First off, I'm a King fanboy, but I'm a little different from other fanboys. Here's what I think: When King's good, he's the best in the business. When he sucks, he's still readable, but it pisses me the fuck off because I know what he's capable of. Being readable even when he's off his game is how he's maintained my fandom while Koontz and Saul eventually lost my monetary involvement. I will still read the latter, but only through NetGallery and library borrows. With every King release, I purchase the audio book for road trips, the ebook for reading, and the hardcover for my collection. When the paperback drops, I buy that for rereads, because I still prefer physical books to digital materials, and I refuse to crack open my first edition hardcovers. So yes, I am a fanboy. But I also know that King has had his shit books. Fortunately, only a third of this book drew a frown down my face. For those of you that want to cry "Hater!" I will explain. Extensively. Spoilers ahead. You have been warned. (view spoiler)[The beginning of this book gets five stars. I loved the interaction between Dennis and Arnie, and even loved the inclusion of Leigh. That familiar sense of dread that is felt throughout all of Stephen King's beginnings is showcased here. The character development is also quite strong with Christine. We know Arnie is going to go bad, and we hate that. But this is King. We signed up for this ride not to witness a happy ending but to see just how fucked up things are going to get before the final page is flipped. Then we hit part two like a milk truck sliding across icy tarmac before crashing into your local meeting of Lactose Anonymous. The middle of this book is a low three stars for me. We're ripped out of Dennis's intimate first-person POV and shoved wily-nily up the exhaust pipe of some strange omniscient narrator. Dafuq just happened? I want Dennis back. Gimme back Dennis, you uppity fuckwit! The narrative further devolves into a slasher film wherein the masked killer has been replaced by an unstoppable car. Some of these scenes are riveting, but others fall flat as cardboard, and still others are told completely off camera. It's as if King got tired of describing the killings so he...Hopped back into Dennis's head for the denouement (aka Part Three). What the farfegnugen? Okay, well, I guess I got my wish. I'm back with Dennis, and I'm enjoying the ride once more. People are still dying, but that's taken a back seat. In fact, the detective, the guy that's a huge part of part two, dies so far off camera I didn't at first realize he'd been run off the road. King breezes so quickly over his death that I thought it was some nobody, some inconsequential lout who just happened to shit in Lebay's cornflakes on one of his off days. But no. It's the main dick. His death is given a single paragraph, and we're back on the road. While reading this, I continuously came across parts I recalled and then whole sections I don't remember happening, like, at all. Which leads me to believe I only skimmed through this one when I first read it, quite possibly because the middle-way narrator switch upset me so completely. I remembered the shit truck instead of the CAT, like what's in the movie, but I completely forgot about Arnie and Regina's deaths. Do I still classify this as a reread? Ya betcha bald tires I do. And yes, I still enjoy the movie over the book. Carpenter's telling is succinct, but it does sacrifice the amazing character development of Part One, so take your pick. Tight story or some damn fine getting-to-know-you? Remember, though, that the getting-to-know-you sections end at Part Two and never, ever, come back. (hide spoiler)]
Audiobook – Narrated by Holter Graham – Excellent narrationAs always, Holter Graham narrates this story beautifully. The only criticism I have is that the Epilogue was at the beginning of the book! o.O***Ebook:Excerpt from The Great Stephen King Reread by Grady Hendrix...“Christine wasn’t just unusual for its location or the terms of its contract, it was also unusual because it was the first book in which King became everything people accused him of being. Cujo may be famous as the book Stephen King wrote in a drunken blackout, but it’s Christine that really feels like the work of a drunk: repetitive, bloated, clumsy, and half-baked, it’s King at his most unstoppable, his most uneditable, and his most vainglorious.” I wonder if Mr Hendrix actually read Christine or only skimmed through it. He states in his review that Christine was ”Set in Pittsburgh instead of Maine.” You know, I could have sworn it was set in Libertyville!Horses for courses…I loved it the first time and I still love it. I forgot to mention that Stephen King himself says (in the interview linked at the bottom of this review) that Christine is set in Pittsburgh, which confuses me mightily. Although Pittsburgh is mentioned the story is set in Libertyville. CONNECTIOS:Christine:There was a Plymouth Fury mentioned in Trucks.11/22/63 - Lurking in the used car lot is a white over red Plymouth Fury with “impossibly antique” plates.11/22/63 – In Jodie, Texas, George notices a white over read 1958 Plymouth Fury rolling slowly down the street, but this Fury has an Arkansas plate instead of Maine.11/22/63 – While staying at the Candlewood Bungalows George notices a parked white over red Plymouth Fury. This time the plate was Oklahoma. The Stand - On their way back to Boulder, Stu Redman and Tom Cullen find an old Plymouth (Christine?) with the keys dangling from an imitation leather case with the initials AC (Arnie Cunningham?) on it.It – After Henry Bowers escapes from Juniper Hill he gets a lift from the dead Belch Huggins who was driving a red over white 1958 Plymouth Fury.Horlicks University (The Crate – A short story first published in the July 1979 issue of Gallery)Moochie Welch – Shares the same first name as Moochie in The Dead Zone.***Interview: Stephen King on Christine, 1984.http://www.lofficier.com/christine.htm
What do You think about Christine (2001)?
