It

Rating:
Summary: Esoteric -- but sublime -- horror
Review: This is without a doubt one of King's greatest novels. It is my own personal favorite. Stephen King's undeniable abiltity for character development is at its best here.

The magnificent portrayal of Evil is also stunning, as developed throughout the Derry Interludes. The creation of a personalized, creepy Darkness which inexorably links Derry to the monster It is worth the extra reading effort.

What is the essential philosophical idea in this book? Simple: (King gives it to you from the get-go) Fiction is the truth inside the lie. Dare to believe in what you should not. Notice that all the children who were killed told themselves that "It" was not real.

This book is all about the loss of childish innocence -- and belief -- that surrounds the process of growing up, and the story of 7 adults tied together by fate to see if they can once again embrace that absolute, simplistic belief and defeat the Evil Without a Name.

One of the most superb modern novels I've ever read!

Rating:
Summary: how can a book break your heart?!?!?
Review: I have read IT 74 times. I am not kidding. I read it for the first time when I was twelve.I had just seen the movie, and that was brilliant. I am now 19, and I read the book at least once a month. I don't feel complete without Bill, Ben, Bev, Stan, Mike, Eddie and Ritchiein my life. I found myself wondering why I couldn't have had a friendship as great as theirs, ableto conquer any evil. I cried when Stephen had us looking back and saying goodbye to the children.I often wonder where such a heartbreaking, scary, wonderous tale could have possibly come from.The answer is of course, the mind of KING. How befitting his last name is, because with this taleof innocence, love, and grasping fear, King proves himself to be the greatest writer of all time.His imagination is so deep and intense, it leaves you weeping for the loss of Eddies life, laughing along with the characters, and breaking with their love for each other. I always wonder what happened to the characters after the story had ended.When discussing the book with friends, the lucky seven are always refferred to as it they were real peopleKing has the ability to suck you into his tales until you believe every word he says to be the truth. Because,after all fiction is the truth inside the lie.How can you put a review of this masterpeice into words? How can you describe this work of art that is morethan a book, but as it's relative, The Stand, a legend and a book that cannot and will not be forgotten.The answer is simple - you can't. You just have to read the book for yourself!

Rating:
Summary: Clownin Around.
Review: Mcconnell,Josef
Period 3
Shea
This story is about seven kids (six later one commits sucide) who face a monster. Its form is a clown but can change to whatever your fear is. The seven kids hurt this monsterand its becomes afraid of them. They didn't kill it but came back in their adult years and they destroy it.
I really loved this book partially because I love all horror books. This book really gives you that "shock factor" that most books lack. There is one part which has that "shock factor". ""Float?"The clown's grin widened. "Oh yes, indeed they do. They Float! And there's cotton candy...."
George reached.
The clown seized his arm.
And George saw the clowns face change."
What I didn't like was all the interludes. Some of the interludes gave body to the story but some were far out boring. These were Derry: The First,second,third, fourth, and last interludes. These weren't interesting and i didn't understand them.
There were a lot of really good parts in the book. My first favorite was in the beginning when George's arm gets ripped off and dies. The second is when Stan a Jewish man realizes It and understands It so he cuts himself in the bathtub and writes the word IT with his blood. The third and the best part is when they go into the sewers a kill It.

Rating:
Summary: NOT for the faint of heart.
Review: Beware - this book will make you pay the price of the highly imaginative. This is a huge book, but it's well worth the time invested. The characters King creates are both incredibly real and heartbreakingly familiar. These people all have one thing that makes them different from other people, that gives other kids something to pick on them and scorn them for. However, i will be suprised if you don't recognize at least one of their traits in yourself. IT, a supernatural being, loves the taste of terrified kids. IT has the ability to change it's shape into whatever IT's prey is most afraid of, be it a werewolf...or a doberman pinscher. The main "good guys" in the story, known as the Losers Club, discovers the existence of IT and tries to kill IT. They are aided in their struggle by another being, who remains nameless and mysterious. This Other is never shown in the book. Who will win? Read it and find out!

Fortunatley for my mental health, my house has a septic tank, not sewers (I live outside the city). Warning: this book is addictive. You will want to read it again and again.

Many people say that the movie was bad, and while it certainly was not as good as the book, it was still really good. The only problem is that they made it WAY too short (4 hrs. instead of 8 or so) and edited out more parts than they kept.

Rating:
Summary: SEX! That got your attention! IT is King at his best!
Review: I have only recently finished IT, and while it is slow in places and the ending probably does not live up to expectaions it is so true to life that you feel (sometimes wish) that you were a character in the story. I'm sure most of us can relate to at least one character in the book: Ben the fatboy and comic relief, Beverley the pretty yet strong daughter of a janitor, Bill the leader of the club with all the qualities that a leader should possess, Eddie the 'momma's boy', Richie the smartarse, Mike the African American coming to terms with prejudices, "Stan the man" always looking for a logical explanation to everything, Or Henry Bowers the school bully. I believe that this is King's best novel to date (with THE STAND a close second), and though it may seem a marathon to read at first (1100 pages), you will remain glued throughout. IT is much more than just a horror story! It is a story about true friendship and the inevitabilities of adult life. IT is the only fictional book that I have ever read that has completely changed my perspective on life in general. Pennywise the clown is terrifyingly evil and King has written the story perfectly so that Pennywise embodies every nightmare that we have ever had. The character development is amazing and while the group sometimes go to extreme lengths to strengthen their friendships (those that have read the book will probably know what part in particular I am talking about!), in the face of such terror King shows just what the human spirit can accomplish and the value of true friendship. I don't think I have ever witnessed a better example of true friendship then with 'The losers'. This book is an absolute triumph for King!

