Krishna
Oh My God. This is my summary of the book, if you want it in three words.
Stephen King has written some great books which keep you absorbed in the story line so much that you are immersed in the story : Under The Dome and The Wind Through The Keyhole come to mind. We have also reviewed other books of this author earlier.
But even against such stiff competition, Carrie stands out. It is one of the earlier works of King, and one of those that made him famous as the ‘king of horror writers’. It is also one of the shortest books. But it is amazing. The last one third of the book just grabs you and does not let you go. You keep turning the pages until it is over and even after you finished the story, the effect stays with you for a while. Hallmark of a great writer.
Not a scene is wasted. From the very first scene where Carrie is bullied in the shower by her friends, to her awkwardness and naivete, to her mother’s crazy notions of girls who are really good will not get their periods to her literal torture of Carrie by locking her in a closet for the smallest infringement – it is all told in touching detail. This is even before we know about Carrie’s extraordinary power of telekinesis.
As most of you know either from the movie or the book, this is regarding a girl who had telekinetic powers. Carrie White is a flabby girl who was not taught anything at all about the realities of the body – not to mention the birds and the bees – so that she is caught unawares when she first got her menstrual blood. Unfortunately it happened in full view of the other girls while she was taking a bath in an open shower room. Her mother, Mrs Margaret White was even weirder, caught by surprise by her own pregnancy and had to self deliver the baby, alone, using a kitchen knife to cut the umbilical chord and screaming all the way through. She thought that intercourse (with the husband too) was a ‘grave sin’.
The principal is astonished that a girl can go through puberty without even understanding what menstruation was and once he knows it is the daughter of Margaret White, understands why. He agrees with the teacher who rescued Carrie from the taunting girls and sends her home for the day. The only surprise was that an ashtray that he thought was sufficiently put back on the table somehow fell off during his session with Carrie.
Carrie goes home and the mirror where she looks at herself with hate breaks suddenly. One of the girls, Sue Snell, is sleeping (in the car) with Tommy, a boyfriend, and feels rotten about taunting Carrie with all the other girls.
When mom finds that Carrie had her first period, she is furious and pulls her by hair in front of one of the numerous Jesus images to pray for the sin of getting the tools of fornication – eve’s shame for the sin was menstruation. Carrie is bewildered while being beaten up – what did she do wrong?
Knowing that her mother fears her telekinesis, Carrie practices with the brush. And then her cot.
Meanwhile father of Chris, one of the worst bullies, comes to confront the headmaster. The teacher has given them a week’s suspension and ‘no tickets to the upcoming prom’. The father, who is a lawyer wants it called off and is obnoxiously threatening but Gayle, the head master is prepared with a threat to countersue over the treatment Chris and others meted out to Carrie. Checkmate.
Chris is furious and decides to gatecrash the prom anyway. Sue, who is already repentant about her uncaring treatment of Carrie, stands up to her finally. She also forces her boyfriend Tom to ask Carrie to be his escort for the ball and Carrie agrees, even though she is suspicious of the whole thing as yet another prank.
She makes her own gown and her mother throws a huge fit when she finds out that Carrie plans to go to the prom. Carrie defies her mother and throws her out with her mind alone. She waits for Tom who arrives.
Unknown to all, Chris gets her bully boyfriend Billy Nolan and his friends to go to an out of the way farm and get two buckets of pig’s blood after slaughtering two pigs there (the farmers were both away and Chris knows this). They come in the night and then set it up over where the Kind and Queen were to sit. They are now ready to pull the rope. (Chris discovers the scary fact that her period is late). They are waiting for the school song to be played by the band so that they know that the King and Queen are in their place, ready to receive the blood shower.
Mom in the meanwhile decides she had enough and waits with a sharpened kitchen knife for Carrie to return.
The school chooses Tommy and Carrie to be the prom King and Queen. Carrie is both exhilarated and terrified. And then Chris and Tommy pull the chord to pour blood on Carrie and the bucket hits Tommy and he faints.
From that moment, the book takes off to another level. The description of Carrie’s bewilderment, sense of betrayal, humiliation all come together. Unfortunately, this has strong echoes of her menstrual humiliation. Then the result is so comical that even students who did not intend to bully her laughed. And then someone tripped her by putting their leg across.
She loses it and then the story talks of the destruction she wrought not just on the school but half the city. Movingly told by newspaper article pieces, excerpts from the commission of inquiry (later), from a book written by Sue, and most importantly, in narration – the story moves with so much speed that you are left gasping. At the same time, you travel with the mind of Carrie.
Her final confrontation with her mom followed by her reckoning of the main culprits – all told in exquisite detail.
This is a superbly narrated book, a tightly knit story and is breathtakingly beautiful.
10/10
– – Krishna (September 2019)