Stephen King: Three Complete Novels: Carrie; Salems Lot; The Shining
by Stephen King

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Book Reviews of Stephen King: Three Complete Novels: Carrie; Salems Lot; The Shining

Book Review: Excellent omnibus of early King.
Summary: 5 Stars

Carrie (1974) was King's debut novel and tells the story of Carrie White- who lives with her religious maniac of a mother and develops telekinesis as she comes of age. A lecturer I had a few years ago chastised this book for misogny, developing the constrictive theory that a male cannot possibly write about a female. As On Writing reveals, King's wife Tabitha read the various drafts and offerred insight into the high school female (at one point she rescued Carrie from the bin). I think it captures the nasty hierarchy of school, though American school seems to be even worse with its emphasis on status and events like the prom. King captures an outsider wonderfully, though there are more scenes and styles of exploration around Carrie (newspaper reports, letters from relations) than in Brian de Palma's excellent film adaptation. This novel is a lot deeper if you read about its inception in On Writing; it is notable that feminist songwriter PJ Harvey took the slang for breasts ("dirtypillows") for her great song Sheela-Na-Gig (from Dry).

The next novel is my favourite of the three contained here, Salem's Lot. This develops around the short-story Jerusalem's Lot (see Night Shift) and is a combination of Dracula, I am Legend and Our Town. The story is generally a flashback around a smalltown and the arrival of some mysterious occupants- King portrays the surface of the utopian town - and the underbelly no one sees. This reminds me of David Lynch's Blue Velvet. The novel is wonderfully paced, King creating realistic characters and friendships withing the hierarchy of the smalltown. This leads to several great conclusions- Salem's Lot is one of the finest vampire novels, perhaps only bettered by Dracula and I am Legend.

The final novel here is The Shining, which has most definitly been superseded by Stanley Kubrick's strong (if overlong) film, particularly the camerawork and Jack Nicholson's performance. King was so attached to his own work (and upset by Kubrick's adaptation) he would make his own TV-version of it (this is awful and along with Maximum Overdrive proof that King is best behind the typewriter/word processor/notepad). This is probably a bit too long, but has a more satisfying conclusion than the film (though I love the film's final image, of a man removed to another time- very Last Year at Marienbad). The portraits of the decadent era and prior murders at the Overlook hotel are excellent and the Jack Torrance being an alcoholic would have unconscious significance for King at a later point. The opening interview [...] is an example of the finest dialogue writing I've read this side of Elmore Leonard.

This collection is an excellent purchase, three of King's finest novels and great value when looking at the price of the novels seperately.

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