A review by zakcebulski
Christine by Stephen King

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Well, I finally read the killer car book!
Admittedly, this was one of King's works that I was not initially sold on.
I mean, a book about a car that comes around and kills people- that is primo drugged out King.
But, man, this book was actually really compelling!

I found the characters, particularly Dennis, to be easy to empathize with. In typical King fashion there are bullies, there are distant parents who struggle with the concept of how to reach their kids, there are kids who are bullied and go through a change, the crochety old bastard who is a dick, there is the love interest who could have been more fleshed out, per usual.
But, I thought that all of these characters were all riding in the vehicle of Christine. I mean, a 1958 Plymouth Fury being possessed by the ghost of her bastardly, evil and obsessive previous owner, who can kill by her own sentience, that is a fucking wild story.

I thought that Arnie gradually becoming more and more confident, self-assured, and meaner while becoming more overtaken by Rollie LeBay's influence was well done. Initially we are unsure if it is the car, or something else that is impacting him. As the story goes, we find that it is really LeBay's spirit haunting the car and gradually infecting Arnie.
I thought that this reveal was actually pretty sweet, and enjoyable to read through- it was definitely something that I was unsure about to be sure.

Per usual, King does the build up very well to the "shit hits the fan" moment, which is always great. I have always enjoyed King's approach to action set pieces, he finds a way to make us feel like "oh shit the heroes may not win", even though... when was the last time that King's works had a sad ending?

This book deals heavily with the topic of obsession, which I think that King handles extremely well. It is obsession that borders on the edge of addiction. This, to me, is reflected in Arnie's physical transformation- feeling better when he indulges in Christine. Not dissimilar to when a drug addict or alcoholic may feel better in the moment when they are using their vice.

I also got the feeling that this book worked on the theme of generational trauma, but would have to read again to really cement my thoughts on this.
I think that the killing off of the bullies early on (relative to the end of the book) was well done to show that it is Christine, not the bullies who are the ultimate evil. This runs anathema to something like It where the bullies are a secondary antagonist to Pennywise.

The one thing that I did not care for as much was how Arnie seemed to ramp from zero to evil right after getting ownership of the car. I feel like this may have been intentional to say that Christine blew the locks off of the door that he had been shackling himself for so long. But, it felt extremely sudden, to me.