Christine
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For other uses, see Christine (disambiguation).
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| Author | Stephen King |
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| Cover Artist | Craig DeCamps |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror novel |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Released | 1983 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 526 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0670220264 |
Christine is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1983. It tells the story of an antique automobile apparently possessed by supernatural forces.
In 1983, a movie version of Christine which stars Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, and Harry Dean Stanton was released to theaters, directed by John Carpenter.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The story revolves around teenage nerd Arnie Cunningham and his 1958 red and white Plymouth Fury, dubbed "Christine" by the previous owner. The story is set in Libertyville (supposedly a suburb of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania between the summer of 1978 and the spring of 1979. The novel is divided into three parts, the first and third of which are written in first person, from the point of view of Dennis Guilder, Arnie's best and only friend. The middle part of the book is written in the omniscient third person style.
Arnie Cunningham buys the broken-down car from a weird geriatric, named Roland LeBay. Almost everyone takes an instant dislike to the car, including Dennis. Bullies from Arnie's high school tease him even more about the ugly old car and even vandalize it.
Arnie is drawn to Christine, and he fights for her. His life has changed since he bought the car. As he restores the automobile, he becomes withdrawn, yet more confident and self-assured. He becomes humorless and cynical. Dennis is scared of these changes, and of Christine's changes. The car is repaired haphazardly (quote from the film: "New windshield wipers... on a busted windshield!"), and not all of the repairs seem to be done by Arnie. Also, Arnie's appearance (his normally poor complexion) improves in tandem with Christine's. Dennis decides to do some investigating and strikes up a friendship with Roland LeBay's brother, George. Dennis learns of Roland's past destructive and violent behavior, and realizes that much of Arnie's new personality is really Roland's. He is also told that Roland's young daughter choked to death on a hamburger in the back of the car, and then his wife, traumatised by this death, committed suicide in the car by carbon monoxide poisoning.
When Arnie is almost finished restoring Christine, Leigh Cabot transfers to his high school. Leigh is instantly popular and regarded as the most beautiful girl in school. It is a surprise to everyone when she decides to go out with Arnie. While on a date with Arnie, Leigh almost chokes to death on a hamburger. Leigh is certain that Christine was behind it after the car's doors locked to prevent Arnie or anybody else from saving her. Leigh is only saved from death by a hitchhiker that Arnie picked up, who pulls her from the car and administers the Heimleich Maneuver. Despite being alive, Leigh continues to feel as though she is competing with Christine for Arnie's affection.
Arnie's parents, who have hated the Fury from day one, force him to park the car at the local airport. Soon after this happens, Buddy Repperton, a vicious bully who Arnie and Dennis got expelled earlier in the story, visits Christine with his gang of thugs and vandalize the car. Seeing Christine destroyed completely infuriates Arnie.
Mysterious murders occur in Libertyville. One by one, members of Buddy's gang are killed by Christine. Buddy Repperton and some of his friends encounter Christine and are later killed. Others who were hostile to Arnie or Christine turn up dead. The police investigate the murders and become suspicious of Arnie. However, Arnie has an alibi for each of the murders, since the car apparently acts on its own (which is not entirely true).
Dennis and Leigh become suspicious not of Arnie, but of Christine. They try to find out as much as they can about the car and its previous owner. As their suspicions grow, they try to destroy the supernatural forces that appear to be in control of Christine and Arnie.
In the book, King never makes it quite clear as to whether Christine is evil or if it's Roland LeBay possessing her. On one hand it is clear that Roland's ghost is driving her during her climatic battle with Dennis and Leigh. But while Dennis is talking with Roland's brother, there are hints to Christine's past that indicate that she may have been bad all along and been a bad influence on Roland: both his wife and daughter died in the car, and it is strongly hinted that their deaths were, in truth, a sacrifice to obtain immortality for both Roland LeBay and the car itself. In the movie, all mystery is taken away when Christine tries to murder someone while on the assembly line. The movie also removes the possession plotline, making it so Christine is not possessed but simply an evil car (a 1958 Plymouth Fury was also driven by the deceased Belch Huggins in It. Whether it is the same vehicle or not is entirely speculation).
