(09.07.2003 - 12:33 a.m.)
Books
Author: Stephen King
Format: Novel
Publisher: New English Library, ISBN: 0450411435
Reviwer: Regz
Review: The one thing that Stephen King writes consistently well is children. One suspects that King remembers his childhood in great detail and, despite the horrific tales that he sometimes recounts, with a certain amount of affection.
The vast, interwoven structure of "IT", that crosses between the late 1950's and mid 1980's, tells the story of a group of childhood friends that are forced to face the seething horrors that lie beneath their hometown of Derry, Maine. Plagued by their own horrors (one has had a brother murdered, one is fat, one has a violent father etc.) this band of "losers" manages to overcome an evil monster lurking in the sewers, only to have to face it again, 27 years later.
Like his novella "The Body", "IT" manages to conjure up compelling, lovable young characters, stuck somewhere between childhood and adulthood, coming to terms with events that have gone before and with the new circumstances that surround them.
The strongest parts of the book are those set in the summers of 1958 and 1959, that recall all the joy, and pain, of childhood. The characters are all well developed and the dialogue in particular rings true. The pictures that King paints are irresistable, calling as they do to the memories, both good and bad, that we all hide.
King himself has said that sometimes you read a book for the words, as they are so strong that it doesn't matter if the story is lacking. Equally, sometimes you read a book for the story, it being so compelling that it doesn't matter if the words are a bit clunky. And "IT" should definitely be read in the latter sense. King often serves up cliched sentences and awkward similies, but it doesn't matter, because the story is so strong that it glosses over any small niggles.
If you can sit through all 1100 pages, you will be richly rewarded.
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