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A review by epeolatrist
It by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Stephen King’s “It” is a monstrous book: nearly 450,000 words and roughly 1,200 pages in my copy. It’s one of King’s most well-known books and as a huge fan of King’s work, I knew I that I would have to tackle it one of these days. I bought a copy back in 2017 after the release of Andy Muscheietti’s “It” (chapter 1) and the book has sat on my shelf for a little over two years now. I decided that perhaps reading it during a pandemic while my workplace is closed to the public was the best chance I’d have at getting it completed in a timely fashion. I read and listened to it in its entirety over the course of three days, reading when I was home and listening to the audiobook version when I was at work. So, let’s get down to business: the review.
Overall, I liked “It.” The only problem was that I wanted to love “It” and I didn’t. I wanted it to be my new Stephen King favorite, but it wasn’t. I loved the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations which quickly became some of my favorite horror films of the decade, so I thought that I was guaranteed to love the book just as much if not more. There are so many things that King does incredibly well and that he does well in everything he writes. His attention to detail is impeccable and as a visual reader, I thrive on that type of writing. When I read books, I can almost see the story occurring in my head like a movie. King’s writing is great for that (even when I haven’t already seen the movie adaptations of his books), but sometimes there’s too much detail. I think that “It” easily could have told the exact same story with 300 to 400 pages taken out. There were areas of the book where listening to the audio version saved me from becoming bored or frustrated with scenes that dragged on for too long. Steven Weber narrates the book on audible and I think he did an excellent job—it made the experience so much better for me. The length, while intimidating, never annoyed me; I just thought that there were a fair number of unnecessary portions that didn’t add much in terms of plot development. Length and detail aside, King’s realism has always impressed me. I have to admit that I’m not one to be scared by “creature feature” type horror (monsters, aliens, etc), so the scenes that I found truly scary were the more realistic ones. Even though the interactions between the Losers and It were written extremely realistically, the scenes that stuck with me the most were Stan’s death and the hate crime directed at Adrian Mellon in the beginning of the book. With all of that being said, here are my favorite parts about the book:
1. Stephen King’s themes are so strong and well thought out. In its entirety, “It” explores the bonds of friendship, the strength of imagination, the lines between childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and how powerful children truly are. “It” is at its core less about It, the monster, and more about finding a place to belong, battling with personal fears and traumas, and ultimately overcoming those demons. These are the things that I loved about “It.” In the lighter scenes, I often found myself drifting into my own childhood memories of playing games with friends, laughing at silly nonsensical things, and getting into mischievous trouble.
2. When it gets good, it gets really good. The last 200 pages were a complete whirlwind and I was invested almost the entire time. There were things that I really liked and things that I really didn’t like, but I never found myself becoming bored or drifting away.
3. All of It’s different forms! Fear presents itself in so many different ways for different people. I wish that the (newer) movies had explored this a bit—I was fully expecting more Pennywise in the book than there actually was. It kept me on my toes and made me wonder how It would present itself to me. I love when books make me ask myself questions like that or make me feel like I can put myself inside of the story.
Here are my issues with the book (BEWARE OF SPOILERS):
1. The graphic sexual scenes between pre-teens. If I had to make a list of things that I will never be interested in reading in a fiction book, I think pre-teen sex is at the top. While I understand what the scene after the “final battle” (you know the one) was supposed to symbolize, I couldn’t help but feel icky while I read it. It’s the ultimate divider between childhood and adulthood, but it seemed too extreme to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read a lot of books and it takes more than a novelized depiction of sex to rattle me, but… they’re eleven. Eleven! Maybe I’m just not being symbolic enough, but the entire time that I read, I was eagerly waiting for it to end. In many ways, it is a coming of age book, but I found that many of the sexual experiences and commentary did nothing to drive the plot or fuel character development. Additionally, I didn’t think that Henry’s experience with Patrick was necessary at all for the main plot and it made me uncomfortable to read. Maybe that was King’s intention, but I just don’t like it when there’s needless graphic content for no real reason in a book.
2. The consistent use of the n-word or racist accents (by Richie). I know that “It” is set in the 1950s and they’re kids, but come on… I was more understanding when themes of racism came up during Mike’s scenes. That made complete sense to me—an African American kid in the 50s? Of course he’ll hear racial slurs. Richie’s “joke” accents, however, don’t get a pass in my opinion. I suppose it’s a matter of how realistic fiction should be when its depicting things that are controversial now but were not when the story takes place. I just didn’t find them funny; I didn’t think they did anything for the plot or the characters, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a matter of them simply not aging well or “It” being written in a different time. I think Richie would have been the funny character without them and that readers easily catch on to the themes of racism through Mike’s point of view.
