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It (novel)
It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. This is his 22nd book and his 17th novel written under his own name. The story follows seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity called It, which exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. It is a monstrous, shapeshifting predator that primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
The story is told through a nonlinear narrative, alternating between two time periods. It chronicles "the Losers' Club", a group of seven outcast children in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, during the late 1950s. The Losers discover they are being hunted by an ancient, trans-dimensional evil that awakens every 27 years to feed on the town's children. After a battle with the creature, they make a blood oath to return to Derry if It ever resurfaces. Twenty-seven years later, the killings resume, and the now-adult Losers, who have largely forgotten the traumatic events of their childhood, must return to their hometown to confront the monster one last time.
The book explores themes of memory, childhood trauma, the loss of innocence, and the power of unity and belief. Upon release, It became the best-selling hardcover fiction book in the United States for 1986 and won the British Fantasy Award in 1987. The novel was largely acclaimed for its epic scope, and critical discussion surrounded its length, graphic violence, and a sexually explicit scene involving the child protagonists. The character of Pennywise has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and the novel's success has led to multiple adaptations, including the 1990 television miniseries It and a two-part film adaptation, It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019).
In 1978, King and his family lived in Boulder, Colorado. One evening, King ventured alone to pick up his car from the repair shop and came across an old wooden bridge, "humped and oddly quaint". Walking along the bridge caused King to recall the story of "Three Billy Goats Gruff", and the idea of transplanting the tale's scenario into a real-life context interested him. King was further inspired by a line by Marianne Moore—“imaginary gardens with real toads in them"—which in his mind came out as "real trolls in imaginary gardens". King returned to the concept two years later and gradually accumulated ideas and thoughts, particularly the concept of weaving the narratives of children and the adults they become. King began writing It in 1980, and finished the book five years later. King found influence in the mythology and history surrounding the construction of the sewer system in Bangor, Maine.
The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and largely in the third-person omniscient mode.
During a rainstorm in Derry, Maine, a six-year-old boy named Georgie Denbrough sails a paper boat along the rainy streets before it washes down into a storm drain. Looking in the drain, Georgie encounters a clown who introduces himself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Georgie, despite knowing he should not talk to strangers, is enticed by Pennywise to reach into the drain and retrieve his boat. It then rips his arm off, and Georgie dies.
The following June, an overweight eleven-year-old boy named Ben Hanscom is harassed by a bully named Henry Bowers and his gang on the last day of school, escaping into the marshy wasteland known as the Barrens. There, Ben befriends an asthmatic hypochondriac named Eddie Kaspbrak and "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough, Georgie's elder brother. The three boys later befriend fellow misfits Richie Tozier, Stanley "Stan" Uris, and Beverly Marsh, and refer to themselves as "The Losers Club". As the summer draws on, the Losers each encounter Pennywise in terrifying manifestations: a mummy on a frozen canal to Ben, a fountain of blood (that only children can see) from Beverly's sink, a rotting leper to Eddie, drowned corpses to Stan, and a frightening phantom of Georgie to Bill. Meanwhile, the increasingly unhinged and sadistic Bowers begins focusing his attention on his African-American neighbor, Mike Hanlon and his father. Bowers kills Mike's dog and chases the terrified boy into the Barrens, where he joins the Losers in driving Bowers's gang off in a rock fight, leaving a humiliated Bowers promising revenge. Mike becomes a member of the Losers Club after revealing his own encounter with Pennywise in the form of a carnivorous bird.
From Mike's historical scrapbook, the Losers realize that It is an ancient monster with a firm grip on the town. Following further encounters, the Losers construct a makeshift smoke hole that Richie and Mike use to hallucinate Its origins as an ancient extraterrestrial who came to Earth, beginning a cycle of hunting for one year followed by a 27-year-long hibernation.
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It (novel)
It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. This is his 22nd book and his 17th novel written under his own name. The story follows seven children as they are terrorized by an evil entity called It, which exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey. It is a monstrous, shapeshifting predator that primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
The story is told through a nonlinear narrative, alternating between two time periods. It chronicles "the Losers' Club", a group of seven outcast children in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, during the late 1950s. The Losers discover they are being hunted by an ancient, trans-dimensional evil that awakens every 27 years to feed on the town's children. After a battle with the creature, they make a blood oath to return to Derry if It ever resurfaces. Twenty-seven years later, the killings resume, and the now-adult Losers, who have largely forgotten the traumatic events of their childhood, must return to their hometown to confront the monster one last time.
The book explores themes of memory, childhood trauma, the loss of innocence, and the power of unity and belief. Upon release, It became the best-selling hardcover fiction book in the United States for 1986 and won the British Fantasy Award in 1987. The novel was largely acclaimed for its epic scope, and critical discussion surrounded its length, graphic violence, and a sexually explicit scene involving the child protagonists. The character of Pennywise has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and the novel's success has led to multiple adaptations, including the 1990 television miniseries It and a two-part film adaptation, It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019).
In 1978, King and his family lived in Boulder, Colorado. One evening, King ventured alone to pick up his car from the repair shop and came across an old wooden bridge, "humped and oddly quaint". Walking along the bridge caused King to recall the story of "Three Billy Goats Gruff", and the idea of transplanting the tale's scenario into a real-life context interested him. King was further inspired by a line by Marianne Moore—“imaginary gardens with real toads in them"—which in his mind came out as "real trolls in imaginary gardens". King returned to the concept two years later and gradually accumulated ideas and thoughts, particularly the concept of weaving the narratives of children and the adults they become. King began writing It in 1980, and finished the book five years later. King found influence in the mythology and history surrounding the construction of the sewer system in Bangor, Maine.
The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and largely in the third-person omniscient mode.
During a rainstorm in Derry, Maine, a six-year-old boy named Georgie Denbrough sails a paper boat along the rainy streets before it washes down into a storm drain. Looking in the drain, Georgie encounters a clown who introduces himself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Georgie, despite knowing he should not talk to strangers, is enticed by Pennywise to reach into the drain and retrieve his boat. It then rips his arm off, and Georgie dies.
The following June, an overweight eleven-year-old boy named Ben Hanscom is harassed by a bully named Henry Bowers and his gang on the last day of school, escaping into the marshy wasteland known as the Barrens. There, Ben befriends an asthmatic hypochondriac named Eddie Kaspbrak and "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough, Georgie's elder brother. The three boys later befriend fellow misfits Richie Tozier, Stanley "Stan" Uris, and Beverly Marsh, and refer to themselves as "The Losers Club". As the summer draws on, the Losers each encounter Pennywise in terrifying manifestations: a mummy on a frozen canal to Ben, a fountain of blood (that only children can see) from Beverly's sink, a rotting leper to Eddie, drowned corpses to Stan, and a frightening phantom of Georgie to Bill. Meanwhile, the increasingly unhinged and sadistic Bowers begins focusing his attention on his African-American neighbor, Mike Hanlon and his father. Bowers kills Mike's dog and chases the terrified boy into the Barrens, where he joins the Losers in driving Bowers's gang off in a rock fight, leaving a humiliated Bowers promising revenge. Mike becomes a member of the Losers Club after revealing his own encounter with Pennywise in the form of a carnivorous bird.
From Mike's historical scrapbook, the Losers realize that It is an ancient monster with a firm grip on the town. Following further encounters, the Losers construct a makeshift smoke hole that Richie and Mike use to hallucinate Its origins as an ancient extraterrestrial who came to Earth, beginning a cycle of hunting for one year followed by a 27-year-long hibernation.