tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post3537547851343727889..comments2023-06-25T08:12:06.640-07:00Comments on tested by research: Stephen King: It (1986)allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-65274031194554457172012-11-19T20:08:40.324-08:002012-11-19T20:08:40.324-08:00There are times in his work when he feels like he ...There are times in his work when he feels like he has to have something really outrageous happen, and the all-the-boys-have-sex-with-her-for-some-reason thing is one of them. Others that fall into this category are the hotel maid in a later short story collection (Everything's Eventual, maybe?) who feasts on the spunk left by a troubled writer on his sheets, and the cruelty shown to slaves in the historical portion of Bag of Bones. At times like this, he seems to be reaching for something shocking, something that will shock himself, to justify a story somehow. None of them rang true for me.<br /><br />In 1986, It was a kind of Holy Grail for me. I was given the hardcover -- it was something like $28.95! -- as an unexpected gift, and it blew my mind. But even I was disappointed with the end, and don't count it as one of my favorites that has stuck with me over the years.Zenslingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06040836002694584468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-9616429893808951422012-10-30T09:42:58.773-07:002012-10-30T09:42:58.773-07:00In always describing IT as the monster to end all ...In always describing IT as the monster to end all monsters - showing us how all-powerful IT has been through the centuries - King painted himself into a tight corner, I think. Anything he came up with was going to be unsatisfying.<br /><br />ALSO:<br />There are hundreds of typos once the kids get into the tunnel and get closer to IT. King screws up his use of apostrophes. Something like: "looks up into Its web" is wrong. It's got to be "It's". I started thinking that maybe King is responsible for no one knowing the difference between its and it's. :>)allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-23870893012642831642012-10-30T09:35:22.199-07:002012-10-30T09:35:22.199-07:00Thanks for the long comment!!
There was stuff tha...Thanks for the long comment!!<br /><br />There was stuff that I had notes on, but decided against putting it in, since the post was so long and I couldn't describe my thoughts very well. You hit on two of them: the over-sexualized descriptions of Beverly and what you called THE SCENE.<br /><br />King rarely described the boys' hair or clothes, but he did it a lot with Beverly. And I KNOW King never alluded to the colour of any of the boys' underwear. It definitely stood out. (Did King describe Bill that way in the sections from Beverly's point of view? I don't think so.) If Ben was narrating the book, I could see it a few times, since he had a massive crush on her, but he wasn't. <br /><br />The sex scene at the end also seemed unnecessary and I was pretty uncomfortable with it. Not offended or anything, but "icky' is a good word. King makes a big deal about Beverly being better than the boys when it comes to using the slingshot, but I don't think it makes up for the fact that when the battle with It comes, all she can offer is her body. Her 11-year-old body. The icky part of it is that she is clearly, ahem, <i>enjoying the feelings</i> towards the end. The more I think about it, the more fucked up it is. (And earlier in the book, Bev seems not to think much about sex. When her mother asks her in a roundabout way if her father is touching her, Bev really has no clue what her mother is getting at.) It doesn't erase the brilliant parts of the book, but I really have to wonder what King was thinking.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-54128649073248730252012-10-30T00:41:37.138-07:002012-10-30T00:41:37.138-07:00I'm very glad you find the book deep of feelin...I'm very glad you find the book deep of feeling. I definitely agree; I think the way it evokes childhood thoughts and feelings is magnificent.<br /><br />This is one of my favorite Stephen King books (probably #2 behind The Stand), but it has several very serious issues for me:<br /><br />1) I usually am comfortable with the novel's sprawling, sidetrack-laden narrative (I like the histories, most especially the burning of The Black Spot), but some parts seem utterly unnecessary or wedged in for the sake of completing a checklist. For instance, I don't think Richie's or Eddie's first adulthood encounters with It hold much weight at all (though Beverly's and Ben's do--Ben's encounter in the library as an adult is a favorite segment for me). I feel 150 pages could be cut without losing much of the feeling in the thing (something I think is true to a lesser degree of the uncut version of The Stand). I DO like long fiction, and enjoy the epic nature of this work, but too much is too much.<br /><br />2) I don't feel close to Bill or Beverly as characters. I feel Bill is a King stand-in, too heroic for the reader to feel close to (although I think the storyline of his regret with George and the emotional freeze-out he endures with his grief-stricken parents is great): noble, inspiring loyalty, unselfish, etc. Beverly I see as overly sexualized and not having much character beyond that and being abused. She's "cool" and such, but I don't feel as close to her as even I do to say, Stan (whose head I wish we got inside more). This is a problem for me with female characters in King's work in general (too shallow, overly sexualized), though there are exceptions.<br /><br />3) The ending is nutty as all get out and most definitely a disappointment. If the final incarnation of It was going to be so mundane (IMO), not so much emphasis should have been put on finding out what It IS. I don't think any final incarnation could have been satisfying, and King as much as admits this when one character thinks about how anything given a final shape is less scary than the unknown...but it could have been a lot better than what the "answer" turns out to be. Also, I don't think the mental plane struggle makes very much sense, or needed more setup. Finally, there's THAT ONE SCENE, which I don't find as offensive as some do, but I still think it's unnecessary and somewhat icky (on several levels). I will say that, regarding the ending, I DO like the parts where we get a peak at It's thoughts and motivations--that part was satisfying to me in its simplicity, even if a lot of the rest of it was gobbledygook.<br /><br />A very, very good book, but in need of a more ruthless editor, mainly, and quite a buildup for not much payoff.<br /><br />I'm glad to read your analysis and know you find it an accomplishment of a book.<br /><br />Laura: I understand y'all's friend's reaction, but I think she's throwing the baby out with the bathwater!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-49301870965623510902012-10-27T04:28:46.933-07:002012-10-27T04:28:46.933-07:00If the ending only works if you know works outside...If the ending only works if you know works outside the book, works that weren't even written when the book was published... no. But endings are tough.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-48044189175370956912012-10-25T13:50:54.108-07:002012-10-25T13:50:54.108-07:00I understood and appreciated the ending a little m...I understood and appreciated the ending a little more this time, but only because I know how it fits into some themes he will develop later. It still is pretty unsatisfying, though, after the extensive build-up.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-34524938249814468652012-10-25T12:45:44.605-07:002012-10-25T12:45:44.605-07:00A friend of ours said she stopped reading King aft...A friend of ours said she stopped reading King after this book. She said, "That's it? I followed you for more than 1,000 pages for that?" In other words, the ending was massively unsatisfying for her. Your thoughts?laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10048554.post-65376864153332974702012-10-25T12:43:19.523-07:002012-10-25T12:43:19.523-07:00But how does this view co-exist with another theme...<i>But how does this view co-exist with another theme of King's: of kids being obsessed by/with their fears, of being afraid to fall asleep or even drape their hand over the side of the bed for fear of what might be lurking under the bed? These seem like two very different theories.</i><br /><br />They are completely contradictory perspectives, yet each seems true in its way. Maybe different kids (i.e. different people) fall into one or the other - and maybe at different moments in childhood, the same person will react one way or the other.laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.com