally lashed out. I became the protector for all my misfits from Jr high to High school. I still take care of the less fortunate.
Dang, where has this channel been my whole life? I'm definitely going to try and read some Stephen King 😅 Edit: Halfway done with Carrie. Got it in yesterday. So good so far!
I don't think Carrie was de-canonised from the King multiverse, I just think that certain King stories take place in different universes, like how the 1990 IT miniseries exists in Mr. Mercedes.
I just finished this book. First time reading King. And I was completely blown away. The way he portrays bullying is absolutely brutal and it took me back to my middle school days of hell. It made me feel so uncomfortable and feel horrible. I loved this book. He NAILS how being constantly picked on can warp your sense of self. The crassness and vinom that she speaks about herself and the hatred she feels toward other people is REALLY relatable. When you're a kid you want the people fucking with you to die horrible and painful deaths because it feels like there is no escape and like it will be never ending. This is one of those books when I finished it I had put it down and look at the cover and really reflect and think of it all.
I was very similar growing up, bullied a ton in elementary and jr high but when I got to highschool I joined the football team and somehow people's perspective of me changed even though I was still the same nerdy dude who read manga and listened to rock, played magic the gathering during breakfast with the boys, and loved talking about fantasy novels... I also realized that it's easier to talk to bullies and get them to stop doing what they're doing when you can bench 365lbs and they've seen you break kids in half every thursday and Friday night,
Dear Sir, as a perennial Stephen King reader and fan, I will look forward to these reviews/retrospectives. Thank You for doing them! As far as Carrie is concerned, fans agree that both the book and especially the visceral Brian De Palma film will break your heart. Sissy Spacek and the terrifying Piper Laurie were truly Oscar material.
Thanks for the hints. I missed all of them, naturally. Carrie the movie (the one with Sissy Spacek) was the first Stephen King's adaptation movie I watched. I agree with you that the movie was much more scarier than the book (which I read after I watched the movie two decades later). I also thought that Carrie (the novel) was too short because at the time I only read books by Stephen King which were a lot thicker. By then I already knew that if you want to read Stephen King's books, don't wait for 'and they live happily ever after' kind of endings, because there never was one. The main protagonists always left with some kind of scars in the end, or dead...
The first time I read this book in high school, I wasn't looking for any connections because I didn't even become aware of the multiverse until Dark Tower when a character from Salem's Lot shows up. I started my "Great Stephen King Re-Read" about 3 years ago and took notes of people, places, and things that crossover. And I think that's why he gets such a bad rap for "not being able to write an ending" because he takes chances.
I’m 40 years old and I wish I had an interest in Kings works when I was young but unfortunately I didn’t. For many years though I’ve wanted to start reading some of his works after listening to him speak at some colleges on line and found a liking in him. So I read Carrie first a few years ago and loved it. I thought the original movie was perfect. You find yourself hating everyone who is mean to her and her mother. I love his writing and I don’t think his endings are bad. He just leaves you always wanting more.
Great review, Mike. I'm trying the same thing. Reviewing every Stephen King book on TH-cam over the next 2 years. I also do writing advice videos. I'm gonna follow your progress and best of luck
@@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS Did Salem's Lot a couple weeks ago. I just finished your Carrie one. Your thoughts on it were much more interesting than mine ha ha
@@mikesbookreviews thanks but I disagree. Your vids are better than mine. I'm new youtube and learning it and still fine-tuning my style. I need to speak with more energy kinda like I did in my top 30 sci-fi novels and top-40 fantasy novels videos. And I dont edit. I just do one take and hope for the best. Maybe when I get more confident I will do better sound and lighting and editing and some youtube promotions. One thing at a time tho.
Loved this book. Love your reviews, as well. I too would say this is about a 4 star book, as I really enjoyed some of the themes and irony King placed in the book. Like the theme of blood, how that the story begins with blood, and ends with blood. That sort of thing. Plus, I really enjoyed the way the story was put together with articles from books and interviews. This was obviously something King got from Dracula, one of his favorite books, if not his favorite.
'Carrie' was the first Stephen King novel I had read. I have the novel, and three films. Love the 2002 version, it more in lines with the book, except for the ending.
As a fellow King fan I have to say this Into the Multiverse series you're doing is a great idea. Im looking forward to your views on a lot of the later ones. Right now Im reading Needful Things and although its not one of his best it is a whole lot of fun. As regards his endings; he has mentioned something about that in one of his prologues. That he feels its not about the destination, but the journey. As far as King goes I think this way of thinking is valid, because the journey is so fun even if the endings are awful they cant take away the great times Ive had reading his stories. Also, I would say you should consider going from a 1 to 5 scale to a 1 to 10 scale. Or it could just be in increments of 0.5 like 1.5, 2.0, 2.5. Either way, just a suggestion for you to have more specificity in your review scores.
I'm making my way through these now as I read SK in pub order (but I'm reading the Richard Bachman's too). I read quite a few when I was in high school but decided it's time 35 years later to read/reread in order. Lol
I actually quite enjoy the format of this book. Some of the most influential horror books in the Western literary canon are epistolary novels (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), so, whilst only being semi-epistolary, Carrie was a welcome throwback to a legendary time.
