Helpful Score: 5
Basically, 'Christine' is about a possessed car. You don't own Christine. She owns you. In the book she owns the main character, Arnie Cunningham, a shy, geeky kid with not so nice looks. But then things turn around for him. Once he gets Christine, his pimply face clears up, his confidence is better and he becomes popular. He even ends up dating the prettiest cheerleader in the school. Arnie loves Christine. He'll do anything for her and no one should stand between him and his beloved car. But, later on in the book, of course, nothing goes without punishment and nothing goes without paying off dues. When Arnie got the car he, in a way gave up his soul. So now Christine controls him. Form then on the book is full of suspense and murder. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good suspenseful and mysterious scare. The book is set up by not telling you the whole story piece by piece. It leaves you questioning what will happen next, which makes it even more suspenseful and scary. Stephen King does a good job in this book. What could easily have been a cheesy story of an evil car on a killing spree is instead a story of obsession, possession and the past of crimes that haunt the car forever.
Helpful Score: 4
One of the older Stephen King novels. A good read.
Helpful Score: 4
Christine is no lady, but 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham loves her enough to do ANYTHING to posses her. Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight. Arnie's teen queen girlfriend fears her the moment she senses her power. Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learns what happens when you cross her. Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror...
Helpful Score: 2
As with most of SK's work, the book is MUCH better than the movie.
Helpful Score: 1
Frankly I liked the movie better, but not too bad of an easy summer read.
Helpful Score: 1
Scene: A middle class suburb of Pittsburgh. Time: 1978 Cast of characters: Arnie Cunninghm, a bookish and bullied high school senior. Dennis Guilder: His friend and sometime protector. Leigh Cabot, the new girl in school won by Arnie...but wanted by Dennis as well. Just another lover's triangle, you say? Not quite. There's a fourth here, the second lady, the dark lady. " Cars are girls" Leigh Cabot says and the dark force in Stephen Kings novel is a 1958 Plymouth named - Christine.
Helpful Score: 1
Great book with a wonderful end!
Helpful Score: 1
Evil Plymouth Sport Fury, January 30, 2006
Reviewer: Sizzle Dizzle "sizdiz" (Cali)
Arnie Cunningham is a high school geek. He has glasses, pimples, controlling parents, and no girls until he meets up with Christine. Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Sport Fury that Arnie finds, and is immediately attracted to her. Christine gets fixed up by Arnie and Arnie gets some attention.(his first girlfriend). As Christine starts putting her spell on Arnie, he loses touch with the things that matter most like family, school and his friends. Arnie gets deeply entranced by Christine and uses her as a tool to get back at people her were not so nice to him. Arnie and Christine turn into a Thelma and Louise and go on a killing spree. Arnie, in turn, loses everything, his friends, Christine, and his life.
My Thoughts: Christine is one of my favorite reads. I love the storyline, because it is mostly believable. This young nerd gets a cool car and everybody starts liking him. This is believable! Then he gets a big head and people start disliking him!(also believable) When Arnie falls under Christine's spell, it is most exciting to me. I relate to Arnie in the aspect of time and love he put into Christine, something that every car lover does. When Christine turns into a killer and fixes herself,the story gets supernatural. I like how Christine is displayed with feelings of jealousy, which gives this car a personable image. Overall, I feel this book is a great read for anyone with a desire for an ultimate twist!
Reviewer: Sizzle Dizzle "sizdiz" (Cali)
Arnie Cunningham is a high school geek. He has glasses, pimples, controlling parents, and no girls until he meets up with Christine. Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Sport Fury that Arnie finds, and is immediately attracted to her. Christine gets fixed up by Arnie and Arnie gets some attention.(his first girlfriend). As Christine starts putting her spell on Arnie, he loses touch with the things that matter most like family, school and his friends. Arnie gets deeply entranced by Christine and uses her as a tool to get back at people her were not so nice to him. Arnie and Christine turn into a Thelma and Louise and go on a killing spree. Arnie, in turn, loses everything, his friends, Christine, and his life.
My Thoughts: Christine is one of my favorite reads. I love the storyline, because it is mostly believable. This young nerd gets a cool car and everybody starts liking him. This is believable! Then he gets a big head and people start disliking him!(also believable) When Arnie falls under Christine's spell, it is most exciting to me. I relate to Arnie in the aspect of time and love he put into Christine, something that every car lover does. When Christine turns into a killer and fixes herself,the story gets supernatural. I like how Christine is displayed with feelings of jealousy, which gives this car a personable image. Overall, I feel this book is a great read for anyone with a desire for an ultimate twist!
Typical stephen King. I'll never be able to know what it's like to have these stories running through my own head.
