A Murderous Car? Unbelievable! Book Review of Christine

 

Christine by Stephen King

Shout-Out

Thank you to the Bucks County Free Library for making Christine by Stephen King available at no cost. Yay, libraries!

Description

Arnie is the guy who seems to have a kick me sign on his back. His face is covered in acne, a case so bad that he seems prevented from ever dating in high school--at least according to the narrator, his best friend, Dennis. Then comes Christine, a custom, vintage 1958 Plymouth Fury. When Arnie sees the barely drivable car in the yard of a cantankerous ex-military man, he has to have it. And when he does get Christine, his world and the car magically begin to change. But, Dennis wonders, are these changes for the better?

Dennis feels dread and fear around the car, for which everyone uses the pronoun “she” and adopts the name Christine, as it was called by its original owner. Dennis is not the only one uncomfortable around the car--virtually everyone except Arnie gets bad vibes. Suddenly, though, Arnie’s skin clears up and he’s able to stand up to his tormentors. He even gets a girlfriend. But, as much as Arnie deserves more than his lot, Dennis worries about Christine's influence on his best friend.

The book is split into three sections, the first and third of which are written as the first person point of view of Dennis. The middle section is in third person and follows Arnie closely and seems to be chosen as a device for Dennis to try to imagine what Arnie was going through. The point of telling is close to the events, as Dennis is fresh out of college. Christine is one of King’s earlier books, first published in 1983. It has a youthful and less polished feel than books like Billy Summers and Holly.

Of all the King books I’ve read and accepted the premises, I had a difficult time jumping into this one, as I did not buy into the evil behind Christine, which is not set up in a clear or logical way. Usually King has clear book-logic to his supernatural elements, but this evil car is just not believable.

Digression

As I was reading this book, my father asked me why I liked Stephen King’s books so much. It is difficult to answer this question, as sometimes the writing in his books is quite good and sometimes it is meh. The plots are often predictable and the characters tend to be a type. The older books reflect some of the negative attitudes of the times in which they were written--there is some pretty blatant misogyny in Christine.

So, why then do I read so many of his books? There is some comfort in knowing that there will be a good side, the good side will win, that there will probably be some supernatural elements, and that the story will have some predictable moments--as well as some surprises. There is enough creativity and variation in the plot that it does not matter so much that many of King’s main characters could be layered on top of each other and basically be the same guy (there are rarely female main characters, yet when he does write a female main character, they are typically better written--such as Lisey Landon and Holly Gibney). Some plots are more surprising and satisfying than others. His books are always creative, even those which fall solidly within a genre or follow a predictable path. Read Stephen King and you know you are going to get a story.

The un-overthought answer is: I read Stephen King books because they are fun.

Would I Teach This Book?

Would I teach this book? Christine does not illustrate the author’s genius. The idea of an evil car, at least in the way Christine is written, is silly. In a creative writing class, I would not hold it up as a model. In a literature class, such as my dream Stephen King reader class that I am often building in my head, I would pass on it, as Christine is not among my top ten (or maybe even top twenty) King reads.

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