I 100% agree about King’s endings. I tell people all the time that I feel like he gets a bad rep for endings bc the ones that are bad are really bad but the ones I think are great are some of the best endings I’ve ever read.
A book that SIGNIFICANTLY rose in the ranks upon a recent reread, most notably for it's clever structuring and interspersing of those non-narrative testimonies, articles, news bulletins, etc. Also, the fact that CARRIE the character is still listed as a villain by so many, most notably the casual King fan, shows that she's just as misunderstood here on Keystone Earth as she was by those in her world. Great perspective as always man. Cheers!
I always see Carrie listed as a top King villain and I’m like “what about Ms. White?!” I liked the structure in a Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead “found footage” type. Really made it enjoyable on the re-read.
Nice review! Although, I don't think Carrie would've given everything to be popular. I think she would've given everything to be accepted though. I just finished reading this book myself - love your intro's to your videos btw.
I literally just finished this book. It made me cry. I felt so sorry for Carrie. It shows you can only push someone so far until they snap. Oh boy did Carrie snap. When she died… omg it was like can this poor girl get a break?? In a king novel? no. To me she was a victim..
That's pretty crazy the price you got that first edition for, considering how even copies in bad shape, sell for 1,000 now on Ebay. I'm telling you man, those early Doubledays have turned into gold! Crazy to think what prices will look like once King passes.
I’m six years older than you and like you I began reading SK in the 9th grade. Salem’s Lot was my first and then I went back and read Carrie. I agree with the 3/5 rating. Like you, I also wish this had been a bit longer. I enjoy the longer books with the great character development that SK is famous for. I’m really enjoying your reviews as well as the ones on The Horror Channel here on TH-cam. Keep up the great work as were certainly in the best season of the year for SK books (which are always better when read at night). 👍
I know I’m two years late but Carrie’s birthday, Sept. 21st, is the same as Stephen King’s. I’ve noticed the date come up in other books of his as well.
I just started reading Carrie this week. (Thanks to your channel) once I finished the book I will watch your video. Will there be major spoilers to the dark tower books? Mainly books Six and Seven? I am working my way through Tower connected books before I read the last two.
I'm doing these mostly as non-spoiler so new fans can get interested in his works. But if demand calls for it, I'll do spoiler videos for such things. But Dark Tower won't be for awhile.
To the part about Carrie being mentioned as a book I like to think that in the universe king created, there's many multiverses and lots of people who can shine like carrie and Danny, and the fact king likes to have alot of authors and history fanatics, that maybe the carrie book being mentioned pull have been written by someone who saw or sensed the event with the shine or some other character whose into writing history caught wind of the night at the prom happening by either people talking about it or news stories and wrote an in universe book about what happened.
I'm a bit confused, so Carrie isn't part of any multiverse after all? Not only because of the Dead Zone referencing Carrie as a book but I think it clashes with The Institute.
I would assume so, but it almost seems King was trying to be meta like he did In Tommyknockers and it has just been considered a “continuity error” in his Multiverse. But no one really knows except him, I figure.
I felt so bad for Carrie , she was so sweet and cute . Sissy Spacek embodied that , I liked that movie and it was a great performance and she’s a great actress
It turns out Mr. Mike that i was not fearing prom as i was unable to attend senior prom (it did not exist, thanks covid), but you know i think the book kinda makes up for it. This was my second King novel after Thinner and boy i don't know how to feel about that ending. But anyway, great review.
New to your channel. Just finished Carrie. On a Stephen King kick right now and I'd have to agree with you on Carrie. Definitely a 3. It's good. Read it if you can but if not whatever. I already read Salems lot but now I'm wondering if the firefighter who dies in Carrie is related to ben Mears somehow
Great video! My two cents? I enjoyed King's decision not to divide it into chapters. Really lends itself to a straight read-through. I agree that the book is a bit too short, at least in the depiction of Mrs. White. She was incredibly awful from the very beginning, almost laughably so. My favorite part: the invention of the word "dirtypillows." And Mrs. Whites obsession with roadhouses. All in al, this one definitely works better as camp than if I tried to take it too seriously.
@Mike’sBookReviews I’m about to get into his books with your into the multiverse series, the only ones of his I’ve actually read so far are, most of IT which, I loved what I read of it but, I got busy doing other things and never got around to reading the rest but, I have read Pet Sematary and Salem’s Lot and Carrie as well however, I will be reading all of his books in publishing order using your into the multiverse series as a reference point.
Listened to the audiobook, finished it in 2 days. I think I saw the film a long time ago, since I already kind of knew what was going to happen. But it was still a really cool "read". Yeah, the religious fanaticism was off the charts...
I read Carrie for the first time in Late September early October of 2019 and I fell in love with it. I wasn’t exactly scared of Margaret White if anything I mainly thought that she was as evil as Umbridge from The Fifth Harry Potter book. I was scared however of Chris Hargensen. But I did not and still do not blame Carrie White for her actions. I say she was a teenage girl who was pushed to far.
