No real direct plot spoilers here but I wouldn't read the following if you haven't read "IT" yet. I'd rather you discover your own interpretations of the Novel first:
So..
I’ve just finished this "monstrous", epic book IT and I’m left with that heavy, somber, yet beautiful feeling of nostalgia... and a yearning we sometimes get looking back over the passage of time.
Mostly I remember my own childhood and the freedom in riding my bike hard and fast down the street with that unexplained exhilaration and fearlessness. Skinned knees- pocket change for candy- hide & seek- ghost in the graveyard games. I remember the "underground" universe that only kids could know of. Adults were like these disconnected Giants looming in the background. Playing outside in Mother Nature was second nature. Perhaps the kids of today with all their distractions and technology don’t have this calling to the outside world, perhaps they do, who am I to know? I’m all grown up. Perhaps they throw those same emotions into computers & the worlds inside the machines. We lived in the summer sun.
I also think the book could have been cut down just a touch especially in those old Derry histories written by Mike. (I know this is blasphemy to some that love those scenes) For me, some of that stalled the galloping plot a tad. But honestly this is the GREATEST BOOK I've ever read so I can't really nitpick too much here now can I!?
IT also conjured up a vibrant landscape of imagery and color for me...clearly I see lots of red from Bev (and her Dad) and Bill's red hair. There is the red halloween (clown) makeup and the red crimson of blood, but I also see the red stripes on candy canes or on the old school barber shops of my own small town. I see a silver clown suit (which reminds me of The Smashing Pumpkins video for the song "Rocket") I see the grays and odd yellows of the thunder clouds over the green summer lush of the Barrens. I see Bangor Maine and the wide river channel that runs through the heart of that city. (I've been there twice to play a music fest, without actually knowing it was the inspiration for Derry) I see the orange glow of the deadlights in the Spider's eyes.
I won't ever look at balloons the same way again. Clowns I've always hated anyway.
I also think of sewers, storm drains, dead leaves, and all the secrets that lay beneath cities. I think there is side to humanity, a dark side, that we usually ignore, sweep under the carpet, or flush down the toilet. I also think that sometimes we adults ignore the things we held sacred in our youth. Things we have to remind ourselves because either the memories have faded or our responsibilities have taken over the energy we could have poured into our dreams. The monsters under our beds were only in our heads, but we made them real. And there is a magic and a power in that kind of imagination. It leads to creativity, friendship, a purpose - what you will ultimately become (or not become.) We can't lose that. King places that magic of childhood in a terrifying yet majestic time capsule that can be accessed at any moment if we just open the book back up.
Kudos to the Author on this one, unforgettable work.
---Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts, I'd love to read them.
So..
I’ve just finished this "monstrous", epic book IT and I’m left with that heavy, somber, yet beautiful feeling of nostalgia... and a yearning we sometimes get looking back over the passage of time.
Mostly I remember my own childhood and the freedom in riding my bike hard and fast down the street with that unexplained exhilaration and fearlessness. Skinned knees- pocket change for candy- hide & seek- ghost in the graveyard games. I remember the "underground" universe that only kids could know of. Adults were like these disconnected Giants looming in the background. Playing outside in Mother Nature was second nature. Perhaps the kids of today with all their distractions and technology don’t have this calling to the outside world, perhaps they do, who am I to know? I’m all grown up. Perhaps they throw those same emotions into computers & the worlds inside the machines. We lived in the summer sun.
The general push I"m sensing from IT is to face your fears, believe in something good like friendship and love, and don’t ignore the darkness but face IT, and then drive it away. For it exists with the light all the same. And to me, the "deadlights" is the dark matter between the galaxies. That nothingness, that blackness- it's there and it's pure and it makes us fear. Our minds can barely fathom this so we associate it with evil. But really we can imagine anything we choose to. We could picture a wise, ancient Turtle who was made by the "Other"...the force, the God, the light, the wheel, the circle, whatever you want to call it. I have no problems with these ending scenes with the Losers facing off with IT - Biting the tongue, the Ritual of Chud. I get it. Is it a bit abstract, yes. Is it effective though?....for me- hell yes. I love a good challenge just as much as a good scare. I loved taking that psychedelic journey inside the mind of that horrible spider, the darkness, the IT. Its pure human fear which if we can somehow face and get a look behind the curtain of that spider, hold on enough to our sanity to ride past her, you might see a more benevolent truth behind it all. There is something bigger, something good, something beautiful that binds us. At least, this is just a glimpse of what the author may ultimately believe....or not. I think so though.
The infamous sex scene however, was just OK for me. Clearly others see that scene as odd or out of place and some see it as downright wrong. I just take it as a slightly superfluous weak spot in an otherwise otherworldly musing about life, childhood, and growing up. (I did appreciate the imagery of birds...the physical act emoting these freeing, flying pictures in Bev's mind) It was trying to be delicate, I get it. This particular bridge between childhood and adulthood...just missed the mark for me.
The infamous sex scene however, was just OK for me. Clearly others see that scene as odd or out of place and some see it as downright wrong. I just take it as a slightly superfluous weak spot in an otherwise otherworldly musing about life, childhood, and growing up. (I did appreciate the imagery of birds...the physical act emoting these freeing, flying pictures in Bev's mind) It was trying to be delicate, I get it. This particular bridge between childhood and adulthood...just missed the mark for me.
I also think the book could have been cut down just a touch especially in those old Derry histories written by Mike. (I know this is blasphemy to some that love those scenes) For me, some of that stalled the galloping plot a tad. But honestly this is the GREATEST BOOK I've ever read so I can't really nitpick too much here now can I!?
IT also conjured up a vibrant landscape of imagery and color for me...clearly I see lots of red from Bev (and her Dad) and Bill's red hair. There is the red halloween (clown) makeup and the red crimson of blood, but I also see the red stripes on candy canes or on the old school barber shops of my own small town. I see a silver clown suit (which reminds me of The Smashing Pumpkins video for the song "Rocket") I see the grays and odd yellows of the thunder clouds over the green summer lush of the Barrens. I see Bangor Maine and the wide river channel that runs through the heart of that city. (I've been there twice to play a music fest, without actually knowing it was the inspiration for Derry) I see the orange glow of the deadlights in the Spider's eyes.
I won't ever look at balloons the same way again. Clowns I've always hated anyway.
I also think of sewers, storm drains, dead leaves, and all the secrets that lay beneath cities. I think there is side to humanity, a dark side, that we usually ignore, sweep under the carpet, or flush down the toilet. I also think that sometimes we adults ignore the things we held sacred in our youth. Things we have to remind ourselves because either the memories have faded or our responsibilities have taken over the energy we could have poured into our dreams. The monsters under our beds were only in our heads, but we made them real. And there is a magic and a power in that kind of imagination. It leads to creativity, friendship, a purpose - what you will ultimately become (or not become.) We can't lose that. King places that magic of childhood in a terrifying yet majestic time capsule that can be accessed at any moment if we just open the book back up.
Kudos to the Author on this one, unforgettable work.
---Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts, I'd love to read them.
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