Book Chatter

Carrie
By Stephen King
Read By Sissy Spacek
(Simon & Schuster Audio, 2005)

The Short of It:

I enjoyed this years ago in print form, but it was even better on audio.

The Rest of It:

Carrie White is an outcast and a misfit but she has special powers which flare-up whenever she gets angry or upset. Living in a small town, under the roof of her religious mama, Carrie is the butt of every joke there is. So when she is asked to the prom by the most popular boy in school, she is skeptical but also hopeful. Is it possible to be like the other kids? To have friends and to go to parties and be normal?

The beginning of this book includes an introduction by King, explaining how he came up with the character of Carrie White. Apparently, she is the combination of two kids that he knew in school. Both of them painfully awkward and the focus of much ridicule. Oddly enough, both of them are no longer living so there is no update to share. At first, I was surprised to hear that Carrie was a hybrid of these two girls, but after revisiting this classic it’s clear that he has a special place in his heart for this character. Additionally, Carrie was a result of a short story that was tossed into the trash. King’s wife fished it out and encouraged him to continue with it. Can you imagine? Would King be who he is today had that story remained in the trash?

Listening to this on audio was a real treat. It’s read by Sissy Spacek who also played Carrie in the movie adaptation. It was fabulous! The movie stayed very close to the book and only had a few changes. None of them large enough to really stick out but the reading of the book on audio… it blew me away. Especially the shower scene. Those who have read the book or have seen the movie know how horrible that shower scene is. Well, listening to it was no exception! Those girls are horrid and Carrie… you want to protect her from the horror but at the same time, throttle her for being so spineless. King is really good at exposing humans for what they are.

Since participating in the IT-along (read-along for IT), I’ve been revisiting King’s previous works. I haven’t found them all to be as wonderful as the first read, but I’ve been enjoying the stories and his style of writing. I find that reading his writing is a good way to “cleanse the palate” before I begin my next read. Oh, and of course I am gearing up for Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining.

As big of a fan as I am, I haven’t read all of his books or stories. I try to space them out so I will always have something to read but after checking out his website, I see that there’s quite a bit left to read and with him being such a prolific writer, I should never run out.

Source: Borrowed

This past week has been challenging. Without going into too much detail, The Boy found himself in a pickle and then could not dig his way out of it. When a fourteen-year-old boy, a busy one at that, thinks he can do it all and then doesn’t, it’s an alarming realization to both him and those around him who are used to seeing him succeed.

This week proved to me that no matter how mature your kid THINKS he is, as a parent, you still have to reel him in, take the situation apart and then figure out a game plan to set it all right again. That is pretty much what happened these past few days. I had to pull those reins… yank them really.

Now, the house is quiet but the “setting it all right” part is going to keep me busy for weeks! And the events of the past week have taken the shine off of some good things, like The Boy landing the part of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast and his solo for Jazz\Pop (choir). I hate when you want to revel in the good, yet you keep having to remind yourself that the kid in the dog house.

But at the moment, the house is quiet and everyone is asleep except me and the Otter Pup. I am enjoying my first cup of coffee of the morning and plan to do some thrift store browsing later with the hopes of finding some costume pieces for The Girl’s ensemble costume. After errands, I will finish one book and begin another and then The Girl and I will settle in to watch Thunderball as our Bond movie marathon continues. Not sure what we’ll do for dinner. I usually like to make something really good on Sundays but I am not really in the mood!

This week should be more even and calm. Rehearsals and Open House at the school. More writing and more reading. That’s all I need to perk me up. Plus, I am gearing up for #winditup2013 which begins next week. Over seventy readers from all over the world will be joining me. Can’t wait.

What about you? Doing anything fun today? Reading anything really good?

Chatting with friends about books and life…