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A review by authorrubyduvall
It: A coisa by Stephen King
2.0
Throughout this book, little things about the pacing and characterization didn't sit well with me, but the book was otherwise fairly entertaining and was approaching five stars, if not then definitely a solid four-star rating.
Then near the end when the group of kids has confronted It in Its lair (only to have to do so again as middle-aged adults), the "magic" or "mojo" of their group is mysteriously failing them and not allowing the "human compass" among them (Eddie) to successfully navigate them back out of the tunnels beneath Derry.
Inexplicably, the author has the sole female in their group have sex with the other six boys to restore their group's solidarity. She's twelve years old.
This combined with my criticisms outlined below knocked the book down to two stars. I almost gave it three, but having written out this entire review, I can't say I liked this book.
Firstly, several things don't jive with that scene. The waning group mojo is unnecessary--they gained solidarity when their seventh member became a part of the Losers and they made a blood pact to return if It wasn't dead. Turns out It was merely wounded in 1958, so the "magic" of Derry and thus the positive power of their group isn't in danger of fading--it only does so when all but one of their group leaves Derry following the events of 1958 and when the magic of Derry dies along with It in 1985. To have Beverly have intercourse with six other boys to somehow restore their group's bond is contrived solely so that Beverly has to endure sex six times.
Secondly, if restoring group mojo were really necessary and--in the author's mind--had to be sex, then I vote that all seven of them would've had to participate in a group orgy, not just the boys having sex with Beverly. If King's going to write under-aged children having sex, might as well make it homosexual as well as heterosexual. Eddie obviously has hero worship for Bill, after all. I can see the theme of growing up/puberty/discovering one's sexuality as being part of the book's goal of exploring childhood, but that theme is brought out of nowhere. The group's friendship is what's emphasized (and heavily) throughout the book. Though King mentions Ben loving Beverly (in that way), the other boys don't see her that way, and only Bill does near the very end. How does Bill and Ben's relationship to each other strengthen with the both of them doing Beverly? It doesn't. If King really wanted to flesh out such a theme, he could have walked us through the climax (no pun intended) of the love triangle between Ben, Bill, and Beverly.
Thirdly, they're all twelve. Nothing in this book gave me nightmares or even a brief chill, but that scene horrified me. They're in some ancient mine shaft, having crawled through active sewers earlier and are covered with sewage (literally, they have SHIT on them), dirt, and drying blood. It's pitch-black down there and they just confronted the ultimate nightmare fuel. It's the farthest from anything positive as you can get. During the sex, poor Bev is imagining flocks of birds landing on/weighing down trees and power lines, and then "lifting off." While King may have meant it as some metaphor or as some way to gloss over what was happening, it read to me as her disassociating with what was happening because SHE'S TWELVE.
Regarding the book overall, while I appreciate the concepts King explored (prejudice and racism in particular, as well as sexism--though when in context of the above scene, I feel as though King majorly failed), one of the six boys in the Losers--Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier--is one of the most racist characters in the book. I just couldn't like him, and when you're writing protagonists, that's a failure. Richie's many "voices" are caricatures of various stereotypes--his way of letting out emotion and energy--and include a black slave character named Pickaninny. He constantly "jokes" about Mike's race (Mike is black) and Stan's ethnicity (Stan is Jewish). While I understand that children are cruel, the whole point of the Losers is for bullied/neglected/abused kids who "survived" It to band together in true friendship. Richie is a terrible friend and a terrible character.
Coming back to sexism, though King confronts it when Beverly insists on participating in their vision quest, none of the boys display any hint of enlightenment regarding their prejudice. Then, both times they confront It, Beverly is given absolutely no part to play. She stands there screaming and being useless. Even Stan with his delicate sensibilities manages to display the minimum of bravado. Another failure on King's part.
Also, King really needs to trim his stories. Near the end, my stamina had worn out and I was skipping whole chapters that went into unnecessary detail about the damage Derry was taking during the storm coinciding with the Losers' second and final confrontation with It. While certain stories regarding Derry's history that highlight its malignancy were nice fluff, that's all they were--fluff. None of these side-trips contributed to the story.
Lastly, a couple of antagonists were poorly utilized. King spent so much time building up how terrible Tom was (Beverly's abusive husband), only to have him kidnap Audra (Bill's wife) in one of King's few succinct chapters and then die "off-page". King spent so much time building up how crazy and murderous Henry Bowers was, but after going loony in 1958 and then getting tapped for more mayhem by It in 1985, he attacks Mike (not killing him, though nearly) and then Eddie, who kills him with a broken bottle. What was the point of Henry showing up in Derry in 1985? He reduced their group from six to five (Mike was hospitalized), but that didn't seem to have any point in the plot. His appearance didn't help the kids in any way. The suspense of not knowing if Henry would successfully carry out It's terrible goal was not fully realized and I was left going, "Huh."
I've read other reviews from people on Goodreads that go after other failings in this book but those are my major gripes. I've read some of King's other stuff ("Cell" and "The Sun Dog"), and while he's a talented writer in that his sense of word choice is entertaining and he has a knack for making readers anticipate details when a dramatic twist is foreshadowed, I don't see myself reading any more of his stuff.
