Reviews
8 Punkte Rainbird ist ein extrem charismatischer Antagonist, der für mich zu Kings besten gehört. Auch ist das Leben von Charlie und Allen, sowie deren Umgang mit der Situation wieder einmal wundervoll.
absolutely perfect book, scary and moving and fast paced
strangely made my eyes well up with tears more than it ended up scaring me though. maybe because charlie and andy are so similar to me and my dad. also a CIA tie in will forever get me
There are certain themes in paranormal fiction that just don't thrill me all that much. One of them is aliens, and another is psychic powers. Unfortunately the late 1970s and early 1980s were all about trying to uncover hidden potential in humans. I almost dropped watching Stranger Things, because I was turned off by the whole psychedelic, government experiment plot (thankfully I did continue on and eventually fell in love). I can't believe world leaders were spending millions on this ludicrous woo woo. Well, these people also wore bell-bottoms with unashamed abandon and created the wonder of pet rocks. Firestarter by Stephen King is definitely a product of its time. It's still a great action thriller about a father and daughter on the run from the men in black, and it is written with an unmistakable skill of the Master, but I had a hard time connecting to the plot. I'm more into scary monsters than out of control fires.
Actual rating: 3.5 stars I’m going to be honest; the only reason I decided to pick this up right now was because I am crazy excited for The Institute. Based on the synopsis, I wanted to have read this book and Carrie before starting King’s newest novel, and I was already halfway there. While both Firestarter and Carrie involve girls with some kind of extraordinary mental ability, Carrie and Charlie couldn’t have been more different. While both were capable of great destruction, Charlie has far more control even though she is far younger. And I think the main reason for this vast difference can be found in the way they were parented. Even those who have never read or watched Carrie tend to know at least the basics of Carrie’s story. She’s had a very difficult upbringing, raised by a fanatical mother who has basically beaten the poor child over the head with misinterpretations of the Bible her entire young life. She’s been mistreated and ridiculed by nearly every classmate and teacher and random stranger who has ever crossed her path. We all know the events that brought all of her trauma to a head and led to her losing it. She had a really rough life. It’s hard to hold her terrible decisions against her. And then there’s Charlie. Charlie was born with a crazy ability just like Carrie. But she was thankfully born to loving, intelligent parents who did all they could to keep her safe. Firestarter began much more high-speed than most of King’s books. You were immediately in the middle of the action with the main characters, with very little idea how you got there. Charlie and her father are on the run from some shady government organization because of their abilities. Her mother is no longer in the picture, having been killed by the same organization. Even in the midst of the terror that emanates from these two characters, you can feel the healthy foundation of their relationship. So many of King’s parent/child relationships are horribly unhealthy. Not so with Charlie and Andy. Andy is a great dad, and will do anything to protect his child. It was so refreshing to see a wholesome relationship between a father and daughter in a King novel. I’m trying to recall a similarly healthy relationship in the other books of his I’ve read, but nothing’s coming to me. This was a fun read. The main characters were interesting and found themselves in interesting situations. But I found Firestarter pretty forgettable in comparison to the other books I’ve read from King. However, I will say that John Rainbird is one of the most disturbing human villains I’ve come across. The ending of the book was decent for King, which is saying something since endings really aren’t his strong suit. Overall, I’m glad that I can mark another book off of my list, but I’m ready to move on to The Institute.
I've never been a Stephen King fan but did enjoy reading Firestarter quite a lot.
Mi reseña en el canal https://youtu.be/co8LYH_xmLk
It has been a while since I read this, but in contrast to most of the other books I read around that time, this has made a lasting impression. I certainly remember that it was a gripping novel and I couldn't lay it down.