Are you aware that the audio cuts out both on your intro music about half way though, then for the last 40 seconds of the video there's no sound? Same thing happened on the previous video in the Stephen King playlist too. I'm sure you've probably addressed this now as these videos are a little older but, something to look into as it's basically destroying any closing comments you're making.
@Mike’s Book Reviews I’m a huge fan of your channel and I literally just found it earlier today, I actually don’t own any king books other than Pet Sematary and IT and I read Pet Sematary and was so, into the characters and even though I knew little Gage’s fate and although, I’m not a father yet, I hope to be some day even though, I have a bit of a shyness problem when talking to pretty girls which I hope I can get over someday, that way I can get married and hopefully have kids of my own. However, Gage’s death was no less heartbreaking to me because, I have a little cousin named Tyler who lives with his family in California and I have to say I was immediately terrified because, my cousin Tyler can’t be but maybe a few years older than Gage was when he got run over in the book and I immediately thought, what if that was Tyler that got run over and I had to witness him get run over, my first thought was if that happened I would sue that truck driver for not paying attention to the road and the speed limit lol. Anyways, then I rented Carrie from my local library I finished reading that, then I immediately checked out Salem’s Lot and I finished that and right after I returned it and was about to check out the shining this whole COVID-19 fiasco that’s been going on this year started and I figured it’s time to at least rent the books on audio and listen to them in chronological order over the next year or so starting tomorrow since, due to family and other responsibilities I just don’t have time to read all of his books myself as I’d like to.
@MikesBookReviews I can’t wait to get into them then! My aunt Fay’s into SK she’s read all his books and knows I like horror but, I’m not typically a big reader so, I thought you know what let’s fix that and get into reading an popular authors novels and I thought Stephen King would be a perfect way to go with my tastes in stories.
Elevation Printing Mishap I finally got around to reading Elevation and thought I could get through it in one sitting, but then I stumbled upon this. My book has pages 1-56, then skips back to 25-56, then 89-. Does anyone know if this this is a common error for Elevation? Do these kinds of printing errors make the book valuable in any way? And do you fellow Constant Readers think I should buy another copy, or is Elevation just an okay story where I can skip these pages and pick up the story at page 89?
When it comes to your discussion on how Carrie connects to the rest of Stephen King's multiverse. I do think Carrie is part of the multiverse, but not part of the mainstream universe. The Dark Tower explains that there are multiple universes (or different levels of the Tower), so I consider Carrie to be set on its own level of the Tower as opposed to the save level that King's books like The Dead Zone, IT, or Pet Sematary take place on. My reason of thinking Carrie is in its own universe is not just the fact that Carrie seems to be just a book in The Dead Zone's universe, but also the fact that what Carrie White does in the novel is a major event that the whole world finds out about, so how come the events of Carrie are never mentioned in the rest of his books? Again, I do think Carrie connects to the overall multiverse, but not the main universe of King's work.
I find similarities between SK's Carrie and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Both Carrie and the monster were born from a sin, Margaret White sinned and gave birth to Carrie, and Frank literally made a body out of dead corpses' flesh. Both Carrie and the monster were belittled and humiliated by community and by their creator. The community and the creators are truly the ones to blame in both stories, and Carrie and the monster are a unique kind of villain that was destined to be one by community, they both end up killing dozens or hundreds of individuals regardless of them being involved in the humiliation or not, which is inconceivable and cannot be justified, but it's also the community's karma
It's truly hard for me to believe that people think Carrie is the villain. Like how!? She's just a poor, innocent girl who basically has an abusive, extremely religious mother and she gets horribly bullied at school for really no reason. Basically in my opinion almost everyone else is the villain in Carrie. She had too much of the bullying and abuse and snapped. It just so happened that she had telekinetic powers.
Change the telekinetic powers to a gun and make Carrie a teenage boy instead of a girl and you could easily see how she is the villain. Hurt people hurt people, but it’s never an excuse to do so.
What I find funny is that people who do not have telepathic or telekinetic abilities seem to think that a lot of people have abilities. It's funny because, if that were true, there would be huge national security issues. And basically nobody would have secrets. So, therefore it isn't true. That's a defensive response to people who don't understand ability.
Ah, bullying... being Gen X and male, I only had recourse to basic hand to hand, or taking a worse beating at home from The Old Man. I got dragged through the religion, too. And being a latchkey kid later when the 'rents divorced was infinitely preferable to dealing with a creature like Margaret White. Sadly, I later made my so called peers in high school afraid of me thanks to being Goth and having a nasty temper. *sigh*
The film could have kicked the world in the balls the way it needed if it had included a set piece of Carrie leveling most of the town the way she did in the book. The book's last act is truly bleak.
**ENDING SPOILERS** The most disturbing thing about Carrie is something that had to be pointed out to me, but then so drastically altered my perspective that I went immediately from almost cheering for Carrie in the prom massacre to the absolute opposite. It's the idea that when the pig blood falls, Carrie sees what she expects to see rather than what is actually happening because of the mom's constant refrain of, "They're all gonna laugh at you!" What are the chances that the entire student body would find that so amusing? Even teenagers would be mostly horrified. So we can lay the massacre at the feet of the mom, and in reality she was probably slaughtering people who realized instantly when the bucket dropped that things had gone waaaay too far. Especially in that the bucket KILLS Tommy! Personally, where I went to school, we didn't really laugh when our classmates were killed by a bully's prank. Those poor kids!
