Carrie Read-a-Long Discussion Post: Part One: Blood Sports
Congratulations, you are now almost half way through Carrie! According to my Kindle we are about 47% through. Tonight I'll host a Twitter discussion (starting at 9pm EST, under the hashtag #CarrieBS). I thought this would be a good place to pause and discuss what we've read so far. Stop and see what my co-host Midnyte Reader is thinking so far. Here's some questions to consider:
1. Is this your first Stephen King book?
2. What do you think of the style Carrie is written in?
3. Do you think the bullying/attack on Carrie that occurs in the late 1970's in the book could happen today?
4. What are your thoughts on Carrie's mother?
5. Young Carrie brings the rain of rocks down on her house at the tender age of three, but then there are no major events for years. Why do you think her powers remained fairly quiet until now? What role does her mother play in Carrie's use of her power?
6. Do you believe that telekinesis exists?
7. What is your favorite moment so far?
8. What do you think of Sue's plan to have Tommy take Carrie to the prom?
9. Any predictions (um, only if you haven't read this before or seen the movie! ;)
10. Just how crazy is Mrs. White?!
Please leave the link to your answers in the comment or you can just answer in the comments area, whichever works for you. Stop by Midnyte Reader for her take on Carrie so far!
Here are my answers:
1. No, this is not my first Stephen King novel, and it's not even my first time (or second) that I'm reading Carrie. It's not the first book I ever read of King, that'd be Fire-starter, and it actually took me a long while to get to. I think because I'd seen the movie so many times when I was a kid I just has assumed I'd read Carrie before, but the first time I was about 22. Ugh, so long ago!
2. I love the style it's written in, but I can tell it's an earlier King novel. But I like the jump in between characters, and the excerpts from official books, reports and newspapers. I think that King could do an even better job now... but then Carrie would be 1100 pages long. ;) I could do without the word Popular being capitalized though...
3. I think the constant bullying of Carrie definitely could still take place. I don't know that the shower attack would still happen, I'd like to believe that there would be enough kids aware of how cruel it was, but I think it could take place on a smaller scale. Bullying has been around as soon as there was more than three kids on the face of the planet. What happened to Carrie in the showers was extreme, but I think when you add someone like Chris, who is popular and mean, to the mix, some people would follow her lead simply because she's the one doing the bullying.
4. Mrs. White is straight up CRAZY!! Seriously, I would love to know more of this woman's past to have shaped her into such a crazy mess. The book talks about the TK gene, but even if it's passive in Mrs. White, I'd be willing to bet she's got some dominant mental illness genes at work- definitely more than one. But... I think she truly believes in her own version of God, and that makes her dangerous. I really think Carrie's powers are the one thing that has prevented her mother from killing her. If Carrie had just been a normal, powerless kid, then no doubt she wouldn't have the strength to fight off an attack from her religiously skewed mama.
5. I think maybe the rock incident was so traumatic that Carrie buried the incident deep in her mind. So while other things occur during times of deep emotional stress, she doesn't necessarily make the connection until the day of the shower attack. In a way, Carrie has begun to unravel. Years of torment at the hands of her classmates has worn her down, and has allowed her tap into her powers again. Couple that with her mom's violent religious beliefs, and you have Carrie suddenly wide awake to her powers. If Carrie's upbringing had been more stable and loving, her powers might have never really been an issue. Strange things might have happened still, during early childhood and puberty, but I really doubt that it'd be something she'd be so aware of.
6. Hmm, yes, I guess I believe that it's possible. To the extent of Carrie's powers? Probably not. But I do think there is so much about our brains and abilities that we don't know. But, I'm skeptical. I would definitely have to see it to believe it.
7. My favorite moment, BY FAR, was when Chris's dad and the Principal face off. Sadly, his "my precious daughter" routine is all to familiar in this day and age when kids can do no wrong, and his sue-happy threats were nicely smacked down by Principal Grayle. I was literally cheering! I hope in the new Carrie re-make that that scene makes it in the movie. I don't think until this re-read that I caught that Principal Grayle was not the same Assistant Principal that Desjardin takes Carrie to see after the shower incident.
8. I actually get why some people questioned Sue's motives after the fact, but I am surprised that so many people just assumed that it was nasty on her part. But I think that Sue and Tommy were a bit more evolved than some of their classmates, and that Sue was really trying to atone. Tommy loved Sue enough to want to help her, and I think he genuinely didn't mind taking Carrie. Tommy is that rare person that people love and like not just because he's Popular (with a capital P!) but because he's got that magnetism that draws people to him. Because of it, he's able to just be himself. Unlike Sue, who is tormented by who she wants to be compared to who she is, Tommy is completely at home in his own skin. He's not perfect, but he's also not so freaking concerned about what everyone is going to think of him. Ugh, how I wish I'd been like that as a teen! I'd settle for being like that now, but I'm much more of a Sue. I'm a people-pleaser in the extreme, and I always over analyze things. But I think Sue had good intentions, even if I think it was more for herself than for Carrie. She should have known that Carrie going to the prom, especially after Chris is denied her tickets, would be a bad thing.
9. None here, because I already know!
10. She is so crazy!!! Seriously, there are few characters in books that I have disliked as much as I dislike Mrs. White. She's the type of person who would drown a sack full of black kittens because she believes them to be evil. And she's such a hypocrite! How much better for Carrie if her bikini clad neighbor had taken her away that day! Or if one of those rocks had killed Mrs. White. Sadly, that didn't happen, and whatever chance kids have in the beginning of life to have a normal kid experience was ruined when Mrs. White squeezed Carrie out. I mean, I get that she's all super religious, but her belief system is so messed up that it bares little resemblance to any actual biblical teachings. I'm just going to say it, Mrs. White is one crazy bitch. There. I said it.
So, don't forget to read Part Two: Prom Night by the 23rd! And I'll see ya'll on Twitter tonight!
