Christine - Stephen King

I read the blurb on the back page which basically suggested that Christine, with her overbearing evil powers had Arnie Cunningham completely in her control. Well… I thought about some evil chick getting her evil deeds done through poor ol’ Arnie. As it turned out… Christine was a car!!! An evil car, bent on killing the people it… sorry… she didn’t like!!!

For those who remember, there was a movie made in apna Bollywood, “Tarzan – The Wonder Car.” Guess where was the plot picked from!!! Oh yeah… Christine… was renamed as Tarzan! Now that’s a riot. And for the people who bothered to watch the movie, I know I did, it was a crappy movie. And with the movie as a reference point for me, I had my doubts about Christine as well.

But hey… the book was written by Stephen King. And he didn’t let me down. To begin with, the characters are extremely well built, be it Arnie Cunningham, Dennis, his best friend , girlfriend Leigh Cabot, the original owner of Christine, Lebay, the rowdy college kids, the parents… and most importantly, Christine. That’s where Stephen King is unbeatable. He is believable, even convincing about Christine’s evilness. The chemistry between various characters is brilliantly brought out. The hate between Christine and her rival Leigh; the awkwardness between her and Dennis; the control of Arnie’s mother over him and then his rebellion; and most importantly, the relationship between Arnie and Christine; everything is absolutely brilliantly portrayed. And while I wouldn’t be too excited about a car killing people, the narration held me on.

Lastly, the climax is good. That is where most horror books trail off in a bad way. Not Christine. When you flip over the back cover, you get a sense of completeness about the book. And it’s really irritating if you don’t get that after 500 pages!
500 pages… not too many by Stephen King standards. The story, though predictable is quite pacy and thrilling. Even the surreal plot of “car on a kill” is brought out convincingly. Therefore, it is quite gripping as King introduces newer facets of Christine as the book progresses. That, makes the book quite an enjoyable read.