I have not yet read firestarter and christine so i just assumed carrie's grandma was the one in firestarter and christine is somehow related to christine who bullied carrie (also bec she and her bf died in the car) 😆
I found this book much more heartbreaking than scary. It gets me super emotional every time I read it 😢
Same, definitely heartbreaking
Feel the same!
Same. It doesn’t feel like a horror story. It feels like a tragedy with horror elements.
Read this as a young girl, when it came out in paperback. recently read it again & was simply blown away by King's insight into what makes people tick. His characters (even the troubled or flawed characters) are so beautifully drawn & real. I truly believe that is his great gift!
Spot on. "Carrie" breaks one's heart when one reflects on how cruel people can be to each other.
Carrie was my doorway into King's world. I was about 10 or so. Cousins had it on their shelf, and when we would visit, I would read it. Eventually, they saw me reading it every time we were there, and they let me have it.
Second King book I ever read
I loved Carrie, I just finished it in less than a day. Salem’s Lot is next.
Good luck! Doing the same here. Just got done with Carrie, now on Salem's Lot.
Salem's Lot was a much much MUCH better experience for me, the relationship/development of all the characters was mind-blowing in this one.
Shining's next
I love his older works, and extremely present in Carrie and Salem's Lot are those little newspaper snippets, found it interesting he doesn't do those anymore
On a similar note, I'm reading The Dead Zone right now. I'm going through the books I have in publication order.
I really like the way he wrote Carrie, using clippings from reports and interviews and such. Margaret White is truly terrifying. The only King extended universe connection I noticed was Teddy's gas station. Never picked up the references to the laundromat in other works. Great video!
Margaret is crazy scary.
There's just something special about Carrie and always has been. There's a feeling of doomed prophecy throughout the whole thing that's just so wonderfully chilling. I think the biggest success and the thing about this novel that makes it so enduring is the decision to make it half 3rd person, and half epistolary. It's just so incredible.
This was my first ever Stephen King book that I read, after trying to read the Stand as my first... I've probably read Carrie three more times and enjoy it more and more every time I read it.... this is a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to get into Stephen King
It really is. Doesn't require a huge commitment and King was not yet "wordy" like he gets later.
Agreed
The Stand will always be my favorite book but really enjoyed Carrie. Very quick and enjoyable read.
So glad to hear that, because I just wanted to read his work and I randomly picked this one.
I also tried to start with The Stand and it was overwhelming. I started with The Shinning then 11/22/63, Carrie and I'm almost done with Salem's Lot. Can't wait for The Stand now.
Dropping a comment just to say that not nearly enough booktubers do deep dives into Stephen King, so I was delighted to find your channel.
Found you yesterday and after going through a few videos have the full playlist going now.
Please do keep these coming. I tend to comment very little, but love the content
Just read this for the first time over a day and a half…man it is heart wrenching! The part where she says she is scared and just wanted her mom after the whole scene…oof! Got me
I really felt for Carrie and didn't feel like she was the villain.. I mean I understood why she snapped and actually wanted her to live.
I’ve been rewatching all of your King stuff all day and am loving it! He’s my favorite author, too! Hope you and the family are well. Watched your most recent video and you were getting over stomach flu. Take care!😊
This is an excellent review and introduction to King's writing. When I was in my early 20s (mid-1990s) I remember reading three or four of King's books (including "The Stand: Complete and Uncut"), and "Carrie" was by far my favorite. I really liked the way that King pulled the entire story together and I found it to be much scarier than the others - which as someone who isn't really into horror, I was surprised to find that I rather liked. I also remember talking to one of my English professors about it during office hours (the name of his class was "Elements of the Western Comic Grotesque") and he had some interesting thoughts on "Carrie" as well. Thanks to Mike for continuing to do such a great job with this channel, and I would definitely be interested in reading more books that inspired the same feelings in me that "Carrie" did.
its amazing how physic powers play a pivotal role in King's works from day one
They really do. You can tell he was just fascinated with the idea.
@@mikesbookreviews I understand his fascination with physic powers to
12:00 - You have a full size book club edition from the late 90's/early 2000's. A 1st edition is smaller (early Doubleday 1st's are the same size as early book club editions), the Doubleday logo on the spine is text-only (no anchor symbol), the dust jacket has a $5.95 price tag on the front flap, and the copyright page says First Edition.
Well, son of a bitch. I'll have to look into this but it sounds like you're right.
Dude I love your intros. I enjoy your book reviews!
I finally get to start watching your Into the Multiverse videos! Just finished reading Carrie today and while I didn't love it, I still enjoyed it a good bit and it's got me excited to get into the good stuff.
i love this series!!
So much to talk about within King's multiverse.
I just finished Carrie, it was great. I thought there are two villains in Carrie , her mom and Chris to me are the monsters I think Carrie is like the Boris Karloff Frankenstein monster.
