A quick question about Stephen King's CARRIE (open spoilers)

I never got that at all, Auntie. I thought Sue getting her period was merely to tie up a plot point (she thought she was pregnant) and, in a way, to bring the novel full circle.

I thought so, too. I didn’t think it was a kinetic thing. After all, Carrie had had that ability since she was little, not just since menstruating. Maybe it got stronger post period but she definitely was born with it.

It was various newspaper articles and such, about the fire and the deaths of Carrie and her mother, and articles about paranormal events. One of the ‘extras’ was a letter from a woman to her sister, talking about babysitting a child (grandchild, maybe?), and seeing the child move toys with her mind, and mentioning that she (the child) had ‘the shine’ just like great-aunt Ellie.

I liked that end stuff; I thought it added a little more dimension to the book.

I remember that! AuntiePam, Is that why you maybe thought it was implied that Sue would have powers, too?

I thought it was her having a miscarriage.

Yeah. I don’t remember Sue being worried about a pregnancy at all. Pregnancy is unlikely if you haven’t started menstruating.

Maybe I need to read it again.

Sue was menstruating, though, I thought?

ETA: And I definitely remember her worrying about being pregnant with Tommy’s child. Her period was late and she was thinking about it for most of the book.

You’re right. I just flipped through the book – Sue’s period was late. Duh me!

I will take Carrie off the list of King’s books with bad endings. It started with blood, makes sense for it to end with blood.

I remember him saying something about that in Danse Macabre. (I think?) It was a neat idea, for sure.

That’s an interesting analogy and I see your point, but I think there’s a fundamental flaw in describing Carrie as snappish. Near as I can tell, she never consciously lashed out at anyone until Prom Night. She thought about pushing that jerk-ass little kid off his bike, but didn’t actually try to act on that thought. She threatened to cause another rain of stones, but as a defensive move against her abusive mother. Other than that, she had never made any even remotely aggressive move toward anyone up until they dumped the pig blood on her. It’s part of the reason people felt free to dump on her as much as they did, imo–if she were the snappish, unpredictable type it wouldn’t be nearly so easy or fun to torment her.

It’s more like the choice between a cute, bouncy, playful puppy and one who is mangy and has been kicked and hit so much that it just lies curled up in the corner watching everything and shying away if you try to handle it. Except with actual puppies, a fair number of people would take the mangy, skittish one home with them because there’s nothing wrong with the little critter that can’t be fixed.

Yep. That’s a much better analogy. Now you’ve got me feeling sorry for her again. (And wanting to adopt a mangy puppy.)

Here’s a good resource on Mange.

I still think this puppy with mange is adorable. Never have scabies sounded so inviting.