It

Rating:
Summary: Haunting but uplifting
Review: A haunting but equally uplifting novel, 'It' has long been regarded as one of Stephen King's finest and rightfully so, and in terms of complexity and ambition, it is without equal.
The story centres around the experiences of a group of friends quest to destroy an evil in their home town, spanning over a quarter of a century.
Like most of King's novels, although it is a supernatural story the characters are so well developed and realistic it makes the story instanly believable.
The novel begins in the 1950's and slowly moves on to the group's experiences in the 80's. It becomes more and more interwoven as the story gains pace until at the final stages the time changes take place within a matter of pages, achieving a very satisfying effect.
Although it is over a seemingly daunting thousand pages, the style is so readable that it's suprising how quickly you finish it. The story of friendship, hope and of course horror contains as many uplifting moments as it does shocking.

Perhaps this is not the best choice for those who are new to King but it is an excellent read nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: Muy bueno
Review: As a horror novel "It" works well, to my mind, even better than "The Shining". Not that I was much scared. I was more touched by a deep sense of childhood, friendship, and the loss of innocense, which are the most important themes in the novel. "It" comprises all our chidhood fears, but most of all the fear of becoming an adult...

Rating:
Summary: As good as The (Unabridged) Stand
Review: Before I say why I love this book so much, a helpful suggestion. Please, if you want to appreciate King's more marketable stories, please read the Dark Tower series. I don't think that I'm giving away anything here, but the sequence in "It" that deals with 'turtles' (those of you who have read the Dark Tower know why I'd focus on this) will take on much more meaning. On to the review. I think that people have a misconception about what makes for effective horror writing. You have to care about the characters for horror to be effective. Otherwise, it's not horror, it's comedy. Think about it: in the span of a few short pages, King makes Georgie a character we care about--that's why you really feel it in the pit of your stomach when Georgie's encounter with Pennywise reaches its conclusion. This book is about normal kids and adults (who happen to be incredibly well-developed characters) finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances..That's why "It" is so effective. Minor complaint: Richie does not ring true as an adult or a child. He's the only character that is not believable..fortuneately, even though he has a tremendous amount of dialogue, he's really not important to the story..he's there for comic relief. Finally, by all means avoid the mini-series. I can't for the life of me understand how anyone who has read the book can stomach it.

Rating:
Summary: MY REVIEW FROM GOD TO YOU!!!!!
Review: I have only read half of the book so far, and can already discuss its brilliantness.
As opposed to some other reviews I've read here, I can easily read books like this one without lights on. I don't know; I even watched "The Ring" alone and it didn't get to me at all. I enjoy horror on some weird level that other people can't do.
That's why I thought this was one of the most amazing horrors ever written.
However, IT is mostly scary by the actual images and scenes it displays. Some people are more scared when being described something that is so perverse it scares them, such as some parts of "The Shining" the movie, when the main character gets stuck in a picture from long ago. Now that's scary.
Over, the book is wroth every word of it, because that's SK's best power: to make every single word worth the book as a whole. Don't think too much of it: it'll be wroth your time. I guarantee it... heheheh.

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: One of the best books written by Stephen King
Review: IT is the pinnicle of Stephen King's fame. By far, it is his largest book, which is a put-down at first, but it is worth it.

I read a couple Stephen King books before this, like Dreamcatcher (which does have an IT reference I didn't get when I first read it) and Carrie, but IT made me a huge fan. The characters jump off the page, and so does the monster that terrorizes them. The seven main characters are well-drawn out and you grow to love them. You can feel with them, and that is a big part of what makes this book so good. If any of the characters weren't detailed the way they are, IT wouldn't be very good.

There are intricate little details I that I first skipped over when reading it (because, hey, it's a REALLY long book, and I wanted to get to the end), like the middle sections when Mike introduces us to happenings long before the book takes place, but it's fun to read back on it later and see how it ties in with the story.