I just finished the noval and something that I love about it is that it's almost like a twilight zone episode because when you think about the epilogue of letters/excerpts it is almost like a twilight zone ending. As for the endings the only time when the bad ones are good is when the mini series or film adaptations come with a much worse ending.
Kind of like “found footage”
@@mikesbookreviews yep
"Carrie" was the first Stephen King adaptation I saw. I was young when I saw it and it has always been one of my favorite horror movies - even to this day. Even so, for some reason it took me a while to read the novel -- even though King is one of my favorite authors. It is definitely scary, but in a totally different way than you would expect. For me, the horrific part is all the abuse heaped on Carrie by her mother and peers. When Carrie looses it, I am still rooting for her (to an extent - murder isn't great). Even though it was never that bad for me in school (definitely not at home - thank goodness!), I was labeled a weirdo early on and it followed me from 1st grade through high school. So, having gone through that I really route for and empathize with Carrie. It's one of those things where you know what the ending is, but you keep hoping the story changes and she is able to just graduate from school, move out, and start her own life far away from her mother and everyone she grew up with. I am also doing a re-read, and I am almost done with Carrie and have Salem's Lot on deck! Love that I can look forward to watching these videos once I finish with each novel. Thanks, Mike!
There's a documentary about King (from A&E's "Biography" series) where his wife Tabitha recounts the events of how she found the manuscript for Carrie in the trash, took it out, read it, realized that it was "a significant block of writing", and coaxed King to finish it. You can find the documentary here on TH-cam.
Thank goodness for Tabby King.
I loved this video and oh man, your vibe is just something else, you seem like a nice smart person, totally subbing. 👍🏻👍🏻
There are books based on the Prom Night incident. So maybe the Dead Zone reference is referring to one of those books?
@@sidnew2739 I meant fictional books mentioned in Carrie
Truly a classic book
I feel like it flies under the radar for some of his other books now.
I’m going to start rereading all Kings books, as they came out.
I was picked on and finally lashed out. I became the protector for all my misfits from Jr high to High school. I still take care of the less fortunate.
This is the Way.
Dang, where has this channel been my whole life? I'm definitely going to try and read some Stephen King 😅
Edit: Halfway done with Carrie. Got it in yesterday. So good so far!
Great video sir. I'm a new kindle owner and currently reading Carrie!
I don't think Carrie was de-canonised from the King multiverse, I just think that certain King stories take place in different universes, like how the 1990 IT miniseries exists in Mr. Mercedes.
I just finished this book. First time reading King. And I was completely blown away. The way he portrays bullying is absolutely brutal and it took me back to my middle school days of hell. It made me feel so uncomfortable and feel horrible. I loved this book. He NAILS how being constantly picked on can warp your sense of self. The crassness and vinom that she speaks about herself and the hatred she feels toward other people is REALLY relatable. When you're a kid you want the people fucking with you to die horrible and painful deaths because it feels like there is no escape and like it will be never ending. This is one of those books when I finished it I had put it down and look at the cover and really reflect and think of it all.
I was very similar growing up, bullied a ton in elementary and jr high but when I got to highschool I joined the football team and somehow people's perspective of me changed even though I was still the same nerdy dude who read manga and listened to rock, played magic the gathering during breakfast with the boys, and loved talking about fantasy novels... I also realized that it's easier to talk to bullies and get them to stop doing what they're doing when you can bench 365lbs and they've seen you break kids in half every thursday and Friday night,
Didn't feel the ending lived up to the first 60% or so (surprise!) but I sped through Carrie without stopping... loved it.
Dear Sir, as a perennial Stephen King reader and fan, I will look forward to these reviews/retrospectives. Thank You for doing them! As far as Carrie is concerned, fans agree that both the book and especially the visceral Brian De Palma film will break your heart. Sissy Spacek and the terrifying Piper Laurie were truly Oscar material.
Thanks for the hints. I missed all of them, naturally. Carrie the movie (the one with Sissy Spacek) was the first Stephen King's adaptation movie I watched. I agree with you that the movie was much more scarier than the book (which I read after I watched the movie two decades later). I also thought that Carrie (the novel) was too short because at the time I only read books by Stephen King which were a lot thicker. By then I already knew that if you want to read Stephen King's books, don't wait for 'and they live happily ever after' kind of endings, because there never was one. The main protagonists always left with some kind of scars in the end, or dead...
The first time I read this book in high school, I wasn't looking for any connections because I didn't even become aware of the multiverse until Dark Tower when a character from Salem's Lot shows up. I started my "Great Stephen King Re-Read" about 3 years ago and took notes of people, places, and things that crossover. And I think that's why he gets such a bad rap for "not being able to write an ending" because he takes chances.
I’m 40 years old and I wish I had an interest in Kings works when I was young but unfortunately I didn’t. For many years though I’ve wanted to start reading some of his works after listening to him speak at some colleges on line and found a liking in him. So I read Carrie first a few years ago and loved it. I thought the original movie was perfect. You find yourself hating everyone who is mean to her and her mother. I love his writing and I don’t think his endings are bad. He just leaves you always wanting more.