3. Animal abuse that didn’t drive the plot. I can handle evil monstrous clowns, bullies that try to carve their names into your stomach, and excessive length, but don’t torture the dog… I would be much more willing to accept these parts of the book if the animals had simply been killed (the death of Mike’s dog was important, I think, for several reasons), but the graphic nature of the torture and drawn out death that took place truly was unnecessary.
4. Like I mentioned before, the length is just excessive when there was so much fluff that I feel didn’t make much of an impact on the plot or the characters.
I think that about sums it up for me! If I’m being a bit generous, I’ll give “It” 3.5 stars, but I think it passes for a solid 3 as well. It’s, of course, well written and incredibly creative, like most Stephen King books are, but I found too many issues with the controversial aspects of the book and the needless length. Looks like “Misery” still reigns as number one for me when it comes to Stephen King. Better luck to the next one!
Overall, I liked “It.” The only problem was that I wanted to love “It” and I didn’t. I wanted it to be my new Stephen King favorite, but it wasn’t. I loved the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations which quickly became some of my favorite horror films of the decade, so I thought that I was guaranteed to love the book just as much if not more. There are so many things that King does incredibly well and that he does well in everything he writes. His attention to detail is impeccable and as a visual reader, I thrive on that type of writing. When I read books, I can almost see the story occurring in my head like a movie. King’s writing is great for that (even when I haven’t already seen the movie adaptations of his books), but sometimes there’s too much detail. I think that “It” easily could have told the exact same story with 300 to 400 pages taken out. There were areas of the book where listening to the audio version saved me from becoming bored or frustrated with scenes that dragged on for too long. Steven Weber narrates the book on audible and I think he did an excellent job—it made the experience so much better for me. The length, while intimidating, never annoyed me; I just thought that there were a fair number of unnecessary portions that didn’t add much in terms of plot development. Length and detail aside, King’s realism has always impressed me. I have to admit that I’m not one to be scared by “creature feature” type horror (monsters, aliens, etc), so the scenes that I found truly scary were the more realistic ones. Even though the interactions between the Losers and It were written extremely realistically, the scenes that stuck with me the most were
1. Stephen King’s themes are so strong and well thought out. In its entirety, “It” explores the bonds of friendship, the strength of imagination, the lines between childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and how powerful children truly are. “It” is at its core less about It, the monster, and more about finding a place to belong, battling with personal fears and traumas, and ultimately overcoming those demons. These are the things that I loved about “It.” In the lighter scenes, I often found myself drifting into my own childhood memories of playing games with friends, laughing at silly nonsensical things, and getting into mischievous trouble.
2. When it gets good, it gets really good. The last 200 pages were a complete whirlwind and I was invested almost the entire time. There were things that I really liked and things that I really didn’t like, but I never found myself becoming bored or drifting away.
3. All of It’s different forms! Fear presents itself in so many different ways for different people. I wish that the (newer) movies had explored this a bit—I was fully expecting more Pennywise in the book than there actually was. It kept me on my toes and made me wonder how It would present itself to me. I love when books make me ask myself questions like that or make me feel like I can put myself inside of the story.
Here are my issues with the book (BEWARE OF SPOILERS):
2. The consistent use of the n-word or racist accents (by Richie). I know that “It” is set in the 1950s and they’re kids, but come on… I was more understanding when themes of racism came up during Mike’s scenes. That made complete sense to me—an African American kid in the 50s? Of course he’ll hear racial slurs. Richie’s “joke” accents, however, don’t get a pass in my opinion. I suppose it’s a matter of how realistic fiction should be when its depicting things that are controversial now but were not when the story takes place. I just didn’t find them funny; I didn’t think they did anything for the plot or the characters, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a matter of them simply not aging well or “It” being written in a different time. I think Richie would have been the funny character without them and that readers easily catch on to the themes of racism through Mike’s point of view.
3. Animal abuse that didn’t drive the plot. I can handle evil monstrous clowns, bullies that try to carve their names into your stomach, and excessive length, but don’t torture the dog… I would be much more willing to accept these parts of the book if the animals had simply been killed (the death of Mike’s dog was important, I think, for several reasons), but the graphic nature of the torture and drawn out death that took place truly was unnecessary.
4. Like I mentioned before, the length is just excessive when there was so much fluff that I feel didn’t make much of an impact on the plot or the characters.
I think that about sums it up for me! If I’m being a bit generous, I’ll give “It” 3.5 stars, but I think it passes for a solid 3 as well. It’s, of course, well written and incredibly creative, like most Stephen King books are, but I found too many issues with the controversial aspects of the book and the needless length. Looks like “Misery” still reigns as number one for me when it comes to Stephen King. Better luck to the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual content