A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer returns as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry's sewers once more.
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A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer returns as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry's sewers once more.
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IT was my introduction into the horror genre. It's long, very long, but it's captivating. The actual horror factor is not very strong compared to other King novels like Pet Sematary or Misery; if you're looking for something that will give you a thrill, I recommend you go elsewhere. Like Tomes Hemlock said, takes a very specific sort of reader to finish IT, and even to those readers it will pose a challenge.
Where IT loses its 5 star status for me is the sewer chapter. I understand that King was high on LSD on and off during the composition of IT, but I can find no reason to include a prepubescent orgy in a horror novel.
IT is strange seeing as the premise is interesting, the characters are compelling, the setting feels very much alive, yet the format is incredibly exhausting and challenging even to experienced readers.
Also the sewer scene was completely unnecessary, frankly, even in a splatterpunk perspective.
Well. That sure was everything I'd heard it would be.
So the thing is I knew every plot point going in. All of them. And King isn't a writer I struggle with reading.
The fact of the matter is this is a well written book that is too damn long about a terrible town with a worse clown. And I can appreciate that. And yet the fact remains if I was King's editor I would have told him to cut the scene in the sewers because it's just not that deep.
This is the third or fourth time I’ve read this novel over the years, so clearly I like it. I read this very slowly over the course of a year, and I think the pace of my reading got me bogged down in several sections, but I still enjoyed It.
This and The Stand are quintessential King novels, must reads for horror fans.
This was way too long, definitely great in parts, but wayyyyyyyyy too long.
After reading and loving Misery and The Shining I have now decided that King is brilliant with smaller self contained narratives - I won't be doing any further research to confirm this.
Also, it was kind of distracting that he made the "horror fiction author" character the cool smart hyper-capable brave leader who sleeps with all the beautiful women and every other character idolises.
I gotta say, I personally loved the ending for its sheer insanity. I haven't seen the movies but I strongly suspect they've changed one specific scene.
On re-reading this for the second time (my first was back in about 2012 when I was still in college), I forgot how many themes are interwoven into the plot. there is definitely parallels between the clown Pennywise, and Satan. The context is even more potent when actually reading about the author's faith. He is a Christian, and this novel demonstrates that.
An okay book, which definitely shows King's leanings on politics & society -- which is funny when you consider some of the casual sexism throughout the plot. Most importantly, did we really need a prepubescent sewer orgy scene?
This had been on my 'to read' shelf for years; with the success of the new movie last year, I figured now was the time.
If you haven't read Stephen King before ... I'm not sure I'd recommend this as my first. Thanks to its general presence on the pop culture stage, the story should be at least vaguely familiar to most, but I think the length could scare some people off.
To be clear, there were few times where I found that I wasn't enjoying the writing, but there's just so much of it to cover -- more than once I wondered if the story couldn't have been just as good (or better) at about 200 fewer pages. Again, none of them stand out as weak or uninteresting, but keeping track of all the kids' backstories, their adult counterparts, the derry backstories, the ancillary bullies and wives ... well …
This had been on my 'to read' shelf for years; with the success of the new movie last year, I figured now was the time.
If you haven't read Stephen King before ... I'm not sure I'd recommend this as my first. Thanks to its general presence on the pop culture stage, the story should be at least vaguely familiar to most, but I think the length could scare some people off.
To be clear, there were few times where I found that I wasn't enjoying the writing, but there's just so much of it to cover -- more than once I wondered if the story couldn't have been just as good (or better) at about 200 fewer pages. Again, none of them stand out as weak or uninteresting, but keeping track of all the kids' backstories, their adult counterparts, the derry backstories, the ancillary bullies and wives ... well it took some time before I could really recall who was who.
To the credit of Mr King, there is a pay-off point when all the backstory and time skips and narrative juggling really seems to work and that part (as the finale starts to move towards the climax) was effective, entertaining -- almost rewarding after the last 900 pages.
As far as being exceedingly frightening, I found the book more grim and disconcerting than outright scary. The particular quirk of the titular It, though, allows for several different psychological attacks on the citizens of Derry (and, subsequently, the reader). The implication of the adults' passive acceptance of all the horrors being visited on their children was the most personally disturbing idea presented -- more than once I found myself thinking of the school protests going on in the present day -- but, of course, your mileage may vary.
Overall, a satisfying read that I'd recommend to general horror or suspense fans -- even to fans of Stranger Things that might be interested in something a bit darker and more adult.