Great review, Mike. I'm trying the same thing. Reviewing every Stephen King book on TH-cam over the next 2 years. I also do writing advice videos. I'm gonna follow your progress and best of luck
How far are you into his backlog?
I've read all Stephen King's books before but I am just starting with the reviews. Posting my Salem's Lot review on Sunday night
@@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS Did Salem's Lot a couple weeks ago. I just finished your Carrie one. Your thoughts on it were much more interesting than mine ha ha
@@mikesbookreviews thanks but I disagree. Your vids are better than mine. I'm new youtube and learning it and still fine-tuning my style. I need to speak with more energy kinda like I did in my top 30 sci-fi novels and top-40 fantasy novels videos. And I dont edit. I just do one take and hope for the best. Maybe when I get more confident I will do better sound and lighting and editing and some youtube promotions. One thing at a time tho.
Her mother wasn't the villain. That was the couple who dumped the blood on her. Her mother was just like her.
Loved this book. Love your reviews, as well. I too would say this is about a 4 star book, as I really enjoyed some of the themes and irony King placed in the book. Like the theme of blood, how that the story begins with blood, and ends with blood. That sort of thing. Plus, I really enjoyed the way the story was put together with articles from books and interviews. This was obviously something King got from Dracula, one of his favorite books, if not his favorite.
'Carrie' was the first Stephen King novel I had read. I have the novel, and three films. Love the 2002 version, it more in lines with the book, except for the ending.
As a fellow King fan I have to say this Into the Multiverse series you're doing is a great idea. Im looking forward to your views on a lot of the later ones. Right now Im reading Needful Things and although its not one of his best it is a whole lot of fun.
As regards his endings; he has mentioned something about that in one of his prologues. That he feels its not about the destination, but the journey. As far as King goes I think this way of thinking is valid, because the journey is so fun even if the endings are awful they cant take away the great times Ive had reading his stories.
Also, I would say you should consider going from a 1 to 5 scale to a 1 to 10 scale. Or it could just be in increments of 0.5 like 1.5, 2.0, 2.5. Either way, just a suggestion for you to have more specificity in your review scores.
Wow jealous of that first edition!
I'm making my way through these now as I read SK in pub order (but I'm reading the Richard Bachman's too). I read quite a few when I was in high school but decided it's time 35 years later to read/reread in order. Lol
It’s a trip worth taking.
I actually quite enjoy the format of this book. Some of the most influential horror books in the Western literary canon are epistolary novels (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), so, whilst only being semi-epistolary, Carrie was a welcome throwback to a legendary time.
Watching this in 2024 and like this was “rookie” Mikes Book Review’s
I 100% agree about King’s endings. I tell people all the time that I feel like he gets a bad rep for endings bc the ones that are bad are really bad but the ones I think are great are some of the best endings I’ve ever read.
I love the first half of the book and the prom scene of the 1976 movie.
A book that SIGNIFICANTLY rose in the ranks upon a recent reread, most notably for it's clever structuring and interspersing of those non-narrative testimonies, articles, news bulletins, etc. Also, the fact that CARRIE the character is still listed as a villain by so many, most notably the casual King fan, shows that she's just as misunderstood here on Keystone Earth as she was by those in her world. Great perspective as always man. Cheers!
I always see Carrie listed as a top King villain and I’m like “what about Ms. White?!” I liked the structure in a Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead “found footage” type. Really made it enjoyable on the re-read.
Nice review! Although, I don't think Carrie would've given everything to be popular. I think she would've given everything to be accepted though. I just finished reading this book myself - love your intro's to your videos btw.
I literally just finished this book. It made me cry. I felt so sorry for Carrie. It shows you can only push someone so far until they snap. Oh boy did Carrie snap. When she died… omg it was like can this poor girl get a break?? In a king novel? no. To me she was a victim..
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GOAT.
That's pretty crazy the price you got that first edition for, considering how even copies in bad shape, sell for 1,000 now on Ebay. I'm telling you man, those early Doubledays have turned into gold! Crazy to think what prices will look like once King passes.
I’m six years older than you and like you I began reading SK in the 9th grade. Salem’s Lot was my first and then I went back and read Carrie. I agree with the 3/5 rating. Like you, I also wish this had been a bit longer. I enjoy the longer books with the great character development that SK is famous for. I’m really enjoying your reviews as well as the ones on The Horror Channel here on TH-cam. Keep up the great work as were certainly in the best season of the year for SK books (which are always better when read at night). 👍
Thanks for watching! Carrie is a great book, but it is clearly just a peep into what King would become.
Great book, I enjoyed it quite a lot!
~$8,000 is what I found for a 1st edition. That's a pretty damn good find.
I finished Carrie last night because it was Stephen King's birthday. Little did I know, it was also Carrie White's birthday.
I know I’m two years late but Carrie’s birthday, Sept. 21st, is the same as Stephen King’s. I’ve noticed the date come up in other books of his as well.
No greater novel to start when reading Stephen King is the shining imo
I just started reading Carrie this week. (Thanks to your channel) once I finished the book I will watch your video. Will there be major spoilers to the dark tower books? Mainly books Six and Seven? I am working my way through Tower connected books before I read the last two.
