Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you may have heard about a new movie coming out called It.

 

When I discovered Hollywood was looking to reboot It, I knew I had to take a journey. I had to track down the book and watch the original mini-series first. For that reason, this episode may run a little bit longer than most. Let’s start with the book. In the next episode, I’ll discuss the two film projects based on the book.

 

I debated long and hard before I began reading the book. I even questioned whether I should on social media. Should I read the book before seeing either of the movies? I had mixed suggestions from friends. In the end, I decided to go to Audible and download the audio book. Reading a physical copy would take me an eternity to finish. 44 hours and 57 minutes later - which was more like 3 weeks later - I had finished my first Stephen King novel. It was quite a ride.

 

The Story

Children are being murdered in Derry, ME. This leads seven friends to band together and defeat the evil plaguing their town. They return 27 years later to do it all again when more murders happen.

 

Listening to a book that is a couple minutes shy of 45 hours long can take a toll. Especially when you don’t break it up with podcasts or other books. That said, It is a very interesting book that kept me coming back for more. I want to talk about what I liked and disliked about it and I’m going to do my best to be clear, assuming you’re new to the story.

 

I have mixed feelings over the way King wrote the book. It takes place in two timelines that interweave to create a complete story:

 

In 1958, Bill Denbrough and his friends (the Losers Club) are children. In 1985 when they’ve grown up and have to return to Derry.

 

Writing this way is good at times, but others are difficult to follow. A chapter will end mid-sentence and then the next chapter will finish it. This is a way to draw each era together, I suppose. Other readers have seen that the weaving begins very broad and then narrows toward the end. It’s clever for sure, but may work better in a book or a film than it does in an audio book.

 

Meeting the Losers Club takes a little while with this writing scheme. Some characters stood out more than others, but all-in-all, they were likable. The main problem with them was that Eddie and Stan very well could be one character. I assume King knew this when he was writing their adult return since he (spoiler) killed off Stan in a suicide. As I’m sure you’re well aware, characters can make or break a story. In It, the characters hold the plot line well.

 

In the marketing for the new film, as well as in the original mini-series, Pennywise seems to be the main focus. In the book, though, that isn’t so much the case. Each member of the Losers Club sees the terrifying clown, and he is the primary villain. He isn’t the only version of Derry’s evil incarnate, though. Ben sees a mummy, Eddie sees a werewolf. Stan sees a giant bird. More on that in the next episode where I dissect the movies.

 

There is strong language throughout the book. The derogatory terms for gay people and black people ...