#34 – It

Plot

To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry Maine was just their hometown: familiar, well-ordered for the most part. A good place to live. It was the children who saw – and felt – what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one’s deepest dread. Sometimes IT reached up, seizing, tearing, killing.

Review

Trying to properly summarize my feelings on a book with nearly half-a-million words in a couple of bullet points is an incredibly difficult task. I guess I should start by saying I was very excited to read this novel, which felt like a brick in my hand – but in a good way. I had heard about the clown (Pennywise) but had no idea about the overall plot details.

It encapsulates so much of what I enjoy about King novels. He is able to masterfully tell two different stories at the same time and weave his way back and forth effortlessly. On one side you have a group of children terribly frightened of a clown in a sewer and on the other side, you have the same group of children all grown up and terribly frightened of going back to face Pennywise. Incredibly structured and every character is fully developed (which should hopefully be a given considering how much paper King had at his disposal).

However, this book does struggle in parts (which again, should be expected) – but there is one scene that knocked It down to the middle of the pack.  Granted, I know this book is largely about the end of childhood and sex is a big part of that transition, but how King chose to portray this did not sit well with me.

Maybe it’s because I have a child and imagined him being involved in this scene, or maybe it’s because it was a ridiculous way to move the plot – and characters – forward. Either way, it’s one of my lasting memories from this novel, and that’s a shame.

Details

Pages: 1,156

Dates Read: July 30 – September 7, 2020

Quote: “We all float down here!”

Best Part: Many memorable moments – and scenes – in this novel, but my favorite is the opener.

Hint for #33: Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as the main character in a 1987 film loosely based off this book.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.