I'm doing these mostly as non-spoiler so new fans can get interested in his works. But if demand calls for it, I'll do spoiler videos for such things. But Dark Tower won't be for awhile.
To the part about Carrie being mentioned as a book I like to think that in the universe king created, there's many multiverses and lots of people who can shine like carrie and Danny, and the fact king likes to have alot of authors and history fanatics, that maybe the carrie book being mentioned pull have been written by someone who saw or sensed the event with the shine or some other character whose into writing history caught wind of the night at the prom happening by either people talking about it or news stories and wrote an in universe book about what happened.
In my opinion Carrie is one of his best books of all time
I'm a bit confused, so Carrie isn't part of any multiverse after all? Not only because of the Dead Zone referencing Carrie as a book but I think it clashes with The Institute.
I would assume so, but it almost seems King was trying to be meta like he did In Tommyknockers and it has just been considered a “continuity error” in his Multiverse. But no one really knows except him, I figure.
@@mikesbookreviews right
I felt so bad for Carrie , she was so sweet and cute . Sissy Spacek embodied that , I liked that movie and it was a great performance and she’s a great actress
It turns out Mr. Mike that i was not fearing prom as i was unable to attend senior prom (it did not exist, thanks covid), but you know i think the book kinda makes up for it. This was my second King novel after Thinner and boy i don't know how to feel about that ending. But anyway, great review.
New to your channel. Just finished Carrie. On a Stephen King kick right now and I'd have to agree with you on Carrie. Definitely a 3. It's good. Read it if you can but if not whatever. I already read Salems lot but now I'm wondering if the firefighter who dies in Carrie is related to ben Mears somehow
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Great video! My two cents? I enjoyed King's decision not to divide it into chapters. Really lends itself to a straight read-through. I agree that the book is a bit too short, at least in the depiction of Mrs. White. She was incredibly awful from the very beginning, almost laughably so. My favorite part: the invention of the word "dirtypillows." And Mrs. Whites obsession with roadhouses. All in al, this one definitely works better as camp than if I tried to take it too seriously.
@Mike’sBookReviews I’m about to get into his books with your into the multiverse series, the only ones of his I’ve actually read so far are, most of IT which, I loved what I read of it but, I got busy doing other things and never got around to reading the rest but, I have read Pet Sematary and Salem’s Lot and Carrie as well however, I will be reading all of his books in publishing order using your into the multiverse series as a reference point.
Where did you buy that? Cause I can’t find it
My first stephen King book.
I Just finished.
Enjoy it?
@@mikesbookreviews i did like it alot more that i expected.
Listened to the audiobook, finished it in 2 days. I think I saw the film a long time ago, since I already kind of knew what was going to happen. But it was still a really cool "read". Yeah, the religious fanaticism was off the charts...
I read Carrie for the first time in Late September early October of 2019 and I fell in love with it. I wasn’t exactly scared of Margaret White if anything I mainly thought that she was as evil as Umbridge from The Fifth Harry Potter book. I was scared however of Chris Hargensen. But I did not and still do not blame Carrie White for her actions. I say she was a teenage girl who was pushed to far.
Are you aware that the audio cuts out both on your intro music about half way though, then for the last 40 seconds of the video there's no sound? Same thing happened on the previous video in the Stephen King playlist too. I'm sure you've probably addressed this now as these videos are a little older but, something to look into as it's basically destroying any closing comments you're making.
It is because the intro and outro music I used had its license sold and I had to remove it.
@Mike’s Book Reviews I’m a huge fan of your channel and I literally just found it earlier today, I actually don’t own any king books other than Pet Sematary and IT and I read Pet Sematary and was so, into the characters and even though I knew little Gage’s fate and although, I’m not a father yet, I hope to be some day even though, I have a bit of a shyness problem when talking to pretty girls which I hope I can get over someday, that way I can get married and hopefully have kids of my own.
However, Gage’s death was no less heartbreaking to me because, I have a little cousin named Tyler who lives with his family in California and I have to say I was immediately terrified because, my cousin Tyler can’t be but maybe a few years older than Gage was when he got run over in the book and I immediately thought, what if that was Tyler that got run over and I had to witness him get run over, my first thought was if that happened I would sue that truck driver for not paying attention to the road and the speed limit lol.
Anyways, then I rented Carrie from my local library I finished reading that, then I immediately checked out Salem’s Lot and I finished that and right after I returned it and was about to check out the shining this whole COVID-19 fiasco that’s been going on this year started and I figured it’s time to at least rent the books on audio and listen to them in chronological order over the next year or so starting tomorrow since, due to family and other responsibilities I just don’t have time to read all of his books myself as I’d like to.
The magic of King's books is it will affect everyone differently by where they're at in life. That's why I think his stories click with all ages.
@MikesBookReviews I can’t wait to get into them then! My aunt Fay’s into SK she’s read all his books and knows I like horror but, I’m not typically a big reader so, I thought you know what let’s fix that and get into reading an popular authors novels and I thought Stephen King would be a perfect way to go with my tastes in stories.
