It - Stephen King

This huge, baggy beast of a novel is a favorite of Stephen King fans--second in popularity only to The Stand. Perhaps longtime fans develop mental filters for King's sloppy storytelling to tune out the repetitions and silliness. King is like the pointillist painter Seurat: if you stand too close to the little dots, the picture falls apart, and it looks meaningless. That's why he makes the storyscape so big--to take you up to that macro-level where you like the book in spite of its flaws. --Fiona Webster

Reader Reviews:

Simply extraordinary... (1/1 people found this helpful)

One of the best, if not the best, King books. Certainly one of the very best books ever written about children. I challenge anyone to read this book and not find their own small and perfectly remembered childhood nightmare. King's opus magnum as far as I am concerned - and to date I don't think he has bettered it.

Incredible (0/0 people found this helpful)

Def one of the best if not THE best of King's books It has everything that a good story should have and the result is an amazing read.

I first read It when I was about 13 and since then have read it thousands of times more. It could actually be the first King novel I read and although not all his work is up to this standard, I think that King is not the mediocre novelist critics claim him to be. Other brilliant novels by King are The Stand and Salem's LOt. They resemble It in that they are chunky novels and just as enthralling.

"IT" makes your skin crawl and is a real page turner: It's difficult to put down. I won't reveal plot but there are two entwining stories which simultaneously unfold, each revealing the story bit by bit: you're kept in suspense up until the last minute and even then you'll be suprised.

Def worth the money for a very good read. Congratulations King

I hate clowns now . . . (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book is brilliant. Seriously! I've always rated Stephen King as a writer but his genius really comes out here, I've always felt a chill from reading his other books, namely Tommyknockers, The Shining & Pet Semetary. Even the Green Mile can make your skin crawl a bit!
But they are nothing compared to this, it is genuine heart in your throat reading.

One of his longest books but it's a real page turner. After you get the basic introduction of Derry Maine in 1957, you get introduced to It. A shape-shifting, fear-inducing, child killer who goes on a feeding frenzy every 27 years. It's most prominent form (and most underware filling) is Pennywise the dancing clown.

But the heart of this story is friendship, about 7 outsiders who band together to stand up to the town bully, Henry Bowers and later It. I won't spoil it for you, but the friends think they defeat It so the friends make a promise to return to Derry if It ever returns. And it does in 1985.

King masterfully weaves the timelines of 1958 & 1985 together into one seamless story, along with other little side stories of Derry's history & It's history. The ending feels like a bit of a let down compared to the build up to the ending but when you finally turn that last page you won't feel disappointed.

Just don't take a balloon from a clown . . . .

A Sprawling Engrossing Novel (0/0 people found this helpful)

It's size is both its best and worst aspects. In favour, It is an utterly engrossing novel, one that really draws you and in particular gives you a clear picture of 50s America, one which (as a young guy from Scotland) makes me feel as though I know the time and place though it's obviously impossible. However, King seems to mistake detail (and boy, is there a lot of detail - no wonder so many of his novels have been adapted for cinema/TV, they're so visual) for insight, and some sections seem completely pointless - the section with the Korcoran family for example - or far too drawn out - Ben and the mummy, and Eddie and the pharmacist, the background on Stanley and his wife, could all be much more incisive. Not that all the background sections are pointless; I really like the four interludes of the novel, where Mike Hanlon gives us a greater historical overview of Derry. It adds to the sense of timeless horror, and gives the novel a sturdy ballast.

King wrote this novel after writing the excellent non-fiction book about the horror genre, "Danse Macabre", and I've always felt that this was a logical progression. After considering all the various monsters of the genre, and the function and curious attraction of fear and horror, a shape-shifting, all-encompassing horror-monster probably seemed the logical thing to do! And one of the things King pulls off so well is the shift in the conception of the monster, from a child-killing clown (a decent idea, but not stunning) to a Lovecraftian protean being of immense scale.

While the scale is immense, as said above, the detail is remarkable. The characters of "The Losers" are all closely-focused, both as children and (though to a lesser degree - Ben is less effective) as adults. In particular, Ritchie, as boy and man, is one of my favourite characters in all fiction. He just makes me laugh and laugh and laugh with his wisecracking - the scene where he ribs Stan and Mike for their being Jewish and black respectively is absolutely hilarious. But sometimes the detail can be overwhelming and you lose focus; for example when describing the destruction of Derry in a storm at the end, everything is described precisely, but I can't see it in my mind's eye. King must have an immensely vivid imagination, but sometimes he just can't convey it.

All the same, this is a novel to curl up with and lose yourself in, an immense pleasure to read. I think It is King's finest novel, up there with Misery (The Stand is overrated to my mind; the last third is so laboured). Enjoy!

An unbelievable, heart-wrenching, and stomach-clenching journey... (1/1 people found this helpful)

Often people start Stephen King reviews by saying "Well people say he's not a good writer but..." I find this highly annoying, mainly because it's not true and the only people who would say it are those who haven't read his books, but also because it's like trying to defend reading King's novels somehow. Who cares what some critics think, they are people getting paid to look down on authors because they never made it themselves.
Anyway, I will start my review by saying that It is one of the best books I have ever read- and yes, I have read a lot. I first read it when I was 14, drawn in (despite my fear) simply by the evil looking clown on the front cover, glaring at me from my mother's book-case. This clown, I would think (even at 14), will surely leap off the cover when I'm asleep and eat me. But I read it anyway and despite some parts of the book going right over my head at that age, I patiently read every page, and fell in love with the characters so completely that I cried at the end.
I've read it twice since the first time and love it even more. There's no point in writing a plot summary or outline, all you need to know is it's about magic, love and bravery and anyone who thinks the point of the book is about needless gore and fear has really missed the point. When I was a kid clowns were scary and weird, and I never liked them- so I wasn't one bit surprised that the evil here is represented as a clown. Of course it is.
The characters, as usual for Mr. King, are brilliantly written and I always feel like I know all his characters, and get to love them.
I don't think the length of the book is something to criticise, I always look at the length of a book and think well, this is the story. In this case, this is the length of the story Stephen King had in his head and so this is what we get, I wouldn't want any less.
I would recommend this book to anyone and if you are considering reading it, do so. You'll love it. Let yourself and your imagination go and follow Mr King as he shows us how magic does not necessarily mean wands and spells, but courage and love.

It

Stephen King

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