T. Foye 2008-11-17

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After The Stand, this is probably King's best novel. It's a classic masterpiece and still one of my favorites after all these years.

2008-11-05

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It is probably one of Stephen King's longest books. It's satisfyingly short title, draws the reader in. The book mostly focuses on all of our most nurtured fears, clowns.
The book begins with meeting Pennywise, the dancing clown, and thus finding out exactly how evil It is. The story tells us about a group of kids who joined together as friends to play and later to stop the evil destroying the small New England town.
The book was a page-turner and never stopped being interesting. The fact of how startling it was kept me turning the pages. It was surprising how cruel Stephen King was to all the characters. It's characters seemed so real. It's villain was interesting because It's so evil. The hero and heroine have good motives and are interesting as the villain. Each of the characters seemed full of detail and the descriptions of the characters seemed to make them completely real.
The story is split into parts about when they were in their childhood and when they were called back in the town 27 years later. The chapters never seemed too long or too short.
I think this book was a real page-turner and taught me not too mess with anything that kills children.

Angela Thompson 2008-10-31

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I preface this review by stating (somewhat sheepishly) that this is my first horror novel. Honestly? I've always secretly longed to read a Stephen King book, but I never knew where to jump in. So I contented myself with reading On Writing and his book reviews, admiring the talent from afar, so to speak.

IT begins with a great first line:

"The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years--if it ever did end--began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain."

We are soon introduced to a boy named Bill who stutters and his cute little brother Georgie who, even I can tell, doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of this chapter alive. A few pages later I feel certain I should never have opened this book. There's a freaking clown in the storm drain and I find myself truly creeped out and begging Georgie not to go near the storm drain. Just let the paper boat go and walk away, Georgie!

But he doesn't.

I won't go into the plot too deeply except to say that the story alternates between a series of seminal events in 1958 and again in 1985. The first half depicts the cosmic coming together of seven eleven-year-old kids. Six boys and one girl, self-proclaimed Losers all of them. A stutterer, a wisecracker, a hypochondriac, a fatboy, a birder, a black kid, and a tough girl. These seven form a united front against a trio of unusually vicious bullies. But slowly, and with an almost spine tingling sense of inevitability, they realize they've been brought together for a larger purpose than warding off Henry Bowers and his cronies. Soon they're all in and there's no turning back. Not that any one of them would be able to turn their backs on Stuttering Bill anyway. He is the real heart of the story. The one who never backs down. The one the others would gladly walk through fire for.

It's difficult for me to tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I was hoping I would like it, but, like a blind date, I was a little nervous. Merely crossing my fingers for a good time, you know? Out of nowhere, I fell in love. I mean these kids are So Cool. Work their way into your heart and break it sort of cool. They are outcasts struggling to avoid annihilation not only at the hands of their peers but at the clawlike hands of an apocalyptic evil that has held their town in its grasping grip since time immemorial. I didn't stand a chance. I fell in love with them, with their desperate jokes, with the summer of 1958, and with the interlocking charm and horror with which King shapes his tale. But most of all, I fell in love with Bill. Bill with his glorious silver bike and his burning determination to avenge his brother. I loved the quiet, unassuming way he gathered the other misfits together and made them a part of something important, something noble.

I can't believe I waited this long to read IT. I stayed up nights reading, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds, looking for something orange and silver creeping up behind me, scared to the tips of my toes but unable to put it down.

Troy Puyear 2008-09-16

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"Magnum opus" is a Latin phrase which translates to "great work," and in my mind this is Stephen King's greatest effort. I have read and enjoyed nearly everything he has written, but nothing had the long-term, disquieting effect on me that "It" did and continues to do.

What makes this book so great? I'm glad you asked. Allow me to break the answer down into categories:

1. Sheer terror - King has written many scary books, as well as many books that aren't scary but have chilling moments. From early on until near the end, this book preys upon my mind with fears both natural and supernatural. The school bullies gave me a shiver with their unreasoning hatred and pursuit of the protagonists. The monster terrified me with its many shapes and voices, and its appearance as a clown was the coup de grace. I have never liked clowns, and now they cause a shiver to run down my spine whenever I see them. Thanks, Steve. The tacit acceptance of the status quo by Derry's adults may be the most frightening element of all. If a child can't depend on the adults to keep him/her safe, on whom can he/she depend? Brrr. I read this book when I was 27 and lived alone in an apartment. Every night, when I went to bed, I had to close the door to my walk-in closet. That darkened maw was simply too much for me after reading this book.

2. The accuracy of the portrayal of the children - kids are vulgar, joyous and cruel, and King not only knows it but did an amazing job of displaying those qualities to us. The bullies were able to remain mostly under the notice of adults, and thereby wreak havoc on their victims. The kids, with their occasionally adult perceptions and humor, were a mystery even to their own parents. Friends mock each other, support each other and love each other. They exhibit abject cowardice and transcendent bravery. All of this is commonplace in the world of children, which we as adults rarely see and almost never recall accurately. King wove this tale with almost no false notes. I reread it occasionally and the quality of the storytelling never fails to impress me.

3. Quality of language - this is an underrated skill of Mr. King. His use of language is almost always apropos, often beautiful and verging on the poetic. He is a master of coining a word or phrase when needed and his use of poetic devices only adds to the reading experience. This is true of all of his work. His sense of the real and the ridiculous are also fantastic. At one point the fearsome clown, after chasing one of the protagonists, begins dancing and informs her that he (the clown) has come to Earth to "...learn to do the Peppermint Twist." Right in the middle of this very tense sequence, I had to laugh aloud.

If you have not read this book, I can't recommend it highly enough. If they gave me more stars, I would post all of them. King will be remembered historically as a better writer than his contemporaries thought, and this will be viewed as not only one of his masterpieces but as one of this period's masterpieces. Buy it, check it out, whatever, but ENJOY IT.

Jamie Mathena 2008-09-08

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When I was younger I saw It the movie and I thought it was terrifying. It gives no justice to how scary this book is or how good it is for that matter. This is one of the best books I have ever read. I highly recommend it!