It is Stephen King’s 12th full length novel, and in my opinion his most audacious and most rewarding. Of all of King’s books this one has stayed with me the longest, not only because of the palpable horror element but the overall mood, the imagery, the scope and especially the characters. If you haven’t read any Stephen King then I would suggest not starting here, it is a huge novel at over 1000 pages. Rather start with his more accessible novels, namely Carrie, The Shining, Misery or The Dead Zone, and then you have the ammunition to tackle this tome.
7 ragtag teenagers meet in the 50’s in a small town called Derry and they are inexplicably drawn together after a string of child murders, one particular murder being that of Bill Denborough’s little brother. Each character comes from a different background, with their own social and economic issues, but they are all taunted by the same neighbourhood bully. They call themselves “The Losers' Club”. The day all of them are together for the first time they stand up for themselves and humiliate the neighbourhood bully, driving him away with rocks and they discover the power they have as a group.
Then they discover that they have all seen the same thing, a creature that defies time and space, that feeds on the fears of It’s victims. It shows itself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown to lure children with the promise of fun, but then It changes into what they fear the most.
As teenagers they face this creature, led by Bill who has a personal vendetta against It, and they have to face their fears in order to destroy It. They only end up wounding the creature, sending it deep underground where it hibernates for 30 years.
30 years later It comes back and the teenagers who fought it once are again forced to face their childhood fears and also remember aspects of their past they would rather forget. And in order to face It again they have to rediscover that power they had when they were younger.
The novel transcends a broad time period in each character’s life, making them whole and believable. The fears reflect those of any adolescent, a potent analogy of real life that resonates even more so when it is read again after a significant time. As a teenager I read this and connected with the younger versions of the characters, but reading it in my 30’s I connected more so with the older versions.
There was a 3 hour film made in the 90’s which made Tim Curry synonymous with the fear of clowns. In March of this year it was announced that there will be a remake of It which will be in two parts and will be more in keeping with the scarier aspects of the novel.
I, for one, cannot wait!
Craig McLearie
Senior Bookseller, Windsor
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