It

I think I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. I mean, I love him, his books, his tweets. He's smart and interesting whenever I see him in interviews. His books just floor me. They're usually long, tense, complex, filled with characters I love, characters I hate and characters that get long, complex backstories, only to have them killed off on the next page. I've definitely needed some recovery time.

I started reading It months ago, in the middle of a reading slump. I managed to crawl my way out of it and back to the novel. (Piece of advice: If you're in a reading slump, picking up a novel that's over 1000 pages is probably not a good idea.) It was just so long! Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down, but looking at that super thick paperback made picking it up daunting. I did it though, because I had to know what happened to Bill, Ben and Bevvie, to Mike, Richie, Eddie, and poor Stan.

Ben was utterly my favourite character. I know it was Big Bill who was the star of the story, or maybe Pennywise the Clown, but Ben stood out for me. There is something about him that I connected to. I don’t know if it’s because he was a target, or because he changed so much from the child he used to be to the amazing adult he became, but I loved Ben. I want to know more about him, I want to know about his future. I wish I could have spent more time with him.

Also, I loved the Turtle. From the first moment of its mention, I had to know how It was connected to The Dark Tower. King has created his own universe/multiverse, and we see characters pop up from different stories. I remember feeling the same way when I read Insomnia, but this was even better. It was more subtle. If you have never read The Dark Tower series, you wouldn't be missing anything by not knowing about the Turtle connection, but if you're a fan like me, you will be struck, tickled even. It makes me want to dive back into The Dark Tower and find the Turtle references. (Also, what was Shardik doing when all this happened?)

Though it took me a while to get through, I really enjoyed It. I think it also sparked in me the urge to read more of King's books. Maybe Full Dark, No Stars, maybe The Stand, I have been thinking about Night Shift too. I wonder if any of those characters will show up again. I'm not sure what else I can say. It's a long book, but a lot happens and I don't want to give any of it away. It is worth the time to read it. I'm glad I got to spend time with The Losers Club.

*Side note: There have been so many great book covers over the years, I wanted to share them. I found the one for the French translation of It, but it was a little too gruesome for what I was wanted.