It
I figured I’d quickly pick up Stephen King’s It before I went to go see the new movie that has come out based on the novel. I never really know if it’s better to read the book first so I can fill in all the gaps the movie misses, or if it’s better to go enjoy the show and then read the book so you can fully enjoy the movie for what it is and then read the book for all the extra juicy details. Ultimately, I think it’s a wash…and the book is almost always better. This book is about a dark town with a dark history. Every few decades children are killed in horrifying ways in large sums. There are a group of children who come together in the summer of 1958 to battle the evil life-force that is feeding off the town.
It’s difficult for me to write this review after having just finished the novel. It is overwhelmingly addicting in the final pages, that I almost (ALMOST) forgot how hard it was to push through the first 2/3 of the book. The formula for the book goes back and forth between when this set of people were children battling It, and when they’ve all gathered back in their hometown to fight It for one final time. And between the back and forth in timelines, it gives a chapter on each of the seven kids and their background story. After hundreds of pages, it became quite monotonous. While talking to Adam about this writing style he mentioned that it sounded like it could have been put out as a serial in a magazine. Once he had suggested that it clicked in my head that that was exactly what it felt like. I think it was partially because I was already a long way into the book , and partly because I took that view point to the reading, but I started to really enjoy the last 1/3 of the book.
Overall I would say this book is worth reading if you really love Stephen King and his writing. I would also suggest it to those who love the horror genre of H.P. Lovecraft. The book was much more campfire story kind of scary compared to the terrifying keep-you-up-at-night kind of narrative I was expecting. But that was a pleasant surprise.
Malia's Pizza Rating
A four-cheese pizza from Derry, Maine. Yeah, yeah, bad pun…I know.