Christine by Stephen King

 

Christine

by Stephen King

Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Fury and she takes no prisoners. Fury is an appropriate name.

On his way home from school one day with his friend Dennis Guilder, Arnie Cunningham sees the dilapidated wreck of a car in Roland LeBay's yard and decides right then and there that he has to have it. A smart kid in a lot of ways (chess club, high achiever, avid car mechanic), Arnie knows he can fix the car up and he becomes obsessed with doing so. Dennis thinks it's ridiculous and does his best to talk Arnie out of it, but he won't budge.

But this is no ordinary wreck, and LeBay knows it. Arnie sets to work putting the car, named Christine by LeBay, back together, but she doesn't really need his help. When LeBay dies Christine becomes more than just a car. She, herself, becomes infatuated...with Arnie. Arnie starts losing time when he's with her, blacks out, becomes someone else from a different time. Dennis and everyone else who has come into contact with the car has felt its bad vibes. No one wants anything to do with it, except Arnie.

His parents certainly don't. Domineering Regina and go-along Michael have taken care that, all of his life, Arnie has excelled and had every opportunity to do so. The last thing they want is to see him wasting his time, energy, and money on a piece of crap like the Plymouth he buys without their consent. His mother is particulary furious. But Arnie won't hear a bad word against Christine and pulls all sorts of threats and maneuvers in order to keep her.

As Arnie becomes entrenched in working on the car Leigh Cabot, a transfer student and all-around beauty, takes an interest in Arnie, who was once considered to be so ugly by everyone that the idea of any girl ever giving him the time of day was remote at best. He has been continually harassed and bullied by a group of low-lifes for as long as he can remember. Dennis has always stood up for him. But since buying Christine, Arnie has begun to change. He looks better and is gaining confidence. These transformations of Arnie and Christine unnerve Dennis. Arnie is starting to act so unlike himself. When Christine becomes road worthy (in record time) Arnie and Leigh begin to date. And Christine doesn't like it. She also has a grudge for the bullies who did a number on her when Arnie is forced to leave her parked at an airport because his mother refuses to let him keep her at home. 

One by one the bullies endure the wrath of the Fury. But Arnie can't be pinned for the murders. He has solid alibis, which a detective (Junkins) believes, but can't shake the fact that he knows the red and white Plymouth Arnie drives was involved. But he can't prove it. Dennis has been out of action due to a football injury, so he didn't do it either. Then Christine tries to go after Leigh and Arnie argues that it's ridiculous for anyone--Leigh included--to blame his car or dislike it. Leigh turns to Dennis, unable to get through to Arnie and the two become close. Arnie finds out and all hell brakes loose. 

Christine is lured into a final showdown with Dennis and Leigh. But she's not alone. Her passengers include all she's killed (past and present), and it looks like LeBay is the one responsible for her rampage.

I don't know why this book gets such a bad rap. People say it's too long and that it is full of inconsistencies, that the writing is sloppy and all over the place, and that it's boring. I didn't think it was boring at all. I did see a couple of inconsistencies with the story, but they didn't bother me either. Could it have been shorter? Sure. But I really like the depth King goes into with his characters and their world. It is common knowledge that King was heavy into cocaine and alcohol during this period, which probably played into its flaws. He is also a "panster," and not outlining often gets writers into trouble. He stated that he wrote this book with the 1st person part one, 3rd person part two, and 1st person part three because he wrote himself into a corner and took the easy way out. But he claimed that the whole book still can be read as 1st person narration, with part two as a sort of reportage of the story. These things didn't bother me. Some reviewers say it jarred them. I just rolled with it because I understood why it was being done.

King says Christine is a symbol for the technology age and the loss of innocence. I would not have made those leaps without having read that, but I totally get it. Makes sense. The late 1970s and 1980s were a time of vast technological change and we all know that as technology gets more and more advanced we are all losing something. Technology leads to obsession. Just look at us all with our devices. We can't get enough. And that is how Arnie is with Christine. I also got the theme of transformation from this book, and how that is not always a good thing. Becoming prettier or better looking does not always translate into becoming a better person. Also, the idea of women as objects was a strong message in this book. The remark was made numerous times that Christine was a car, an "it," not a "she." Yet Arnie and LeBay and most of the characters continually referred to the car as she and her. I really felt that King was making a statement here.

This book was a love affair for King with cars and the music of the fifties, a time when King says he came into consciousness. Christine is not set in Maine or Colorado, where King likes to locate his stories, but there are connections to other works: In The Stand Stu and Tom see a car like this one with a key chain that has the initials AC in it, and a similar car is mentioned in 11.22.63.

I thought Christine was a really good book. I had a tear in my eye at the end of the last chapter. I also thought the ending was good, even though some think it rings of movie sequel hints. I liked the characters, didn't think Dennis was boring (though I've read that critique as well). I thought the grotesque scenes of Christine wreaking destruction were really well done. The pacing was great. I give this book 4.5 stars.