One thing is for sure, I'll definitely read it again!

Rating:
Summary: The most terrifying story EVER written
Review: Stephen Kings IT is hands down, bar-none, without question the scariest story ever written. Any story where the mere description of the monster is terrifying is going to be good, but Pennywise the Clown unquestionably THE best villain out of any work king has ever made. I challenge anyone on Earth to read this book in the bathroom and then go near one of the drains in the room, because it will not be a pleasant mental expierience. The supporting characters are all great, but the best parts of the book are the interludes and other side stories about the havoc Pennywise caused in Derry over the span of 200 years. This book also single handedly will make every clown you see for the rest of your life not only not funny, but even a bit creepy. Parents be warned however, I think every kid should read this book over and over again (I first read IT when I was 9), if you let them read IT, IT will give them nightmares for a long long time. I know IT gave them to me. As a matter of fact, IT still does. Everyone buy this book, and keep buying it so we can get a full length remake of the IT movie, with some Peter Jackson type production value.

Rating:
Summary: You can never go back
Review: "It" was the first lengthy book in which I fully engaged, and is still one of the most frightening and enthralling books I've read. More specifically, the first half of the book was absolutely terrifying. I was completely absorbed and found myself constantly peering over my shoulder into the darkness as I read. (Be warned: "Where The Wild Things Are" was the "scariest" book I read prior to "It.")

Unfortunately, the second half of the book seemed to "sing for the sake of the song" and in my opinion, was not on par with the former half. Part of this is most likely due to my strong feelings for the first part, but probably also due to the excessive length of the plot. I believe that if King could have left the ending more cryptic and not returned to "kill" the evil as an adult, he would have had a lengendary story with a cult-like following on his hands. After all, the horror to the reader is making the connection between the characters and the children within ourselves. I feel King loses this aspect by having the characters return as adults. Rarely do we ever "conquer" fears from childhood - we just learn to deal with issues. However, the second half is far from horrible - King just was so outstanding in the first half that it was just about impossible to write a closing to match.

As always, King is outstanding at verbalizing the obvious in ways most of us can only manage cerebrally.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Has Sick Parts And Leaves Huge Holes
Review: I really enjoyed this book and have re read it over and over again despite it's lengths. I agree with many of the reviews in that it does get boring in the middle where King spends endless time talking about this and that about Derry which really makes you want to skip it and get back to the characters, who I thought were all interesting and well developed.

This book really scared me, but I have cat's whiskers for nerves and I can't think of one King book that didn't scare me so perhaps I am not the most discriminating when it comes to what is scary?

But my MAIN problem with this story was *SPOILER SPOILER* the last part of the book with the sex scene between the 11 year old children. And it wasn't even just regular sex, it was a gang bang with one girl having sex with 6 boys. How can an 11 year old girl take 6 boys on at once? I don't know grown women who can do that, and more to the point WHY DID STEPHEN KING PUT THAT IN THERE? It was justified as a way to bring everyone back together, but I honestly believe that there must have been some other way and I found myself feeling as though I was being molested by this scene because of the age of the children, and I am not shy about sexuality in literature. It just had no place.

Also what was up with Bill getting to have his way with Bev when they became adults too? All the boys loved her, why was Bill chosen (and he already had a wife) and then RIGHT after Bev has sex with Bill she walks off with Ben...it just was tasteless.
*end spoiler*

Also there was never a real explanation of what It was or how the kids managed to hurt It. Everything just was. Nothing was explained as good as it should've been in the end.

Other than that, the book was very good, like I said very well developed and even if you don't find it scary (which is hard for me to imagine) the story of friendship and childhood to adulthood will at least be interesting and intriguing and the book is hard to put down. I found myself in a lounge chair on hot summer days reading it for hours on end till the sun went down.

An enjoyable read, just a lot of questions and questionable activities that never seeemed justified.

Rating:
Summary: The #1 reason to fear clowns
Review: Up until I saw the tv mini-series adaptation of the Stephen King novel "It", I didn't think much of clowns. Then I saw "It". I never saw clowns in the same light again, and I don't mean that in a good way either. So after getting the bezjeebus scared out of me by Tim Curry as the walking freakshow Pennywise the clown, I just had to read the book version. For the most part, the movie did stay faithful to the book but obviously the film had to edit certain parts of the book to keep the movie within a certain amount of tv time. It is hard for me to pick which I enjoyed more. Both the movie and the book were enjoyable. I loved getting the living daylights scared out of me. "It" is truly one of the few books/movies that literally freaked me out (not to mention made me hate clowns with passion). Although "It" is a very thick book, I will have to say that once you are into the book, getting through the pages won't be a problem. I found "It" to be completely engrossing whenever I read it. Sure the book is slightly different from the mini-series but I can't really complain. "It" is by far my favorite Stephen King book of all time.

Rating:
Summary: scary as hell
Review: King is a genius & a national treasure. His stories are timeless. I'll never feel the same walking past a sewage drain again! But they should quit trying to make movies out of his books. The films never do his novels justice. just my opinion.