“It” by Stephen King

 

1138 pages, Viking, ISBN-13: 978-0670813025

If I’m not mistaken, Stephen King’s It was the second of his books that I read, but I can’t really remember. So anyway, the novel is about seven kids living in Derry, Maine, who call themselves The Losers: William Denbrough, Benjamin Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Richard Tozier, Edward Kaspbrak, Michael Hanlon and Stanley Uris. They encounter a creature – that would be the eponymous “It” of the title – that exploits the fears of its victims by disguising itself while hunting its prey, one of its favorite such disguises being that of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, whom The Losers know It as. The novel is told through narratives alternating between the 1960s and 1980s in the third-person omniscient mode. It is perhaps the first of King’s novels that dealt with themes that eventually became his staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma and its recurrent echoes in adulthood; the malevolence lurking beneath the idyllic façade of the American small town; and overcoming evil through mutual trust and sacrifice. So then It is more than just a horror novel; there’s some deep stuff going on here.

Like the fact that It is essentially a coming-of-age story, suffused with nostalgia with some horror elements intertwined. This really comes through in King’s attention to detail as Derry, Maine comes to life in all of its glory – and agony. I guess this should come as no surprise considering that this haunted place appears in so many of King’s stories, so he has had plenty of time to populate the place with living, breathing people and fill it with history (Derry is really Bangor, by the way). But it is the characters that one reads novels for, and King’s have three dimensions for whom you truly hope and fear for (and mourn the one who doesn’t make it. ‘Nuff said). Watching these kids go up against an entity that has existed…for a while fully illustrated the magical essence of childhood innocence, coupled with kids’ surprisingly accurate assessment of human nature. Their hopes and fears are fully brought to life by It, but they persevere and power though, seeing as how full of life and hope they are. I have to say I found the kids’ story arcs much more satisfying than their arcs as adults.

The structure is unusual but rewarding, as the two tales of The Losers as kids and adults progress in unison, going back and forth between the two. And it was another book that I couldn’t wait to get back to and couldn’t put down when I started reading again. As stated above, It is a horror book but with so many more elements involved with it, and that is what makes it so interesting. The pull of nostalgia, the magic of childhood, the thrill of discovery, the uncovering of mysteries, the revelation of myths, the drive to overcome…all these things are present in It, and it is for those reasons that this story is so popular and so successful, even if one hates gore or is frightened of clowns. At times it is almost spellbinding, Proustian even, in its remembrance of the joys of childhood and full of popular 1950s cultural details – music, television, slang, movies – that give a certain weightiness not normally present in horror books. And, as a horror book it is very good. What better antagonist than one that may look and act like what each person fears the most? And what place is scarier than places you think are safe and secure?

And now, for the White Elephant: the preteen gang bang of an 11-year-old girl. Gratuitous sex in a Stephen King book is not unknown, but when the boy Losers all have sex with Bev in the sewers so that she can, somehow, discover the way out…I mean, Holy Shit. In addition to being sick and pervy it was also completely unnecessary to the story arc. I really have no idea why this was in the book at all. To garner attention or controversy? To hopefully sell more copies? After several years King finally addressed the issue thus:

 

I wasn’t really thinking of the sexual aspect of it. The book dealt with childhood and adulthood – 1958 and Grown Ups. The grown ups don’t remember their childhood. None of us remember what we did as children – we think we do, but we don’t remember it as it really happened. Intuitively, the Losers knew they had to be together again. The sexual act connected childhood and adulthood. It’s another version of the glass tunnel that connects the children’s library and the adult library. Times have changed since I wrote that scene and there is now more sensitivity to those issues.

 

Years later he added, “I’d just add that it’s fascinating to me that there has been so much comment about that single sex scene and so little about the multiple child murders. That must mean something, but I’m not sure what”. How’s this, Steve: the multiple child murders were horrible and what people expected in a horror novel; they were not celebrated nor made to seem normal, while the child sex-scene was written in a positive light. That’s the difference. And I don’t recall kiddie-sex as being an uncontroversial issue in the 80s, either.

Okay, enough. It is a great story, full of horror, yes, but so much more, besides. It’s a long book, too, one to be read over several weeks if not months, but that’s okay; just think of it like a long visit with an old friend who reminisces with you about old songs, TV shows, movies and the delight of childhood adventure – and who occasionally commits a blood-curdling atrocity.