Though Dennis and Leigh both believe Christine is dead in the end of the novel, having been crushed to a metal cube by police officers, the car was not truly destroyed and started self-repairing again from scrap. This is shown when the novel tells of the antenna coming out of the cube, as well as the detail of a police officer being "bitten" by a wheel piece while transporting Christine's ruined parts into the compactor. Also, in the last three pages, it is revealed that the last surviving bully has died a mysterious death when an unknown car burst through the wall of the theatre he was working at, instantly killing him. Dennis' last thoughts are in fact a terrified formulation of the hypothesis that Christine may have finally finished repairing herself and is now ready to carry on her revenge.
[edit] Trivia
- The 1958 Fury was only availible in Buckskin Biege paint and gold trim. However, the 1958 Belvedere was availible in Red and silver trim.
- Christine had a total of 23 "stunt," doubles.
- The cars used to portray "Christine," were actually Plymouth Belvedere and Plymouth Savoy.
- In the early 1990s, Richard Earle campaigned a late 50's Plymouth Pro Modified in the IHRA named Christine, with Paul Strommen behind the wheel. The car had a large engine with nitrous oxide injection, helping the car to run in the mid to low seven second range at 185 miles per hour.
- In an episode of the animated series Futurama, Bender is run over by a "Werecar," which looks similar to Christine.
- In a separate episode of the animated series Futurama, in a parody of The Wizard of Oz, Fry, dressed as the Scarecrow, attempts to scare off a crow by reading Christine to the bird.
[edit] Precursors
The demonic car concept of an evil, living car was previously seen in the 1977 movie The Car.
[edit] External links
- Christine at the Internet Movie Database
- Christine at theofficialjohncarpenter.com
- http://www.feoamante.com/Movies/ABC/car.html
- Christine at Plymouthcentral.com
[edit] See also
[edit] Editions
- ISBN 0-606-00784-9 (prebound, 1983)
- ISBN 0-670-22026-4 (cloth text, 1983)
- ISBN 84-01-49889-9 (hardcover, 1992)
- ISBN 84-01-49967-4 (hardcover, 1999)
- ISBN 0-7862-2631-5 (hardcover, 2000)
- ISBN 0-9676282-2-9 (paperback, 2000)
- ISBN 0-451-16044-4
| Stephen King |
|---|
| Bibliography |
| Novels: Carrie (1974) • ’Salem's Lot (1975) • Rage (as Richard Bachman) (1977) • The Shining (1977) • Night Shift (stories) (1978) • The Stand (1978) • The Dead Zone (1979) • The Long Walk (as Richard Bachman) (1979) • Firestarter (1980) • Cujo (1981) • Roadwork (as Richard Bachman) (1981) • The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982) • Different Seasons (novellas) (1982) • The Running Man (as Richard Bachman) (1982) • Christine (1983) • Pet Sematary (1983) • Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) • The Talisman (written with Peter Straub) (1984) • Thinner (as Richard Bachman) (1984) • Skeleton Crew (stories) (1985) • The Bachman Books (novel collection) (1985) • It (1986) • The Eyes of the Dragon (1987) • Misery (1987) • The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987) • The Tommyknockers (1988) • Dark Visions (cowritten with George R. R. Martin and Dan Simmons) (1988) • The Dark Half (1989) • Dolan's Cadillac (1989) • My Pretty Pony (1989) • The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition (1990) • Four Past Midnight (stories) (1990) • Needful Things (1990) • The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991) • Gerald's Game (1992) • Dolores Claiborne (1993) • Nightmares & Dreamscapes (stories) (1993) • Insomnia (1994) • Rose Madder (1995) • Umney's Last Case (1995) • The Green Mile (1996) • Desperation (1996) • The Regulators (as Richard Bachman) (1996) • Six Stories (stories) (1997) • The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997) • Bag of Bones (1998) • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) • The New Lieutenant's Rap (1999) • Hearts in Atlantis (1999) • Dreamcatcher (2001) • Black House (sequel to The Talisman; written with Peter Straub) (2001) • From a Buick 8 (2002) • Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (stories) (2002) • The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (revised edition) (2003) • The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003) • The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004) • The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004) • The Colorado Kid (2005) Cell (2006) • Lisey's Story (2006) |
| Non-fiction: • Danse Macabre (1981) • 1988 Nightmares in the Sky (1988) • 2000 On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) • 2005 Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season (cowritten with Stewart O'Nan) (2005) |
| Original ebooks: Riding the Bullet (2000) • The Plant: Book 1-Zenith Rising (2000) |
| Audio Recordings |
| Audiobooks: L.T.'s Theory of Pets • Blood and Smoke (2000) • Stationary Bike (2006) |