Then near the end when the group of kids has confronted It in Its lair (only to have to do so again as middle-aged adults), the "magic" or "mojo" of their group is mysteriously failing them and not allowing the "human compass" among them (Eddie) to successfully navigate them back out of the tunnels beneath Derry.
Inexplicably, the author has the sole female in their group have sex with the other six boys to restore their group's solidarity. She's twelve years old.
This combined with my criticisms outlined below knocked the book down to two stars. I almost gave it three, but having written out this entire review, I can't say I liked this book.
Firstly, several things don't jive with that scene. The waning group mojo is unnecessary--they gained solidarity when their seventh member became a part of the Losers and they made a blood pact to return if It wasn't dead. Turns out It was merely wounded in 1958, so the "magic" of Derry and thus the positive power of their group isn't in danger of fading--it only does so when all but one of their group leaves Derry following the events of 1958 and when the magic of Derry dies along with It in 1985. To have Beverly have intercourse with six other boys to somehow restore their group's bond is contrived solely so that Beverly has to endure sex six times.
Secondly, if restoring group mojo were really necessary and--in the author's mind--had to be sex, then I vote that all seven of them would've had to participate in a group orgy, not just the boys having sex with Beverly. If King's going to write under-aged children having sex, might as well make it homosexual as well as heterosexual. Eddie obviously has hero worship for Bill, after all. I can see the theme of growing up/puberty/discovering one's sexuality as being part of the book's goal of exploring childhood, but that theme is brought out of nowhere. The group's friendship is what's emphasized (and heavily) throughout the book. Though King mentions Ben loving Beverly (in that way), the other boys don't see her that way, and only Bill does near the very end. How does Bill and Ben's relationship to each other strengthen with the both of them doing Beverly? It doesn't. If King really wanted to flesh out such a theme, he could have walked us through the climax (no pun intended) of the love triangle between Ben, Bill, and Beverly.
Thirdly, they're all twelve. Nothing in this book gave me nightmares or even a brief chill, but that scene horrified me. They're in some ancient mine shaft, having crawled through active sewers earlier and are covered with sewage (literally, they have SHIT on them), dirt, and drying blood. It's pitch-black down there and they just confronted the ultimate nightmare fuel. It's the farthest from anything positive as you can get. During the sex, poor Bev is imagining flocks of birds landing on/weighing down trees and power lines, and then "lifting off." While King may have meant it as some metaphor or as some way to gloss over what was happening, it read to me as her disassociating with what was happening because SHE'S TWELVE.
Regarding the book overall, while I appreciate the concepts King explored (prejudice and racism in particular, as well as sexism--though when in context of the above scene, I feel as though King majorly failed), one of the six boys in the Losers--Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier--is one of the most racist characters in the book. I just couldn't like him, and when you're writing protagonists, that's a failure. Richie's many "voices" are caricatures of various stereotypes--his way of letting out emotion and energy--and include a black slave character named Pickaninny. He constantly "jokes" about Mike's race (Mike is black) and Stan's ethnicity (Stan is Jewish). While I understand that children are cruel, the whole point of the Losers is for bullied/neglected/abused kids who "survived" It to band together in true friendship. Richie is a terrible friend and a terrible character.
Coming back to sexism, though King confronts it when Beverly insists on participating in their vision quest, none of the boys display any hint of enlightenment regarding their prejudice. Then, both times they confront It, Beverly is given absolutely no part to play. She stands there screaming and being useless. Even Stan with his delicate sensibilities manages to display the minimum of bravado. Another failure on King's part.
Also, King really needs to trim his stories. Near the end, my stamina had worn out and I was skipping whole chapters that went into unnecessary detail about the damage Derry was taking during the storm coinciding with the Losers' second and final confrontation with It. While certain stories regarding Derry's history that highlight its malignancy were nice fluff, that's all they were--fluff. None of these side-trips contributed to the story.
Lastly, a couple of antagonists were poorly utilized. King spent so much time building up how terrible Tom was (Beverly's abusive husband), only to have him kidnap Audra (Bill's wife) in one of King's few succinct chapters and then die "off-page". King spent so much time building up how crazy and murderous Henry Bowers was, but after going loony in 1958 and then getting tapped for more mayhem by It in 1985, he attacks Mike (not killing him, though nearly) and then Eddie, who kills him with a broken bottle. What was the point of Henry showing up in Derry in 1985? He reduced their group from six to five (Mike was hospitalized), but that didn't seem to have any point in the plot. His appearance didn't help the kids in any way. The suspense of not knowing if Henry would successfully carry out It's terrible goal was not fully realized and I was left going, "Huh."
I've read other reviews from people on Goodreads that go after other failings in this book but those are my major gripes. I've read some of King's other stuff ("Cell" and "The Sun Dog"), and while he's a talented writer in that his sense of word choice is entertaining and he has a knack for making readers anticipate details when a dramatic twist is foreshadowed, I don't see myself reading any more of his stuff.