It
It, one of Stephen King’s most well known stories boasting not one but two film adaptations, was quite the disappointment. Why? I had high expectations. That’s all - It was still a damn good story. By the way, I’m writing this from a cruise ship, in a room I’m sharing with my grandfather, with tree-carpeted, snow-capped mountains filling the window to my right. There’s a glacier somewhere out there I think. Alaska is beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop for the turning of the final pages of this book. ‘Nuff of that. Here’s what I thought about It.
If I had to describe It in one word: bloated. But the bloat is managed exceptionally well and the time invested in developing each of the characters, in developing Derry as an evil place, paid off. I was overwhelmed at first with the huge cast of characters, but (in time) we got to know them all very well. I’d imagine most people recognize themselves in one of the kids. I’m Ben, not only because I grew up fat, but because I was a shy and kinda lonely kid. And just like Ben, it seems that I’m starting to grow up and out of the shyness, getting more confident and comfortable talking to strangers.
Complaint: “Th-th-his i-i-is s-slowing muh-muh-me d-down.” Each of the characters has a unique personality, well-told background story, and signature trait (Richie’s voices, Eddie’s asthma). These signatures made it much easier, for me, to differentiate the kids and learn about them. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of names, and names are hard. Where was I? The stutter, right. What an annoying signature! Why’d it have to go to the central main character?
Complaint: “These are kids ‘cause the book says so.” They didn’t really act like kids. Their dialogue and interactions felt very mature to me. In all fairness, the story probably would have sucked if they did act like kids, so I can overlook this.
Another aspect of bloat (remember, I use this word in as bright and sunny a manner as it can be used) came simply from the style of storytelling. Interleaving the past and the present, and multiple stories within the past and present, AND Mike’s journal in the interludes, made this story quite fun to read. The book’s very structure made me feel like I’m also remembering a long forgotten memory, beginning to piece together vague feelings, and revisiting my childhood.
On that note, It is really a book about childhood, disguised as a scary story. I think It sort of symbolizes the one thing Mom and Dad can’t protect us from: the inevitable passing of time, forcing us into adulthood and leaving us no choice but to accept the responsiblities and hardships that come with it. The kids beat the monster, but then they forget. They forget childhood and drift apart.
I’m only twenty. Childhood was kinda recent. Yet I really don’t know what it was like to be a child, to be careless, imaginative, and free from anxiety and responsibility. How nice it would feel, to be a kid again!
Final Complaint: “Why is this in here!?!?” The sex scenes… c’mon… Patrick Hockstetter had no reason to exist in my opinion. And I don’t know why the kids had to have sex to get out of the sewers. Sex is a symbol of becoming an adult, I suppose, but I think everything else the kids went through demonstrates coming-of-age well enough. I mean, the kids just killed a monster and they’re about to do some blood ritual stuff. Ain’t that enough coming of age?!?
The interludes were cool, but didn’t add much. Their purpose was in my opinion one-fold, to demonstrate that Derry is cursed. Yet the rest of the book already makes this crystal clear.
To end on a positive note: I actually really liked the ending. The endings of both timelines, present and past, are told simultaneously, and this serves to unify childhood and adulthood. Unfortunately there were a few loose ends; for example (and maybe I missed it), I don’t know what happened to Tom. And some of the ends were tied in a way that seemed unfair to me; for example, that a ride on Silver broke Audra out of her coma.
This was a good book. Again, I describe It as “bloated” because there is so much story stuffed into only 1100 pages. Some of it was unnecessary, maybe, but I enjoyed It nonetheless. Very few authors who could make this work. Read It and let me know what you think.
With love, -Ryan.