“The
thing in the street no longer looked like a human being; it looked like a
scattered bundle of rags.”
Christine
follows the slow degeneration of geeky 17 year old Arnie Cunningham after he
purchases a beat up old ’58 Plymouth Fury named Christine. Everyone around
Arnie can sense the evil emanating off of his beloved new car – everyone except
for Arnie himself. But you don’t want to upset Christine, or you might just end
up as little more than dog food.
When I read Christine
for the first time a few years ago, it really surprised me. The idea of a
demonic car driving around murdering people sounded very cheesy and a bit
stupid to me, and so I avoided reading Christine
for a long time. However, the novel manages to appropriately balance outlandish
supernatural elements with convincing portrayals of teenage life, to the point
where the ‘alive’ and murderous car doesn’t seem silly at all. Christine’s saviour is that it is about
so much more than the Plymouth Fury and the evil lurking within. It focuses on
the breakdown of relationships – between boyfriend and girlfriend, parents and
children, and most of all between best friends. The Plymouth Fury could be
replaced by any corrupting influence that might lead someone astray, such as drugs,
and although you wouldn’t have the awesome and gruesome car murders, the
essence of the story would remain intact. It is this realistic and relatable
aspect which grounds the novel in reality and prevents it from becoming an
over-the-top supernatural gore-fest.
Christine is
a character focused novel, and the characters are believable and very well
written. Arnie is a stereotypical geek; he has acne, he’s a member of the chess
club, he lacks self confidence and is a prime target for the school bullies.
He’s very sweet and lovely though, making the transformation of his character
throughout the novel heart-rending. Dennis is Arnie’s best friend and our
narrator for the majority of the novel. He is typical jock character –
handsome, popular with women and good at sports. He is realistic and flawed,
making mistakes due to his youthful exuberance. Arnie’s parents are brilliant
at portraying the heartbreak over the distinct change for the worse in their
bright, college-bound son.
The narration is somewhat unusual. Parts one and three
are narrated by Dennis, who is recounting the events of 1978-79 four years
later. Part two is a third person perspective, meaning you witness first hand
Christine’s grisly murders, and are able to get inside the heads of the other
characters. This might sound odd but it works very well and the switch to third
person is necessary – mainly, of course, in order to witness Christine turning
people into mulch; these parts are very well described and gory.
Christine is
my favourite Stephen King novel and quite possibly my favourite horror novel. The
writing is exceptional, the characters are authentic and although it is quite
long (my copy was 749 pages but with rather large text) a good pace is
maintained throughout. I’m not normally one for pervasive supernatural
overtones but the delivery in Christine is
pitched just right, never once overstepping the mark into the ridiculous.
Furthermore, it is actually scary – when Christine sets her sights on someone,
they are not going to survive; her
heavy body will churn you into lumpy mincemeat (and don’t think staying indoors
will save you!). If I saw a red and white ’58 Plymouth Fury in the street, I
can safely say that I would swiftly turn in the opposite direction.
Rating: 10/10
My other Stephen King reviews:
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