Stephen King, whose books have sold over 350 million copies across the globe, is an American author of supernatural and science fiction, horror, fantasy, and suspense. One of his most notable and classic works is, perhaps, his book ‘It’ released in 1986.
‘It’ is a horror novel about the experience of 7 kids who are terrorized by an alien being which plays to the kids’ fears and phobias to disguise itself as it hunts the victims.
The novel is mostly narrated through stories that alternate between two different time periods. King confined himself to the following vital themes: childhood traumas and the recurrent echoes associated with them in the adulthood, defeating evil through sacrifices, mutual trust, and the power of evil.
‘It’ is believed to have had a huge impact on numerous teenagers over the years. Moreover, it also has been presented as a film in 2017. On this note, close-ups could have been used for the particular purposes: to highlight important features in a scene, to emphasize various emotions in a character, or to draw the attention of the audience to important details via illusion and physical closeness
This book is mainly about childhood, particularly the special aspects such as a friendship that looks like it will last forever, etc. There are not many authors who could capture what it was like being a child as King did in this particular book. Through his words, exceptional ability to remember things vividly as well as these close-ups, he allows us to remember the ability to laugh at the dumbest of things, the childhood excitements, and the awkwardness as well.
It is not, however, all smooth as it also reminds us of the feeling of isolation and inadequacy. It teaches us that bullies will always be a part of our society. As much as this is a horror story, King tends to concern himself more with the issue of teenagers coming to adulthood.
What makes the novel unique is a large number of details that the author presents. When reading a book, you have nothing to ask about as everything you face is described in the smallest details. It will be just enough to mention the scene when Eddie packs his bag to go to Derry; you know everything about his medicine chest. King describes every single unit as well as what it is meant for. In this case, close-ups help us never miss an important trick.
As it is always the trend with every book, we should focus more on the positives. ‘It’, as it was aforementioned, is not simply just a horror book. The scary moments are few and far between, making the book even more relevant. The book takes us back to the most potent time of our lives – our childhood. It talks about the young and adult lives of Bev, Bill, Stan, Richie, Mike, and Eddie. It also brings to life the cursed town of Derry.
Despite the book being just under 1400 pages, it honestly does not feel that long, especially once your imagination and fears are dramatically captured in some of its awesome chapters. The kid characters in the book are also quite likable and vividly bring out the moments about yourself and your childhood friends. It also reminds us that adult life doesn’t always work out the way we would have hoped for.
However, the same two points could also be argued to be some of the major reasons why some of the readers might not have enjoyed this particular book. Most of them argue that the book appears to be too long and detailed. The controversial ending also seems to serve as one of the most recurring objections of the book. The infamous last few pages describe how the boys and a girl are engaged in sexual activities in a sewer. Worse still, they were all aged 11.
It is quite hard to fathom why this almost inexplicable act had to happen, and more importantly, what King was trying to put across. This last part, for many readers, ruins the 1000 plus pages of an excellently told story.
Many, however, still regard ‘It’ as a great book for its exploration of childhood, friendship, growing up, and dealing with both supernatural and real fears. But, the length, as well as that unfortunate ending, does not seem to augur well for most of the readers. But still, if there hadn’t been these details, the readers would have had a lot of unresolved questions that would also make them dissatisfied.
Michael B. is an author of this book review. Currently he works as a freelance essay writer at CustomWritings.com established custom writing company.
References:
- Author, G. (n.d.). GoodReads. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from It: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830502.It
- Floresiensis. (2016-10-09). Fantasy Book Review. http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Stephen-King/It.html
- Gove, M. (2015, December 12). blank page. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from A Book Review of Stephen King’s ‘IT’: http://home.blnkpage.org/artslife/book-review-stephen-kings/
- stclair, F. T. (2014, February 15). Prezi. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from The Importance of Close-Ups: https://prezi.com/frhc1t3pdldd/the-importance-of-close-ups-in-film/
- StephenKing.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://stephenking.com/library/novel/it_inspiration.html
- Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from It (novel): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_(novel)
- Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from Stephen king: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King
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