Can't guess as to when I properly read this. I just grabbed it out of a box I haven't touched in at least three years, though, so I'll make a guess. Anyway, this is one of my Mysterious Disappearing Reviews which GR can neither explain nor recover (I have now given up on even reporting the issue unless I have a list of evidence for the review's existence, which in this case I don't). So I'll keep this brief: I remember liking this, being drawn to read the rest of it, feeling pretty unsettled -- for a concept that failed in Supernatural's series one episode Route 666, the idea of a haunted car worked pretty well for me -- and all those pleasantly-chilled feelings that come with reading horror with a reasonable imagination and a willingness to suspend some disbelief.Looking at the wikipedia summary, I don't remember the last part of the novel, which is odd -- but the rest definitely stuck in my head.
—Nikki
Когато започнах "Кристин", още от първите редове бях сигурна и си казах: "Ето още един роман на Краля, който ще се нареди сред любимите ми." В нея той отново се проявява като голям познавач на човешката душевност, първопричините и мотивациите зад всяко от решенията ни, проблемите ни и следствията от тях. Книгата разказва за един аутсайдер, неговият единствен приятел и една кола. Но колата е повече от това, тя е другар, дълго търсеният и чакан, с когото най-накрая да се събереш, да се слееш изцяло и никога да не се разделиш. За съжаление. Прекалено поучителна книга, мисля задължителна за подрастващото поколение, тийнейджърите, които са склонни да се вманиачават по различни неща и да ги превръщат в идея-фикс. Кинг е обяснил всичко прецизно и по неговия си - леко циничен, но адски откровен начин. Показал е как ако ти сам не си помогнеш, другите няма как да го направят вместо теб. Как, когато потискаш някого, той неминуемо ще се обърне срещу теб и ще ти го върне. Тъпкано.Брилянтен мозък е Кинг, невероятното повествование тече толкова гладко, така изкусно е подредил разказа и гледните точки, че просто не можеш да спреш да четеш. А и не трябва, защото има какво да научиш. Не е хубаво да придаваме душа на неодушевените предмети, те трябва да останат в не-живия свят.
—Мая
Acabo de terminar de leer este libro y estoy muy, muy sorprendida.Cuando leí de qué se trataba por primera vez pensé que iba a ser aburrido, pero como ya lo había comprado y está escrito por mi autor favorito pensé en darle una oportunidad.No sé si este es una de las mejores obras de King - de hecho, creería que no, pero llegó a gustarme muchísimo.Tengo que decir que fueron los últimos capítulos los que me hicieron darle cinco estrellas. Me puso muy, muy, muy nerviosa - en un estado de tensión increíble. Me encanta lo realista que es el final a pesar de lo irreal que es la historia.Voy a confesar que, además, terminé este libro (literalmente) llorando. No sé por qué y no sé cuándo llegué a encariñarme tanto con los personajes. Realmente sufrí con ellos. La realidad es que la mejor manera que se me ocurre de describir la historia es diciendo que me sorprendió demasiado y de una manera muy buena. Todavía ahora, después de haberlo terminado, no puedo creer lo mucho que me gustó.Creo que lo dije en todas mis reseñas / en todos mis comentarios sobre Stephen King, pero lo voy a decir una vez más: nunca, nunca deja de sorprenderme. Es increíble.
—Mariana