You should do a 10 point grading scale.
What about the connection between Carrie and the Stand because the sheriff Ottis Doyle’s
Elevation Printing Mishap
I finally got around to reading Elevation and thought I could get through it in one sitting, but then I stumbled upon this. My book has pages 1-56, then skips back to 25-56, then 89-.
Does anyone know if this this is a common error for Elevation? Do these kinds of printing errors make the book valuable in any way? And do you fellow Constant Readers think I should buy another copy, or is Elevation just an okay story where I can skip these pages and pick up the story at page 89?
Judy Blume and S E Hinton (female) wrote about boys, from a first point a view.
When it comes to your discussion on how Carrie connects to the rest of Stephen King's multiverse. I do think Carrie is part of the multiverse, but not part of the mainstream universe. The Dark Tower explains that there are multiple universes (or different levels of the Tower), so I consider Carrie to be set on its own level of the Tower as opposed to the save level that King's books like The Dead Zone, IT, or Pet Sematary take place on. My reason of thinking Carrie is in its own universe is not just the fact that Carrie seems to be just a book in The Dead Zone's universe, but also the fact that what Carrie White does in the novel is a major event that the whole world finds out about, so how come the events of Carrie are never mentioned in the rest of his books? Again, I do think Carrie connects to the overall multiverse, but not the main universe of King's work.
You are correct. Alternate timelines. "There are other worlds than these."
So does Carrie White shine? I don’t think King has ever confirmed it.
Are all your books first editions?
I find similarities between SK's Carrie and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.
Both Carrie and the monster were born from a sin, Margaret White sinned and gave birth to Carrie, and Frank literally made a body out of dead corpses' flesh.
Both Carrie and the monster were belittled and humiliated by community and by their creator.
The community and the creators are truly the ones to blame in both stories, and Carrie and the monster are a unique kind of villain that was destined to be one by community, they both end up killing dozens or hundreds of individuals regardless of them being involved in the humiliation or not, which is inconceivable and cannot be justified, but it's also the community's karma
Reading it
The Multiverse for me will always be Moorcock and Elric
I have never read his works, but this isn't the first time I've been told that.
That poem tho
It's truly hard for me to believe that people think Carrie is the villain. Like how!? She's just a poor, innocent girl who basically has an abusive, extremely religious mother and she gets horribly bullied at school for really no reason. Basically in my opinion almost everyone else is the villain in Carrie. She had too much of the bullying and abuse and snapped. It just so happened that she had telekinetic powers.
Change the telekinetic powers to a gun and make Carrie a teenage boy instead of a girl and you could easily see how she is the villain. Hurt people hurt people, but it’s never an excuse to do so.
A good solid King read. Not one of his best, but one that is still plenty enjoyable nonetheless
If you liked Carrie, I recommend you the anime Elfen Lied :) .
Carrie says that her mother chased away the Man in Black
What I find funny is that people who do not have telepathic or telekinetic abilities seem to think that a lot of people have abilities. It's funny because, if that were true, there would be huge national security issues. And basically nobody would have secrets. So, therefore it isn't true. That's a defensive response to people who don't understand ability.
As other characters with the powers have said, "We build strong mental shields because we do not want to see everyone's thoughts."
To answer the question at the beginning, yes...
Until COVID hit.
$2,000 for the 1st Edition!
Ah, bullying... being Gen X and male, I only had recourse to basic hand to hand, or taking a worse beating at home from The Old Man. I got dragged through the religion, too. And being a latchkey kid later when the 'rents divorced was infinitely preferable to dealing with a creature like Margaret White. Sadly, I later made my so called peers in high school afraid of me thanks to being Goth and having a nasty temper. *sigh*
The film could have kicked the world in the balls the way it needed if it had included a set piece of Carrie leveling most of the town the way she did in the book. The book's last act is truly bleak.
**ENDING SPOILERS**
The most disturbing thing about Carrie is something that had to be pointed out to me, but then so drastically altered my perspective that I went immediately from almost cheering for Carrie in the prom massacre to the absolute opposite. It's the idea that when the pig blood falls, Carrie sees what she expects to see rather than what is actually happening because of the mom's constant refrain of, "They're all gonna laugh at you!"
What are the chances that the entire student body would find that so amusing? Even teenagers would be mostly horrified. So we can lay the massacre at the feet of the mom, and in reality she was probably slaughtering people who realized instantly when the bucket dropped that things had gone waaaay too far. Especially in that the bucket KILLS Tommy! Personally, where I went to school, we didn't really laugh when our classmates were killed by a bully's prank. Those poor kids!
I have not yet read firestarter and christine so i just assumed carrie's grandma was the one in firestarter and christine is somehow related to christine who bullied carrie (also bec she and her bf died in the car) 😆
Is not so much as horror story, but more a sad teenage story.
@@sidnew2739
Well, yeah. I suppose It could be consider like that.
I can see your dirtypillows!
I actually prefer the 70s movie. No good characters besides carrie....over religious mother. It was a snoozer until the prom..
i found this to be overrated, depressing and straight up lame. And also found nothing horror about it other than the over zealous religious mother