A good read, a little tediouse in detail which is usual for King.
A good read, a little tediouse in detail which is usual for King.
Creepy car that turns monsterous. King at his best.
A possessed car, a teen geek, and vintage King writing.
Another good book by Stephen King, even if it is one of his earlier works.
Christine is no lady. She is the ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror.
classic stephen king before you got sick of him. Almost as good as salems lot.
Very good story line, one of the masters older books. So much more than just a Killer car.
I was leery of this book, having seen the movie years ago and remembered it as pretty corny...come on, a killer car? I should have trusted King's talent. It is not about a killer car so much as the bitter and hateful spirit of a man having a hold on the car and its subsequent owner from beyond the grave. The characters were good and very well developed. I like the way it was told: first person from Dennis's viewpoint except for the middle section where he's in the hospital and it shifts to third person, but it becomes clear that Dennis is still the narrator of this section. The epilogue was a little weak and unnecessary, but I still thought the book as a whole was excellent.
This was my favorite King novel. Growing up in a house with a car fanatic, how could it not be!
stephen king takes you where no other author ever has..I am a big fan,,
For Stephen King lovers--an evil car has a life of its own.
I'm not much of a King fan, but this was probably my favorite book of mine. The characters were likeable and you actually wanted to find out the ending.
i love stephen king with a passion, but i never really got into this one. i've read it a couple of times, i personally find it mildly entertaining, but not gripping.
I've never been much of a car person (I neither fear nor worship them), so this book was rather 'meh' to me.
This book didn't have an ISBN#. It is in good condition w/it's dust cover.
I was so terrified while reading it that I actually had nightmares (at the age of 24, can you believe it?!)
One of my favorite by King. A must read!!
An oldie but goodie from the KING
early scary steven king
I loved this one Housework was on hold during this book
I loved this book! As with many books I could not put it down!
Christine is no lady...but 17 year old Arnie loves her and will do anything to possess her.
She\'s evil and people around her learn what happens to them if you cross her. Very gripping and some of Steven king\'s best writing.
She\'s evil and people around her learn what happens to them if you cross her. Very gripping and some of Steven king\'s best writing.
Another fine mystery thriller book by Stephen King. I enjoyed this book but sure did not like going around old cars at night by myself after I read it! Enjoy this one.
This is a car story with the element of horror thrown in for good measure as only Stephen King seems to do. Two guys and two girls, but one of the girls happens to be a 1958 Plymouth which turns out to be an evil thing all by itself. I have driven cars that I thought were evil in a mechanical sense. I have also driven cars that I have designed and built which were the essence of sweetness. They did exactly what I designed them to do and then some. With these things in mind, Christine is ALMOST believable. If you are a car guy or girl you will undoubtedly find this book entertaining as a somewhat off-beat car story.
17 YEAR OLD ARNIE CONNINGHAM LOVES A CAR AND SHE LOVES HIM RIGHT BACK SHE KILLS HIS ENEMYS FOR HIM
i have a orginal copy! so its really for a collector of king items! hope you want a org!
I know a lot of people don't like this book, but I have always had a fondness for it. The characterization, like a lot of his works, is exceptionally good, and the description is vivid and entertaining. It does require some exceptional suspension of disbelief, but so what. Those books are fun.
Christine is no lady, but a 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham loves her enough to do anything to possess her.
Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight.
Arnie's teen-queen girlfriend Leigh fears her the moment she senses her power.
Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her.
Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror...
Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight.
Arnie's teen-queen girlfriend Leigh fears her the moment she senses her power.
Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her.
Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror...
Classic King
I had a hard time really "getting into" this book. It didn't really grasp me from the start. It was a good story, but for some reason I found myself spacing out while reading it. I guess it just wasn't "my kind of book".
FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK
Christine is no lady, but 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham loves her enough to do ANYTHING to possess her.
Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight.
Arnie's teen queen girlfriend Leigh fears her the moment she senses her power.
Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her.
Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror...Christine
FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK
Christine is no lady, but 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham loves her enough to do ANYTHING to possess her.
Arnie's best friend Dennis distrusts her at first sight.
Arnie's teen queen girlfriend Leigh fears her the moment she senses her power.
Arnie's parents, teachers and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her.
Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of horror...Christine
Great book. One of many of my collection of Stephen King books. I'm putting them all out for trade. Check out the rest.
It ain't your average haunted object!
