Rating: 
Summary: waste of paper
Review:
Just rent the movie. It's not good either, but watching it takes a lot less time than reading this book.
The killer car concept is really weak for a novel of this length. It would have made a poor short story, and if you stripped away all of King's useless passages, that's probably what you would be left with.
If you find staring at a bug zapper entertaining, then you might like Christine. The only problem is that people mentally challenged enough to be entertained by this book, are unlikely to have the attention span to finish it.
Stephen King has written several great books. Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, Dolores Claiborne, Bag of Bones, It and The Stand rank high on my list of personal favorites. If you've read all his other books, read one of the good ones again.
I'm pretty sure he only wrote Christine to pass time between drinking binges. You know, as something to do during his crack binges.
I'm giving one star just to seperate this book and From A Buick 8, his other terrible book about an evil car. Now that book truly deserves zero stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: A vague, unnamed evil possessing everyday objects is nothing new to King, and in Christine the object is a 1958 Plymouth Fury.
When Arnie Cunningham, local loser, first sees her sitting on the lawn of retired army solider, Roland LeBay, it is love at first sight. Arnie's best friend Dennis, however, sees only a rotting hunk of metal long past its prime and, despite his best efforts; he's unable to talk Arnie out of buying Christine.
What ensues over the next few months is a string of horrifying events, all with one thing in common: Christine. At the same time, Arnie himself begins to change, to the dismay and confusion of his family and friends. He spends long hours in the garage with Christine, refuses to acknowledge anyone who puts her down, and lives in a state of denial about the effect she's having on him and the people in his life.
For the fan of classic gore horror, there is Christine's past that haunts her to this day. For the reader who prefers the horrors of the deterioration of the mind, there is Christine's present and her relationship to Arnie. Readers who enjoy the terrors of possessed objects will find their satisfaction in Christine's present and future, and how she refuses to give up until she's had her way, all at a terrible price. The story is completely void of any of the corniness that seems to plague some of King's recent works. It is genuine to the core and the reader truly feels for Arnie, slowly losing his mind to Christine, for Dennis, who watches his best friend deteriorate, and for Christine's tragic past. King weaves the stories together seamlessly and creates a perfect page-turner that's impossible to put down or forget.
Rating:
Summary: Read it Again and Again!!
Review: All the elements of a great book. Set the standard by which future works would be judged. This was the first book by Mr. King I ever read. I became a fan and have been rearely disappointed since. A book about cars, relationships and horror. What more could one ask for? Get it! Read it! more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: High praise from a non-fan
Review: As the title of my review states, I am not a fan of Stephen King. I don't hate his work but at the same time I don't wait for his next book with bated breath either. He is just an author whose books never ever appear on my 'must buy' list. Saying that, however, his novel "Christine" is a cracking read. The scares are subtle; tugging at your subconscious rather than going for your jugular vein. There are no ghouls lurking and not much violence either...at least not until the latter half of the book. Readers who are looking for gore will be disappointed and should look elsewhere. Basically, "Christine" is about a possessed car. You don't own Christine. She owns you. And now she owns Arnie Cunningham; a shy, geeky kid with a bad complexion. Arnie loves Christine. He'll do anything for her and no one should stand between him and his beloved car. Or else..... Stephen King does a wonderful job here. What could easily have been a cheesy story of an evil car on a killing spree, we have instead a story of obsession, possession and the stain of past crimes "reaching out to the present". More subtle, more frightening than a simple 'bad car kills people' plot. We also get to learn the history of the car and its first owner but King doesnt give all the details. In fact, more questions are raised intead of answered. That, I think, is a mark of a good horror story. Let it be ambiguous. Dont answer all the questions. Let the reader draw his/her own conclusions. Its scarier (and thus, more fun) that way. Stephen King is still not one of my favourite authors but I am willing to give credit where credit is due. "Christine" is indeed a good yarn and deserves the 4 stars that I'm giving. Coming from a non-fan, that is high praise indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Christine. Review done by Madilyn Rossi
