Finished 6-14-11, rating 4/5, horror, 245 pages, pub. 1974

“You’re bleeding!” Sue yelled suddenly, furiously.  “You’re bleeding, you big dumb pudding!”

Carrie looked down at herself.

She shrieked.

The sound was very loud in the humid locker room.

A tampon suddenly struck her in the chest and fell with a plop at her feet.  A red flower stained the absorbent cotton and spread.

Then the laughter, disgusted, contemptuous, horrified, seemed to rise and bloom into something jagged and ugly, and the girls were bombarding her with tampons and sanitary napkins, some from purses, some from the broken dispenser on the wall.  They flew like snow and the chant became: “Plug it up, plug it up, plug it up, plug it–“

page 8

Carrie is an often maligned high school student who is treated poorly by her overly zealous mother and by fellow students who see her as a freak.  When she gets he first period in the school shower and has no idea what is happening to her something broke in her.  Or maybe it’s better to say that something awoke in her.  She started using her powers to move things and later for acts of utter devastation.

I’m sure a lot of people know this story, either from the book or movie, or maybe even from pop culture references.  I haven’t seen the movie, but thought I’d give the book a try and I wasn’t disappointed.  I wasn’t completely wowed either, but I did think it was good.  The characters were well-drawn and I was as disgusted with the hateful Chris as with any other character I’ve recently encountered.  I steered clear of girls like her in school, but I’m not sure anyone I knew was as awful as she was.

I wasn’t sympathetic to Carrie much.  A little in the middle and I guess at the end for a moment or two, but for the most part she started strange and ended strange and vengeful.  Not a combo to have me rooting for her.

I liked the way the story was told, from lots of different viewpoints.  Sometimes we read Carrie’s perspective or another student, like Sue, and these were intermingled with reports that happened after the fact, after the prom from hell.

Not my usual genre but as a pop culture reference I’m glad I read it.  I wasn’t bored and I was alternately disgusted and disapproving.  Not two emotions that endear me to a book, but it was still an entertaining read.

This was from my personal library.

Finished audio 6-30-11, rating 4/5, YA, pub. 2007

Unabridged audio 6 hours, 25 minutes.  Read by Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman

High School good guy, Clay, received a box of cassette tapes.  On these tapes was the voice of Hannah Baker who had just recently committed suicide and she was telling the 13 people who had a hand in her decision her reasons why.  Clay was horrified that this girl, who he’d had a crush on for years could somehow think he’d had a hand in ruining her life and he spent the rest of the day and night listening and visiting the places she talked about, forever changing the way he looked at his classmates and himself.

This book has such a great premise and the story goes back and forth between Clay’s thoughts and Hannah’s words and it is really powerful.  I listened to the audio and I think it was the perfect way to experience this book.  The book made me think about how we don’t know what effect our actions, big or small, might have on someone else.  A kind word might be something that a person thinks about for days or changes the way she views herself and it was nice to be reminded of that.

I think the topic of teen suicide is important and I’m glad that this book has become so popular.  Teens need to know how suicide may affect those left behind and they need to know that people are there for you even when don’t notice right away. I think this is a must read for teens.

I don’t read a lot of YA.  No particular reason, maybe I’m a little too far removed from it.  But everything I read about this one intrigued me so I finally checked it out and was impressed.  My few problems with the book stemmed from how far removed I am, I think.  I do remember my teen years, when everything was SO IMPORTANT and NOTHING COULD WAIT.  Being a teen is no picnic, but neither is it so hard that some things cannot be overlooked as trivial.  Hannah listed 13 people on her tapes, but a few of the middle stories left me feeling like Hannah needed to get a grip.  But that’s coming from a 39 year woman, so take that for what it’s worth.  Even with that I’d still recommend this book.

I checked this audio out of the library.