The premise of this story is pretty weird, in actuality, but it works somehow. I'm not a great Stephen King fan, although I've read a couple of his more popular ones recently. I do notice a couple of trends in his work: some positive, some negative. If you're an avid King fan (or even if you're not), in general, this novel definitely delivers. Guilty pleasure: I love a good ghost story, and this one is genuinely creative. The premise of a haunted car in and of itself is intriguing, and remains so throughout - is the thing evil itself, consuming everyone in its path, or is it haunted by its despicable former owner, who commits its terrible deeds unseen? King seems to have something of a morbid fascination with making the mundane and familiar sinister and terrifying, whether it's a seemingly-innocuous historic resort hotel or a cherished-turned-murderous classic car.
King is also a master storyteller, who delves deeply into the inner psyche of his characters, to the degree that they really do become living people to the reader, which makes what happens to them all the more tragic. After carefully crafting them, King systematically dismantles the worlds he creates in epic and disturbing ways, imparting a very unsettling feeling that remains. He sets palpable scenes for the reader, often centering on weather, so that you actually feel them. His descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, sensations are so realistic that readers easily, sometimes inadvertently project themselves into the scenes the characters are experiencing, making his novels very "visual," frighteningly so.
On the other hand, however, he often goes over the top with all the twists, turns and subplots, and this otherwise capable story is no exception. Also, I get that his work is largely mass-market, and has to appeal to a broad audience, but the prose does tend to be excessively pedestrian. Most of King's novels are so weighty, in the physical sense, that they're difficult to hold for long periods without your hands cramping-that's not really hyperbole! It isn't like I have difficulty with a 700-something-page novel, if the content is warranted, but King's really start to drag about 400 pages in, when it seems as if he starts consciously just trying to fill up empty space. Things do resolve in the end here, but a lot of the prose is just unnecessary; the story would be much more intense and unsettling without the excessive verbosity, which I've noted about his other novels as well.
It's almost as if he's trying too hard to be complex, which affects the quality of the whole. In this case, he waits until you're about two-thirds of the way through the novel before introducing a subplot consisting of a tangent about the criminal activities of Darnell and Company, which involves the main protagonist, Arnie. Another peculiarity with this one: in this novel, he changes perspective from a main character to a narrator to the main character again, once said character becomes incapacitated and essentially disappears from the story for several hundred pages (I never got the point of that!). Some people may be enchanted with the delayed gratification, which is well and fine, but ultimately, neither do I want to get bored when reading a ghost story.
The premise of this story is pretty weird, in actuality, but it works somehow. I'm not a great Stephen King fan, although I've read a couple of his more popular ones recently. I do notice a couple of trends in his work: some positive, some negative. If you're an avid King fan (or even if you're not), in general, this novel definitely delivers. Guilty pleasure: I love a good ghost story, and this one is genuinely creative. The premise of a haunted car in and of itself is intriguing, and remains so throughout - is the thing evil itself, consuming everyone in its path, or is it haunted by its despicable former owner, who commits its terrible deeds unseen? King seems to have something of a morbid fascination with making the mundane and familiar sinister and terrifying, whether it's a seemingly-innocuous historic resort hotel or a cherished-turned-murderous classic car.
King is also a master storyteller, who delves deeply into the inner psyche of his characters, to the degree that they really do become living people to the reader, which makes what happens to them all the more tragic. After carefully crafting them, King systematically dismantles the worlds he creates in epic and disturbing ways, imparting a very unsettling feeling that remains. He sets palpable scenes for the reader, often centering on weather, so that you actually feel them. His descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, sensations are so realistic that readers easily, sometimes inadvertently project themselves into the scenes the characters are experiencing, making his novels very "visual," frighteningly so.
On the other hand, however, he often goes over the top with all the twists, turns and subplots, and this otherwise capable story is no exception. Also, I get that his work is largely mass-market, and has to appeal to a broad audience, but the prose does tend to be excessively pedestrian. Most of King's novels are so weighty, in the physical sense, that they're difficult to hold for long periods without your hands cramping-that's not really hyperbole! It isn't like I have difficulty with a 700-something-page novel, if the content is warranted, but King's really start to drag about 400 pages in, when it seems as if he starts consciously just trying to fill up empty space. Things do resolve in the end here, but a lot of the prose is just unnecessary; the story would be much more intense and unsettling without the excessive verbosity, which I've noted about his other novels as well.
It's almost as if he's trying too hard to be complex, which affects the quality of the whole. In this case, he waits until you're about two-thirds of the way through the novel before introducing a subplot consisting of a tangent about the criminal activities of Darnell and Company, which involves the main protagonist, Arnie. Another peculiarity with this one: in this novel, he changes perspective from a main character to a narrator to the main character again, once said character becomes incapacitated and essentially disappears from the story for several hundred pages (I never got the point of that!). Some people may be enchanted with the delayed gratification, which is well and fine, but ultimately, neither do I want to get bored when reading a ghost story.
i watched the movie so i read the book i thought the movie was better.
