CHRISTINE Journal 1

I Like This Book:

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Remember in third grade when you had to do a book report? I feel like holding this up in front of the class and saying, "I like this book. It's a good book. I think everyone should read this book."

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This is a first read for me, and the truth really is that I'm really enjoying it a lot. I put off reading Christine because I enjoyed the movie so much that I foolishly thought I had a pretty full grasp on the story. It's about a car, how much more can the book have that didn't make it to the screen? As I read, I am discovering what a masterful job was done with the movie. However, the book is much more than I expected.

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This is a novel built on characters as much as it is cars. The first section of the book is told in chatty, first person prose. King takes his time building the story, but it's not the kind of slow build up that can sometimes leave the reader frustrated that nothing is happening. I've enjoyed every single scene of Christine so far.

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Of course, a lot of what King is doing at the outset of Christine is showing what a loser Arnie is while also introducing us to the car. Arnie's family is basically disfunctional while Dennis is, at least so far, from an apparently strong family.

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This reminds me of a dark version of John Knoll's "A Separate Peace."

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The books tone looms with darkness, but in a fun way. I suspect, from an interview I read, that Christine was not an easy or smooth writing process. We'll see if any of that bleeds through to the final cut; but at least at the first 7 chapters, this thing really has a lot of playful strength.

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Words:

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Some of King's descriptions are classic! I'm always interested in how King writes. He once complained that no one ever asks him about the language. I'm not sure what someone would ask, because King has such a natural command of the words that you aren't really aware of how good he is unless you pull away and look.

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Here are a couple of my favorite lines so far. These come from a dream sequence that's outstanding. This is menicing to say the least!

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"suddenly the engine begins to rev and fall off, rev and fall off; it's a hungry sound, frightening, and each time the engine revs Christine seems to lunge forward a bit, like a mean dog on a weak leash . . . and I want to move . . . but my feet seem nailed to the cracked pavement of the driveway."

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"For that first spinning moment or two, I hadn't even been sure if I was big or little -- there was only that dark, terrifying and overmastering image of the car lunging forward a little each time the engine reved, dropping back, lunging forward again, the hood vibrating over the engine-bucket, the grille like steel teeth --"

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a mean dog on a weak leash. . . the grille like steel teeth . . . nice.

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JOURNAL ENTRIES:

The purpose of the journal entries is to serve simply as notes as I read. These are not full reviews, simply my personal impressions. Leave it to Collins, Lilja, Spignesi, Vincent and Beahm to give full, critical reviews -- I'm just a dude who likes reading.