Disquiet and desire. All the difference between world and want — the difference between being an adult who counted the cost and a child who just got on it and went, for instance. All the world between. Yet not that much difference at all. Bedfellows, really. The way you felt when the roller coaster car approached the top of the first steep grade, where the ride really begins.
Disquiet and desire. What you want and what you’re scared to try for. Where you’ve been and where you want to go. Something in a rock-and-roll song about wanting the girl, the car, the place to stand and be. Oh please God can you dig it.
(from It, page 1085)
I still don’t know how Serena talked me into reading It, given the fact that clowns really, really creep me out, but I’m glad she did. After being disappointed by The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom, I’d been looking for a book that would truly scare me, and while I can’t say I was terrified at any point while reading It, there were a few times when I didn’t want to turn the lights off until my husband came to bed.
Stephen King showcases his talent as a storyteller in It, which focuses on an evil entity living under the fictional town of Derry, Maine, that emerges every 27 years to feed on children (and the occasional adult) and the seven kids who join forces to beat it. Led by Bill Denbrough, whose little brother, George, is brutally murdered by It in the form of Pennywise the clown, the self-proclaimed “Losers” — Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Beverly Marsh, Stan Uris, and Mike Hanlon — spend much of the summer of 1958 contemplating ways to rid Derry of It, an evil with many faces based on the fears of its prey and the ability to control the people and world around it.
The novel shifts back and forth in time, mainly between 1958, when the gang thought they killed It, and 1985, when Mike — now Derry’s librarian — realizes It has begun another killing spree and reminds his old friends about the blood oath they made 27 years before — that if it started up again, they’d come back and get rid of It once and for all. However, only Mike remembers what happened that day under the city in 1958, and as the others slowly remember, they wonder whether they can recapture the faith and power they had as children, because only that will rid Derry of the evil that has plagued it since prehistoric times.
King includes many details about Derry and its people, and at times he seems to ramble a lot. At first, I thought a large chunk of the book’s 1,090 pages probably could have been cut out, but after turning the final page, I changed my mind. He jerks readers back and forth in time and tells seemingly unnecessary and unrelated stories, and then a light goes on and you see how these details fit into the larger scheme of things.
Derry is a messed up town, a town with a violent past, a town with a lot of stories to tell, and only when these stories are told does the reader understand how long It has been on the prowl and how much of a hold It has on its inhabitants. Can you imagine anyone sitting at a bar and ignoring a gruesome ax murder occurring behind them? Can you imagine all the men of the town positioning themselves in various locations of downtown to massacre a notorious gang in broad daylight? You can once you learn that a clownish man or a man dressed in a clown suit was in the midst of the chaos. It’s both chilling and fascinating, and it’s a novel where you just have to go with the flow and know that you’ll “get” it by the end.
There are several things that surprised me about It, beyond the fact that I could read about Pennywise and not have nightmares. For some reason, I expected King’s writing to be more on the “fluffy” side (for lack of a better word), so I was surprised at his amazing use of language and description. I was also surprised by how well he juggled so many main characters. One could argue that Bill is the main character, as he is viewed as the leader, but the rest of the gang and even the bully Henry Bowers, who terrorizes them as children and as adults, get plenty of time in the spotlight. King’s characters are so well developed, each with their own unique personalities. They feel like real people, and you know them almost as well as you know yourself. Moreover, I was surprised by how invested I was in these characters, so much so that I cried at the end of the Last Interlude. I didn’t just tear up; I actually sobbed for a minute or two.
Readers shouldn’t be scared by the fact that It is a chunkster. I read it over a period of five months, and each time I picked up the book, it felt like I hadn’t put it aside for a few weeks, it was still so fresh in my mind. Readers also shouldn’t dismiss It as simply a horror novel. Yes, there are some gory scenes, and yes, King plays with your mind a bit, but there’s a lot more going on here. It is a coming-of-age story, a novel about friendship and love, and he touches upon the idea of childhood innocence, memory, and fear and how our perceptions of the world change as we get older. The plot picks up the pace so that by the last section, I couldn’t read it fast enough. It is a novel that is creepy, yet thought-provoking at the same time. And believe it or not, despite the page length, I think it’s one I would read again in the future.
Disclosure: I received my copy of It as a gift. I am an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Hee hee, I knew you’d love it…and remember I HATE books that are really long!
LikeLike
I’m not scared of chunksters…just clowns!
LikeLike
I definitely want to read this one so I skimmed your review. Glad that you enjoyed, that as a chunkster was able to pick it up and down. That is super helpful.
LikeLike
If I had to read it straight through, I probably would have abandoned it because the story is just so overwhelming at times.
LikeLike
Really? Now I’m even more curious about it. I’m going to check paperbackswap right now.
LikeLike
It really was a lot deeper and more thought-provoking than I expected it to be. I hope you can get your hands on a copy!
LikeLike
If this one made you reluctant to turn the lights out, it’d probably scare the pants off of me.
LikeLike
It was just the clown that creeped me out!
LikeLike
I wish I can say I want to continue but the description still turns me off even if you say by the last page you understand it all.
I’m glad this was a great 5 months of reading for you 🙂 Perfect that you was able to go right back to it also. I do understand that because if I picked it back up now I remember enough of the first 2 parts to not start over, hmmmm, maybe a possibility.
LikeLike
Sorry that you didn’t enjoy it, but at least you gave it a try!
LikeLike
I always think people shortchange King as a writer. He’s got talent!! He can tell a story! He can scare you! I read this ages ago and have never really gotten over it. That Pennywise is one of the scariest things ever created.
LikeLike
I agree about Pennywise! I’m so glad Serena convinced me to give his books a try, even though Pennywise will never leave my head!
LikeLike
Nooooooo! *hides* This is why I am afraid of clownes
LikeLike
If it was an illustrated book, I would have had to say no. But King sure does conjure up images I wish I could banish from my mind forever.
LikeLike
I read this for the first time in seventh grade, and it still remains one of the most memorable books of my life.
LikeLike
Wow, I don’t think I would have been able to handle this book in 7th grade, length-wise I mean.
LikeLike
It sounds incredible in your review. I should read It! I am definitely a Stephen King fan, although I’ve only read a handful of his books. As you say in this review, he’s an excellent story teller. Thank you for a thoughtful and well-written review.
LikeLike
Oh, I really do hope you read it. It’s worth it!
LikeLike
I read this one so long ago…it’s been ages since I’ve read King. Great review!
LikeLike
Thanks, Staci! I wonder why it took me so long to read one of his books.
LikeLike
I read King now and then anbd hope to read his more iconioc books, this one being one of them. I have it waiting for me on my shelves.
LikeLike
I hope you get a chance to read it soon. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Now I have to think about which King book I want to try next.
LikeLike
[…] 11. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston 12. Frederic and Elfrida by Jane Austen 13. It by Stephen King 14. Edgar and Emma by Jane Austen 15. Henry and Eliza by Jane Austen 16. The […]
LikeLike