Yes, it is a whopping 1,038 pages. But once you get past the length, it is a rockin' good book. I've read a lot of Steven King books, but whenever I read IT, I'm always drawn back into Derry, where you've got to be sure you step around the sewer holes instead of over them. It deals with some mature subjects (being pretty much curse words, violence, and 3 sex scenes) so I would say you wouldn't want to give this to anyone under the age of 16.

Overall, this is a worthwhile book to have and read over and over. I read it when I was a high-school sophmore, and I still read it. That's gotta count for something, right?

Rating:
Summary: Oh, no! It's LES!
Review: King's "It" suffers from Letdown Ending Syndrome, which has been known to mar other King works (think Dark Tower IV and Tommyknockers). However, here it is at its most egregious.

LES is manifested when the ending of the book is an almost complete letdown when compared to the preceding buildup. From the beginning until about the last 15 pages, "It" is a masterful work of horror fiction - creepy and haunting enough to make you look under your bed when you go to sleep at night. Each character is fully fleshed out so that you can understand their emotions, motivations, and fears. King brings you into the world these folks are experiencing and you're living in it... until he has to show you the bad guy. The problem is that he's built it up too much. How do you describe the most evil, noxious presence in creation? What *does* it look like?

I'm not gonna spoil it for anyone who hasn't read "It" yet (King'll do that himself), but to you I say, read and enjoy this book and pretend that the climax was inserted by the editor without the author's knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: A big let down
Review: Now, I admit, I waited a long time to read this book. I've read almost all of King's other books (The Stand and Carrie being my favorites) but this story never appealed to me. Maybe I was just sick the Stand By Me type of stories that are out there these days. Then one summer's day, I finally broke down...fished the book out of my closet and began to read.

After finishing it, I was pretty unimpressed. I think King had the right idea, but he could have spent more time on it. The 1958 era was fine. I thought King did a great job fleshing out the characters. I fell in love with those kids and wished I could see them on "normal" days when they weren't worried about getting killed by a bully or a clown.

The thing that really disappointed me was the true identity of IT. I was expecting something like Randall Flagg. Some monsterous demon that chose Derry as his country home. Instead, IT is really...I'm not quite sure. To make that creature some kind of "other" from space felt cheap and contrived to me. I thought the idea was more frightening to have IT be the demon who can turn into a clown or whatever our fears believe. To make the final battle some cosmic thing was too hokey and lame for me.

Finally, I didn't like how King used sex to "unite" things in the book. Some of it seemed really pointles...like the Henry and Patrick bit.

Overall, I was hugely disappointed by this book. It's alright to read if you want to cover all of King's books, but I'd recommend "The Stand" or even the weepy "Green Mile" if you want a good King experience.

Rating:
Summary: How Strange Things Can Make A Good Book
Review: Stephen King's It is about seven kids battling an evil monster in Maine during 1958. Years later, they come back as adults, unsure of whether they killed It. All the characters have their own experiences with the monster, which helps you understand their personalities more thoroughly. The book builds up tension for the apocalyptic ending with details. Some of these seemed boring and unnecessary, but most kept the plot line interesting. This was probably due to the oddness of the side stories, such as a plastic statue of Paul Bunyan attacking one kid and another kid sitting in a torture chair at the police station.
One thing I particularly enjoyed about the book was the five interludes. Each tells a part of Derry's history having to do with It. They give you background information which helps explain why certain things happen. An example of this is how It blew up a factory called Kitchener Ironworks and later a character named Mike met It for the first time in the building's ruins.
I enjoyed It because it was an interesting, detailed book. It's also a very different book. There aren't many novels out there that are about a childhood nightmare coming true.


Rating:
Summary: "It" is a landmark! A Great Book!
Review: Sure, its size is intimidating, but this book is absolutley fabulous! It found it among one of the greatest books I have ever read. I was afraid of clowns at first, but gradually, I got over that fear when I encountered Pennywise in this book. The "horror" is not so much the clown himself, but that fact that he is everyone's worst nightmare!

Reading "IT" can be boring at times, and the chapters are broken up into several "mini-segments." But it isn't too bad. The characters are so real and believeable, it's like reading about yourself! I recommend this book to anyone (over the age of 13). It can be a little scary, especially when read at night...oooo!