Christine

[cvueguy]

I just recently finished Christine. My first car was a 57 Plymouth Belvedere, a sister to the Fury.

I realize that this paperback was published in 1983, a long time has passed to give much credibility to a critique, but here goes.

I would have thought that more attention to detail about the 58 Plymouth Fury would have been done before writing a book like this.

For example, a Fury was never available as a 4 door, just a 2 dr hardtop.
It was only available from Chrysler in one colour, beige. I will concede that this point was well covered in the book, as LeBay had it custom paited red & white.

There are references to the gearshift lever being dropped into drive.. All Chrysler products had a push-button automatic transmission 1956-1964.

There is another reference to the door lock buttons. There simply were no buttons to push down on the Plymouth. To lock the door, one pushed the inside doorhandle forward. Even a 4 door model had no buttons, the back doors had a tiny lever on the panal.

Apart from the lack of attention to details, it was a very enjoyable book and drew attention to this car model as a collectable.Go to EBay, every 57-58 Plymouth for sale will say "Christine" !

[delores 74]

If I remember correctly, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but at the time Christine was written, SK was a young, up and coming author who was raising small children while writing his novels as well as short stories. Trust me, small children at home in a time before the internet does not leave a lot of time to run out and research such trivial things as push buttons on cars. That aside, there is a thing called creative license. Some aspects of the story just wouldn't work with perfect details. Authors change facts all the time, it's one of the great things about writing fiction. If I sat down and pulled apart every inconsistency in every book I've read or check facts in every novel, I'd be in the nuthouse. Sometimes you just have to let things go and overlook the errors.

[wally wonder]

i don't understand. the fury was only a two door? but the four door model had no buttons, they had a tiny lever on the panal? interesting post. i guess there's a bunch of readers out there who have knowledge of certain details, whether it be cars, x-rays, or the fine art of carpentry. maybe crayola never had a "misty blue-eyed persuasion" in their box of a hundred colors, but man, wouldn't you dig a crayon like that? i agree, christine is a great story! maybe we needed a four-door model so that barry gottfried hiker could get in and out easier?

[~Ally~]

Well maybe considering the car came accustomed with some pretty strong supernatural forces it also had the power to morph itself and adapt any minor details to the interior/exterior anyway it darn well pleased...just a thought..after all anything is possible in Uncle Steves universe.

[Bryan James]

I demand an immediate Congressional Review Hearing. All copies of "Christine" must be immediately quarrantined!

Seriously, though. I probably could find factual holes in a Tom Clancy or James Michener. Book. Not the writers, physically (I'm certain I could find holes there).

Even if you happen to be Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, sometimes you just have to let the magical suspension of disbelief override technicalities.

BJS

(I didn't much like the book/movie)

[mae]

I read the book and it was awesome. I also watch the movie and it was pretty good and stuck to the book and the way things happened. I had the movie and liked wathing it.

[thymeoperator]

i remember a published writer once visiting my house when i was about 13, not some HUGE famous writer but published all the same, she was the sister of a friend of my parents - anyway, because i've always wanted to be a professional writer myself, she was giving me some tips and told me apparently there was some other writer who wrote detective novels and in one story mentioned something about cat hair as a clue to the piece, and it turned out that particular type of cat doesn't actually shed in reality...and she got millions of FURIOUS letters from readers who were also cat lovers. i always thought that was hilarious.

[ginapenn]

NO! I shall never give up my precious Christine! It's my favey SK book.

The little factuals about the car are immaterial; as SK says himself (many times in On Writing) it's the story that's important. He told a story in Christine and told it well!

[michal]

If the topic of the number of doors interfered with your enjoyment of the book perhaps, my friend, you've missed something

[scratchesass]

Perhaps Christine happens on a different level of the Tower? After all. there are worlds other than this........