RE: IT By: Stephen King
A Book that I Have Been Thinking About
From: Travis
July 1, 2020
(Originally Written in 2017)
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 very 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 those moments 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.