How much mileage can Stephen King get out of a scary town with a crazy, powerful monster lurking in the sewers? A whole, whole lot. It is a beefy book packed with horrific moments, worst fears, and a myriad of stories that all sit in the center of an interconnected web.
Derry, Maine is not okay. In the late 1950s, a horror descended upon the town, taking and (presumably) consuming children. Residents of the town couldn’t quite pin it down, but something was always off in Derry, and it wasn’t just the death of many children. Violence and chaos seemed to flock to the town. In the heart of the mess were seven children—Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh, Stanley Uris, Bill Denbrough, Eddie Kaspbrak, Ben Hanscom, and Mike Hanlon—who all vowed to find the terror haunting Derry and destroy it. They succeeded to some degree, but years later, IT returns, and they’re called back to face the monster once again. They battle their own demons even as memories about their initial encounters with IT start streaming back from the long-repressed recesses of their minds.
Condensing IT into a paragraph-long summary feels both necessary and unfair at once. Necessary because I’m writing a review and can’t spend hundreds of words recapping the book. Unfair because IT contains a whole town’s dark history, complete with hundreds of affected people who matter even if they only appear in a short aside or a tangential mention. It is a tapestry, and Derry is the thread that makes it so intricate and dangerous a fabric.
My favorite aspect of IT was the theme of childhood and how it carries us into adulthood. King explores the seven main characters in both eras—the 50s and the 80s. The interplay between them is incredible, and he deftly weaves the traumas of youth into the trials of adulthood. Beverly Marsh escapes an abusive father but ends up with an abusive husband whom she leaves to travel back to Derry and defeat IT with her friends. Bill Denbrough, afflicted with a stutter in childhood, converts his experience into the written word and becomes a bestselling author in his later years. Not all the children are so lucky, even when they escape their pasts and/or their terrible presents. In the past, they were able to fend IT off with sheer belief and some luck. Their youth fueled imagination and raw hope in a way IT couldn’t always stave off.
In adulthood, the crew must reckon with the harsh realities of life and their limited capacity for that same unfettered belief in something. Are they too jaded to defeat IT once and for all? OR will their reality-stricken adulthoods make them prime fodder for the beast? The juxtaposition of both timelines creates a certain thematic momentum that never feels jarring. Without one, the other wouldn’t work as well, thus the book’s relatively big page count.
While I appreciated King’s work here, I also felt It was bloated in some areas. Juggling this many characters is a feat even for a multi-dozen-time bestseller, and the results are predictably mixed. It’s not that any of the characters don’t deserve their spot in the book, but they’re not all as riveting or distinct as they could be. For my money, Bill, Mike, and Beverly are the most intriguing of the bunch. At the same time, they all need to be there for the story. It’s a personal gripe, and your mileage may vary.
Among the many points I wish to make, I have time and energy for one, specifically: Derry itself. King has always been one of my favorite authors who can make a setting feel like a character. Derry is very much that vibe, and at points, characters point out that the monster IT is Derry. The town is a looming and horrific presence throughout the book, and it’s a delight if that’s your kind of storytelling.
After It was all said and done, I decided it was good, possibly great, and worth a read. It may not be my favorite King, but those who approach the book wishing to get something out of it will certainly emerge triumphant.
Rating: It – 8.0/10
-Cole
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