Review: Christine will leave you spooked to say the least. As many others have pointed out, it is much more than 'car-goes-psycho-and-murders-teens'. It is actually a twisted love triangle of sorts between two best friends and a possessive, increasingly jealous, attention craving girl....named Christine, a '58 Plymouth Fury, one of the original muscle cars from back in the day. The two friends, Arnie Cunningham and Dennis Guilder, are polar opposites, having grown up together and maintained their strong ties. Arnie is the typical high school geek, always getting picked on and harrased by school bullies. He can't even find solace at home as his mother is a dominating, overprotective lord-of-the-house type who runs everyones life in her family. His only friend in the whole world is Dennis. Dennis is a popular, good looking football player who acts as a big brother and protector to Arnie. Their friendship is really the key to the whole story, and it is built up well. Things begin to go south when Arnie sees Christine junked up and for sale on the side of the road, and he is instantly smitten with her (if you think it is odd to call 'it' a 'her', you'll change your tune after reading this book). Arnie pours an increasing amount of time and effort into fixing her up, which begins to strain Arnies relationships between him and Dennis. The disturbing thing (and I mean disturbing) is that the rolling wreck which barely ran in the first place begins to fix itself, slowly healing as Arnie shows her more love and attention...and as Arnie begins to put more time and effort into Christine, fixing her up and attending to her mechanical needs, she begins to look out for him (!) as well. It is interesting that Arnie grows to have more in common with Christine than Dennis, in that as he grows and matures, his long friendship with him begins to fade (remember your childhood friends? remember when you started hanging out with other people in high school? sad isn't it when relationships change as you grow?) Both Arnie and Christine in a sense are castaways, awkward, and unloved, forgotten in a crowd. As the story goes, Arnie becomes obsessed with Christine and her well being to the point of unhealthiness, and he begins to shift from a high school loser to a rebel with a malevolent attitude to boot. It's at this point that things start getting scary, as Christine, who has 'asserted' herself as the centerpiece in his life, begins to take on a life of her own. A tangible love story fleshes itself out between the two outcasts (it sounds stupid here, but is horrifyingly real as King paints the picture)...and God help anyone who threatens Arnie or tries to get between her and her 'Man'. School bullies begin to die in mysterious hit and run accidents unmatched in their brutality and viciousness, and a showdown sets itself up when Dennis and his girlfriend decide to save Arnie from his downward spiral by destroying Christine in a gripping, white knuckle showdown you will never forget. You will NEVER look at an old car again without seeing in your minds eye a candy apple red, snarling '58 Plymouth Fury, all fins and chrome, with a black skull and crossbones license plate saying 'Rock and Roll will Never Die!'
Rating:
Summary: A story about love, devotion, and jealousy...........
Review: Hands down my favorite S. King book, Christine will leave you spooked to say the least. As many others have pointed out, it is much more than 'car-goes-psycho-and-murders-teens'. It is actually a twisted love triangle of sorts between two best friends and a possessive, increasingly jealous, attention craving girl....named Christine, a '58 Plymouth Fury, one of the original muscle cars from back in the day. The two friends, Arnie Cunningham and Dennis Guilder, are polar opposites, having grown up together and maintained their strong ties. Arnie is the typical high school geek, always getting picked on and harrased by school bullies. He can't even find solace at home as his mother is a dominating, overprotective lord-of-the-house type who runs everyones life in her family. His only friend in the whole world is Dennis. Dennis is a popular, good looking football player who acts as a big brother and protector to Arnie. Their friendship is really the key to the whole story, and it is built up well. Things begin to go south when Arnie sees Christine junked up and for sale on the side of the road, and he is instantly smitten with her (if you think it is odd to call 'it' a 'her', you'll change your tune after reading this book). Arnie pours an increasing amount of time and effort into fixing her up, which begins to strain Arnies relationships between him and Dennis. The disturbing thing (and I mean disturbing) is that the rolling wreck which barely ran in the first place begins to fix itself, slowly healing as Arnie shows her more love and attention...and as Arnie begins to put more time and effort into Christine, fixing her up and attending to her mechanical needs, she begins to look out for him (!) as well. It is interesting that Arnie grows to have more in common with Christine than Dennis, in that as he grows and matures, his long friendship with him begins to fade (remember your childhood friends? remember when you started hanging out with other people in high school? sad isn't it when relationships change as you grow?) Both Arnie and Christine in a sense are castaways, awkward, and unloved, forgotten in a crowd. As the story goes, Arnie becomes obsessed with Christine and her well being to the point of unhealthiness, and he begins to shift from a high school loser to a rebel with a malevolent attitude to boot. It's at this point that things start getting scary, as Christine, who has 'asserted' herself as the centerpiece in his life, begins to take on a life of her own. A tangible love story fleshes itself out between the two outcasts (it sounds stupid here, but is horrifyingly real as King paints the picture)...and God help anyone who threatens Arnie or tries to get between her and her 'Man'. School bullies begin to die in mysterious hit and run accidents unmatched in their brutality and viciousness, and a showdown sets itself up when Dennis and his girlfriend decide to save Arnie from his downward spiral by destroying Christine in a gripping, white knuckle showdown you will never forget. You will NEVER look at an old car again without seeing in your minds eye a candy apple red, snarling '58 Plymouth Fury, all fins and chrome, with a black skull and crossbones license plate saying 'Rock and Roll will Never Die!'
