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Lou G

Member
Sep 17, 2014
5
16
Michigan
Hey everyone, I’m Lou. A super-new-newbie, since I am just starting to read the SK oeuvre for the first time in my middle years. I’m actually glad I’m a late bloomer, because after having read many, many other novels, I can really appreciate how rich his writerly gifts are. Yours is a rare talent, SK; just sayin’. J
I have a question about SK’s introduction to Carrie. I heard SK read it on the recent audiobook recording. Is there a printed edition of Carrie that includes this introduction, or is it special to the audiobook?
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hey everyone, I’m Lou. A super-new-newbie, since I am just starting to read the SK oeuvre for the first time in my middle years. I’m actually glad I’m a late bloomer, because after having read many, many other novels, I can really appreciate how rich his writerly gifts are. Yours is a rare talent, SK; just sayin’. J
I have a question about SK’s introduction to Carrie. I heard SK read it on the recent audiobook recording. Is there a printed edition of Carrie that includes this introduction, or is it special to the audiobook?
I cannot find an original Carrie book. I did order a Cemetery Dance edition so I could have Carrie in my book collection

Welcome Lou G :cheerful:
Carrie%2BStephen%2BKing%2B1975%2B1st%2Bedition%2Bpaperback%2BSignet%2BNew%2BAmerican%2BLibrary%2Bquote.JPG
Not having heard the audio book, I am unsure of which intro you mean - could this be it?
 

Lou G

Member
Sep 17, 2014
5
16
Michigan
Hi Neesy, thanks. No, the Introduction I'm interested is a very personal narrative from SK about his early writing career and the composition of Carrie. I found it moving, because SK talks candidly about his own high school experiences--how he, like the Sue character in the novel, witnessed the hazing / bullying of female classmates, and wondered what he could do to help. I was moved because it's clear that the memory of guilt at not helping these girls as a teen was fresh in his mind as he wrote the novel. I found it both painful and beautiful to trace that theme of guilt in Carrie, and I noticed it thanks to SK's honesty in the Introduction.

So yeah, I think it's a special statement, and would love to find the printed edition that includes it (if any).
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
157,324
Maine
Hi Neesy, thanks. No, the Introduction I'm interested is a very personal narrative from SK about his early writing career and the composition of Carrie. I found it moving, because SK talks candidly about his own high school experiences--how he, like the Sue character in the novel, witnessed the hazing / bullying of female classmates, and wondered what he could do to help. I was moved because it's clear that the memory of guilt at not helping these girls as a teen was fresh in his mind as he wrote the novel. I found it both painful and beautiful to trace that theme of guilt in Carrie, and I noticed it thanks to SK's honesty in the Introduction.

So yeah, I think it's a special statement, and would love to find the printed edition that includes it (if any).
The most recent audiobook version was the movie tie-in which was released last September and does have Stephen doing part of the reading. The paperback of that edition is published by Anchor Books and also came out in September 2013. I cannot find any information on their site to verify that it has the same introduction but my guess is that it does as they don't usually add introductions just for the audio versions.
 

Lou G

Member
Sep 17, 2014
5
16
Michigan
Thanks Ms. Mod!

No cigar though on the Anchor edition; it was first released in 2011, and re-released I guess in 2013 for the movie tie-in. I looked over the preliminary pages on the Amazon site; there is no intro, nor is there a special new copyright notice for the added SK material as I expected.

I checked a library copy of the most recent mass trade edition (with Chloe Grace M. on the cover); ditto.

Which I guess leaves me with the Cemetery Dance edition?
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
157,324
Maine
Thanks Ms. Mod!

No cigar though on the Anchor edition; it was first released in 2011, and re-released I guess in 2013 for the movie tie-in. I looked over the preliminary pages on the Amazon site; there is no intro, nor is there a special new copyright notice for the added SK material as I expected.

I checked a library copy of the most recent mass trade edition (with Chloe Grace M. on the cover); ditto.

Which I guess leaves me with the Cemetery Dance edition?
Cemetery Dance wouldn't have had anything to do with an audiobook edition, though.
 

Lou G

Member
Sep 17, 2014
5
16
Michigan
Hi again!

According to http://stephenking.com/promo/carrie_dse/, “The Carrie DSE Features: An introduction by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book.” Whether this intro is the same as the one SK spoke on the audiobook remains to be seen…

Sorry if I seem obsessive about this intro, but it’s important to me for a personal reason beyond literary analysis. I want to read this novel with my teenage son, who like me is a SK virgin; and like Carrie has had to endure some bullying in middle school. (Because, like me, he’s small, Latino, and nerdy, a tough combination in our part of the world.)

The other day he noticed I was listening to the audiobook in my car; and we started a really good discussion about Carrie’s plot, how the book differs from the movies (Robbie is not a fan of cinematic gore), and about my perceptions of SK as someone who understands the dynamics of bullying both from the view of the victim and the bystander. I could tell he was hooked.
My secret master plan (bwahahahahaha) is to get him a copy of the novel WITH the intro if possible, and then if he liked it we could read through a few SK classics together as a father-and-son book club (as we did for Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc. etc.)

I guess I should just let him listen to the beginning of the audio recording; but print is better for him, if it’s available.
 

Dead Reader

Member
Oct 18, 2016
22
44
I cannot find an original Carrie book. I did order a Cemetery Dance edition so I could have Carrie in my book collection,,,

Neesy, did you ever find yourself a copy of Carrie? My son bought be a original 1st printing of "Carrie" for 50¢ and two other editions of "Carrie" for $1 each. We get them at thrift stores and at the library. The main branches normally have books for sale. One library I go to has so many books for sale, it's like a sub-library in itself. They have so many for sale, they are in order by genre and author in alphabetical order, like the rest of the library. I have about 95% of his books and the most expensive one cost $1.50 - I also have many on audio and I get them for 50¢ to $5.