Book Review: Stephen King's IT
Short review of a book that I finally finished last year which I'm considering picking up again in light of the new movie which looks fab!!
My Rating - 4 Stars 
Well I finally finished IT. IT has been on my "read" shelf for a long time but I had never actually finished IT. When I was 14 or so I obtained a copy of IT just before the summer holidays fully intending on spending most of the holiday laying in my back garden reading. And, for the first two weeks of my six week holiday that's exactly what I did. I piled through IT only stopping to replace my bottles of frozen squash - it was a steamingly hot summer that year, for the UK anyway. I remember exactly whereabouts in the book I stopped reading. There's this scene around halfway through the book where something happens[1] that persuaded me to put it down forever.
Gif from Giphy
Fast forward ten or so years and I start my Goodreads account and I'm sitting adding all the books I've ever read. Something makes me add IT. I guess my brain just declared that I had finished it. So without another thought I added it.
Fast forward another ten ish years and I'm on Goodreads again. I see that someone has made a comment on a review I liked[2] and as often happens I got drawn into reading all the reviews. It was then I realised that I had never actually finished IT. Time to rectify that thought I. So I picked up my e-reader (my battered old paperback copy having disappeared into the mists of time) and lost myself in Derry.
When I hit the bit that put me off all that time ago I simply read past it. I hate to skim read but in order to finish this book I had to and I'm glad I did. I'm glad I've finally finished IT. It was a story that I was already familiar with having been determined to watch the film since the trailer scared me at the age of 8 - Tim Curry (Pennywise) & Jonathan Brandis (Big Bill) are the best parts of the movie (no contest) - but the book I can categorically say is so much better (quelle surprise). I read the book with the film cast in my head and "remembered" parts of the book being in the film. I'll read IT again one day I'm sure, probably once I've seen the remake which, I have a feeling will never be as good as IT was.
This review was originally posted on https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830502.It on 7th March 2016. Thanks for reading! TTFN. x
[1] Ben sees Dracula and he (Dracula) has a mouthful of razor blades which he proceeds to close his mouth on with a great Kerucnh .. sorry ... shudder
[2] This one - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78615227?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Honestly one of the most horrifying concepts as a child. I'm sure clown unions aren't totally thrilled about Stephen King's imagination.
It's very true. I'm not actually scared of clowns (and never was) but I saw the trailer for the TV version on the BBC one night and it haunted me ever since. I must've been eight at the time? Maybe that's why it's been stuck in my head for so long.
I've read many Stephen King books - I'm sad to say. For the most part, I do not like his writing style. I read a bunch of them because that's what was available and I had a ton of time on my hands. Really, I only LIKED his Gunslinger series - which I hear is being made into a movie(s), which I would be interested in seeing. I also liked his short-stories/compilation called Skeleton Crew. Otherwise, the guy is just SO DANG BORING & LONG-WINDED. He drones on and on and on about nothing. UGH!
This is one of the only ones I've ever managed to get to although I do like The Green Mile, perhaps because it was written in bits and published in a newspaper.
I much prefer his short stories - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Running Man (writing as Richard Bachman) are much more condensed and easy to read.
Thanks for the comment :)