Is Carrie underrated?

[SKfan2006]

i loved Carrie. it was the second book i had read under SK's name. i found it to be more sad than scary since you can sympathize with her.

[Roseasharn]

I just read Carrie for the first time, actually. And I enjoyed it very much. I've only ever met one King book I really didn't like and that has more to do with me than with the book, I think.
I'll be completely honest, though, I love the man's short fiction. I eat it up. It is probably the thing I love most about his writing. I absolutely went gonzo over the DT series, but other than that, give me a short story or a novella any day!

[Bryan James]

Carrie is pretty short on pages (compared to some other King masterworks).

I just bought the new redcover softback, after realizing that it was one of the only (maybe the last) King book that I had not read.

I enjoyed a great many of them...and all of them very recently for the second or third time.

Several times I picked up a SK book, only to realize (after 45 pages) that I'd read it before. So I slow down and start to ANALyze, already having zipped through the story part.

I have never seen the Sissy Spacek (or any later) movie versions of 'Carrie,' so I was a completely blank slate with the novel.

It took me almost two weeks to finish. And I read. A lot.

The first fifth zipped by, and I suck at fractions, but I don't think it was until nearing the last seven-tenths that I couldn't put it down.

As a Reader, it was slim.

As an aspiring writery person...Good on you, Stephen!

BJS

[Dallas Riley]

It was okay. The movie has a ton of the sames lines as the book. I cant believe chris is the same girl that played the cop in robocop. She should have kept her hair long.

[Anton177]

You know, to me it probably is. I started reading SK's books around the middle ground between his really popular and the back-alley books and I quite liked that setting, and I'm only now reading the more popular ones. I haven't read Carrie yet and I'm not sure it's high on my priorities since I saw the film, like that of Firestarter (and even The Langoliers) and I was pretty young; my reaction was "... the hell is this?" and I think that's why I haven't pursued them. I think the books like Carrie will be underrated to me until I get my hands on them, then I'll see what the hype is about.

Long story short, don't watch the films first.

[thymeoperator]

i can't stand the film of 'carrie', i must say - i liked the book FAR more than the movie, but it wasn't my favourite. i read it about 11 years ago, though, so i can't remember why it didn't hit me. i only just found out last month that it was his first book, though, and i think that makes it a more impressive novel - he must have been very young when he wrote it and it seems to me that most writers don't get that kind of success until they're older because it takes experience to have that sort of writing ability - so i think that context makes it more impressive to me. it's still not my favourite, though.

[Matticus]

Just my opinion, but I'm really not sure how Carrie can be "under rated".

When people think of SK, they almost always think of that book. It is not only a very famous movie but it is the book that launch the career of on of the most famous people on the planet. Carrie is like...the centerpiece of an impression people get of SK even when they know nothing about his other books.

I just think that Carrie is one of those SK books that really is just about as big as he is. Notoriety wise anyway.

[Chatterbox]

Well I think here in Germany Carrie and a lot of other Sk books are not known very well, I did a long presentation about SK at school and nearly nobody knew any of hiis books, thats sad, I'd say Carrie is an awsome book, better than all the things we read at school (I hope for you to never have heard of 'effi briest', #Dantons Tod' or 'Don Carlos' it's horrible) Carrie tells about life, and can show people that you should not treat people like the girls treat carrie, well sorry, but my name is Chatterbox^^

[Frizz]

It may be just a little underrated. It is significant today, just as it was then. Because at it's core it brings to light the effects of bullying and the dire consequences it can have on a person's life. Every day in the news is stories about kids commiting suicide, or killing fellow classmates. I think it should be read and discussed with young people, from a sociological stand point, and used as a deterrent. IMHO.

[nightbloomer]

I never thought Carrie was underrated until I started reading these boards. I think it is an insanely popular book. Everyone I know has at least heard of it. It was very meaningful as an adolescent. I kind of idolized Carrie, she was my hero!

But reading it as an adult, I can't help but feel all the girls in this book are mean and stupid and manipulative: "I'll have sex with you if you ask Carrie to the prom," and "I'll have sex with you if you kill a pig for me", etc. I don't think girls actually think this way and it is a stereotype that I try to avoid hearing about. It seemed like Tommy Ross was the only nice person in that town. It is such a brilliant story, but maybe it could have been told a little differently.