Rating:
Summary: A good read, but as stated: not scary.
Review: I have to agree with the previous review below me in almost every way. Christine, while a good book, is one that had so much potential to be scary. But it wasn't. Nearly everything about the book shines, but come down to the bear bones of horror, Christine is a popped balloon folks.
Arnie Cunningham is a nerd. The kind of kid who everyone at school picks on. If it weren't for friends like Dennis Guilder, Arnie would get killed in high school. Luckily, Arnie does have Dennis.
One fine summer morning, while taking a ride with Dennis, Arnie spots a 1958 Plymouth in a yard. Immediately, Arnie takes a shine to the car. I guess it is nice to fine a busted down car that's uglier than you, isn't it?
We learn the cars name is Christine. As the book goes on we learn that Christine is more than just a car. She's a demon on wheels (literally), and she's slowly posessing Arnie.
I suppose my biggest gripe with the book is that it simply isn't scary. Even when finishing this book late at night, it isn't scary in anyway. I've read some good scary books by King ("The Shining") but "Christine" sucks the big one as far as being scary goes.
But where it lacks in being scary, it makes up for in the overall story. The idea of a haunted car isn't bad. The idea of said haunted car being able to possess its owner is even better!
Where the book truly shines though, are the characters. Stephen King, in my mind, has a knack for making good believable characters, and Christine is no exception. As the book moves on, you begin to care about most of the characters. While Arnie is no Annie Wilkes ("Misery") or Jack Torrance ("The Shining") he is certainly an interesting character, and he becomes more interesting as the story moves on, and he slowly becomes possessed by Christine.
Overall, this was an exciting read. But if you want a scary book, I suggest you pick up Stephen King's "The Shining". Christine is a worthwhile read, true enough. But as I've said, it just isn't a true horror classic.
Rating:
Summary: You'll never jay walk again!
Review: I just recently read The Green Mile which was very good and it made me think of his earlier work when I was a huge King fan. I thought I'd sumbit a review. Christine is so good, I read it twice (one of the few times I've ever done that!). It is a very well written and plotted novel with great character development. It took me on a ride back to those high school days of my 80's.
Of course cars don't drive around by themselves killing people, but somehow King takes the concept and nails it. Your belief is suspended and although not as scary as some of his other novels, it's still hard to put down! Give it a read.
Rating:
Summary: Hard To Put Down Even A Second Time
Review: I just spent a week at the beach and decided to re-read Chistine after several years. I read it in one day just like I remember doing the first time. Arnie Cunningham wants a car, sees Christine and falls instantly in love with her. Ever notice cars are almost always a her? Anyway, possessed car then possesses Arnie. If you've never read this book don't worry, it's everything else that happens in the book that will keep you going. I found this to be one of Stephen Kings less descriptive novels. He quickly set the scenes, characters and the plot and go things off to a fast start. Better buckle up for this ride with Arnie and Chirstine. There was nothing about this book that I can really say I didn't like. I have read many of Mr. Kings works; however, only a few have I read more than once. This is one that I have. Other Stephen King books getting the second and some third reads are Salems Lot, Firestarter, Misery and The Shining. Mr. King is a wonderful author though in some of his books gets extremely wordy and extremely descriptive, not this one. If you like fast paced horror, then don't forget to read or re-read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hard To Put Down
Review: I just spent a week at the beach and decided to re-read Christine after several years. I read it in one day just like I remember doing the first time. Arnie wants a car, he sees Christine and falls instantly in love with it. Ever notice cars are almost always a her? Anyway, possessed car then posses Arnie. If you've never read this book don't worry, it's everything else that happens in the book that will keep you going. I found this to be one of Stephen Kings less descriptive novels. He quickly set the scenes, characters and the plot and got things moving quickly. So quickly in fact, that once it grabs a hold of you, buckle up and enjoy your ride along with Arnie and Christine. I have read many of Mr. Kings works, however, only a few have I read more then once. This is one that I have. Other Stephen King books getting the second and some third reads are Salems Lot, Firestarter, Misery and The Shining. Mr. King is a wonderful author though at times he can get extremely descriptive. If you like horror, then don't forget to read this book.
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