“A landmark in American literature” (Chicago Sun-Times)—Stephen King’s #1 national bestseller about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled on as teenagers…an evil without a name: It. Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when …
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
Readers of Stephen King know that Derry, Maine, is a place with a deep, dark hold on the author. It reappears in many of his books, including Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis, and 11/22/63. But it all starts with It.
“Stephen King’s most mature work” (St. Petersburg Times), “It will overwhelm you… to be read in a well-lit room only” (Los Angeles Times).
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Oh man this review is gonna be a DOOZY
In 2015 I went on a trip to Italy for a week in the summer. I took with me Stephen King’s It, and consequently finished the entire thing on the train rides and plane journeys I made during that trip. The book ate me up, chewed up all my feelings, and then spat me back out a new person with a new appreciation for writing.
Man, that book is amazing.
It’s safe to say that this novel is probably one of my favourite King novels from the ones I’ve read. It’s got momentum, humour, history, imagination, a good grounded theme, and just a generally amazing plot. The book, for those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few decades, is about a group of seven children who try to defeat a mystical monster that they can only refer to as IT. IT takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, but what it can really do is look like the thing that you’re scared of the most. It preys on children because their fear is the easiest to materialize, and every 27 years it rises from the pits of the Derry sewer system to feed for a year, and then hibernates until the next cycle can begin.
The story is told through two different time frames: the late 1950s, and the mid-1980s. The first time period looks at our heroes as children, living in a town with enforced curfews, where the adults are blind to any kind of violence occurring, and children are going missing regularly. The town is no stranger to tragedy, as every three decades or so, a sort of purge occurs in the town, where a large number of people die. But for some reason, people seem to just ignore all that happens.
The Loser Club, Derry’s own silent heroes, are the ones who take on IT because it murdered Bill Denbrough’s baby brother Georgie. Bill wants revenge, and to stop this happening to any other children. They embark on a quest to stop the monster, a quest which follows them well into their adult life, 27 or so years later, when they must return to Derry to finish what they started.
The novel is not told linearly at all, but rather through flashbacks that help corroborate the story taking place in the 80s. Indeed, the story in the 50s almost feels more real than the story happening in the 80s – something about the writing style of it makes it feel like the 80s is actually some sort of flashforward, rather than the present time of the novel.
There are a lot of elements that make the novel great, but I think one of the best things about it is the underlying theme of it all: growing up. The children grow up and start to forget what happened to them when they were children in the 50s, and only really remember when they come back to Derry and start seeing everything again, triggering their memory. And isn’t this exactly what happens to us when we’re growing up? Details of our lives before a certain age become fuzzy, and all our hopes and dreams and fears from when we were younger start to slowly vanish, because they’re no longer relevant to us as adults. At its core, I believe the novel is about memory, growing up, and friendship. The Loser Club is only really able to battle the monster because they have developed a strong bond of friendship. That’s the kind of friendship most of us aspire to have. My friends wouldn’t fight a flesh eating monster with me. Where’s my version of The Loser Club?
Book: 7/5
One of his best. You haven’t read King, until you’ve read “It”.
It creeped me out with all the sewer drains and clowns. I will never go near a storm drain ever again! Stephen King
This book is the best King I’ve ever read. The characters are so beautifully written. More than 1100 pages seemed daunting, but I am so happy that I took the time to read the longest book I’ve ever read. It seems like 1985 could be today on how its written.
the movie was great.
the book is so much better!
read it now!
…with the lights on.
I’ve read this book may time since I was a teenager. Surprisingly the same things jump out at me. The social dysfunction underlying the apparently serene community. I also still marvel at the way Stephen King (an adult) remembers the way children internalise the world and put on the brave face to meet it. Love this book.
“It” has to be one of the most terrifying books I’ve ever read, and I’ve been a lover of horror stories etc forever. I never cared much for clowns as a child, I couldn’t understand why big shoes were funny, as far as circus clowns were concerned they were one big yawn. Pennywise however, is a whole new ballgame.
I’ve never been more scared while reading something. Until I read this. It will probably remain (for me) as the most terrifying book ever.
Kept me on the edge of my seat. I’ve read this book a couple of times and throughly enjoyed it every time
It’s King
I love all of Stephen King’s “early” books and this one is no exception. I thought the characters, both when they were kids and when they were adults, were well crafted and excellently written. While the length of the book might put someone off, I love exciting books that are many, many, many pages long. The horror in this book was subtle at times and in your face at times and I really like that. The author explained why things happened as they did and Mr. King’s writing just flows along naturally and keeps your interest throughout the book.
This is one of my favorite Stephen King books.
One of Stephen King’s scariest novels.
Stephen King can terrify and make you lol almost simultaneously. He has been one of my favorite authors for nearly 40 years.
I have now read “it” 3 times. Loved this book each time I finished it. Best coming of age story of all time. The kids are totally believable and relatable. There are other coming of age stories by other authors, such as Summer of Nights by Dan simmons, where the kids act just a little to mature and brave for their age. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed that one, but for that reason I liked “it” better I even had friends growing up like the kids in It
Of course. As king usually does, he ends up going to places in the book that shock you.
Just finished rereading this classic, and it was just as good as the first time. thank god for Stephen King.
What can you say? Scared me to death. One scary clown.
Too long and a tedious read. I thought they would never get out of the sewer. I used to like King’s writings, but his books no longer interest me.
how do i read the books
One of King’s larger tomes, It will forever be enshrined as a saga of terror wrapped in Pennywise.