It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by the eponymous being, which exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It" primarily appears in the form of a clown in order to attract its preferred prey of young children. The novel is told through narratives alternating between two time periods, and is largely told in the third-person omniscient mode. It deals with themes that eventually became King staples: the power of memory, childhood trauma and its recurrent echoes in adulthood, the ugliness lurking behind a façade of small-town quaintness, and overcoming evil through mutual trust and sacrifice. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1987, and received nominations for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards that same year. Publishers Weekly listed It as the best-selling book in the United States in 1986.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Plot
1957-1958
During the beginning of a particularly perilous storm in Derry, Maine, six-year-old George "Georgie" Denbrough is chasing a boat made from a sheet of newspaper down a gutter. The boat is washed down a storm drain to the dismay of George, who had received the boat as a present from his older brother Bill. After peering into the drain, George sees a pair of glowing orange eyes which he first believes to be a cat trapped in the sewers. Startled, George watches in confusion as he is suddenly confronted by a man dressed in a silver clown suit with tufts of red hair and orange pom poms who introduces himself as "Mr. Bob Gray," a.k.a. "Pennywise the dancing clown." Pennywise offers George a balloon which he cautiously refuses; however, the clown entices George to reach into the drain to retrieve his boat and then rips his arm off, leaving the boy in the gutter to bleed to death. Many neighbors on the block immediately hear George's screams and rush to find the boy dead.
The following June, Ben Hanscom, an overweight child, is harassed by a gang of bullies led by the psychopathic Henry Bowers. On the last day of school, Hanscom hides from his tormentors in the Barrens, where he befriends Eddie Kaspbrak, a hypochondriac boy who believes he has asthma, and "stuttering" Bill Denbrough, George's elder brother who suffers from a terrible stutter and rides on a rusty bike named "Silver." The three boys later befriend fellow misfits Richie Tozier, Stan Uris, Beverly Marsh, and Mike Hanlon, who refer to themselves as the "Losers Club." The friends realize that they have all had encounters with a seemingly omniscient demonic entity that takes the form of whatever they fear the most: Ben as a mummy; Eddie as a leper; Bill as George's ghost; Richie as a werewolf; Stan as two boys who had drowned in Derry's standpipe; Beverly as tormented voices of children and gouts of blood from her bathroom sink; and Mike as a flesh-eating bird. Due to the unknown origin of the monster, the Losers refer to the creature as "It" and link It with a series of recent child murders, including that of Edward "Eddie" Corcoran who is killed by It in the form of the Gill-man. Meanwhile, an increasingly sadistic Henry begins focusing his attention on his neighbor, Mike Hanlon, and his father due to their ethnicity. After chasing Mike all the way to the Barrens where the Losers also are, Henry and his gang initiate a rock fight with the Losers. The bullies are left defeated and embarrassed, however, with an injured Henry swearing revenge on the Losers before departing. After further encounters of It in the form of Pennywise and various other manifestations, the Losers construct a makeshift American-Indian smokehole which Richie and Mike use to hallucinate It's origins. In doing so they discover that It came to Derry millions of years before in an asteroid impact and that every 27 years It awakens from a slumber underneath the town's sewers, usually after some kind of terrible event or tragedy, to feed on children for a period of 12-16 months. Bill then discovers the "Ritual Of Chüd," an ancient ritual that allows him to enter the "Macroverse" from where It originated. Bill encounters Mataurin or "The Turtle," the creator of the universe and the natural enemy of It, who further explains It's origins.
In late July, Eddie is hospitalized after an attack by a vengeful Henry Bowers and several of his friends. Spying on them, Beverly witnesses one of the bullies, Patrick Hockstetter, trying to empty a refrigerator which he had been using to make injured animals suffer, only to be taken and killed by It in the form of flying bloodsucking leeches. Later, the Losers discover a message from It written in Patrick's blood warning them that It will kill them. After Eddie is released from the hospital with a broken arm, Ben makes two silver slugs out of a silver dollar, believing that silver will harm It. The kids return to the house on Neibolt Street where Eddie, Bill, and Richie had previously seen It and It attacks them in the form of a werewolf. Beverly shoots a slug from Bill's slingshot at the werewolf, injuring It, and causing It to flee back to the sewers.
In late August, It, now fearing the Losers and seeing them as a threat, manipulates the mind of Henry Bowers, making him kill his violent alcoholic father and providing him with a switchblade. Henry and his two closest friends, Victor "Vic" Criss and Reginald "Belch" Huggins, follow the Losers into the sewers with the intention of trapping and killing them; however, It attacks the Bowers Gang in the form of Frankenstein's monster, ripping Vic's head off and also mutilating and killing Belch. Henry, driven insane, continues to chase the Losers and gets lost. He eventually washes out of the sewers into a nearby river and is blamed for all of the child murders. Bill enters the monster's mind through the Ritual of Chüd and discovers that the true form of It is a mass of destructive orange lights known as the "deadlights," which he repels. With the help of Mataurin, Bill is able to defeat It and send it recoiling back to its slumber. After the battle, the victorious but badly shaken Losers begin to lose cohesion and get lost in the sewers, until Beverly has sex with all the boys to bring unity back to the group. The Losers then swear a blood oath to return to Derry should It return in the future.
1984-1985
In July 1984 at the annual Derry carnival, three youths brutally attack a young gay man named Adrian Mellon and throw him off a bridge. They are arrested for murder when Mellon's mutilated corpse is found, however one of the murderers claims that he saw a clown dressed in a silver suit kill him underneath the bridge. Adrian's partner, the other victim in the attack, had also noticed the clown but the prosecutors convince him not to mention it during the trial. When a string of violent child killings occurs in Derry once again, an adult Mike Hanlon, now the town's librarian and the only one of the Losers to remain in Derry, calls up the six former members of the Losers and reminds them of their childhood promise to return should the killings start again. Bill Denbrough is now a successful horror writer living in England with his actress wife, Audra. Beverly Marsh is a fashion designer in Chicago, who has married an abusive man named Tom Rogan and is regularly beaten. Eddie Kaspbrak has moved to New York City, where he runs a limousine rental company. Richie Tozier lives in Los Angeles and is a professional disc jockey using his talent for voice imitation. Ben Hanscom is now thin and a successful architect, living in Nebraska. Stan Uris is a wealthy accountant residing in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to Mike's phone calls, all of the Losers had completely forgotten each other and the trauma of their childhood, burying the horror of their encounters with It, however all but Stan reluctantly agree to return to Derry. After Mike's phone call, Stan is in such fear at the thought of facing It again that he slits his wrists in the bathtub, writing "IT" on the wall in his own blood. Tom refuses to let Beverly go and tries to beat her, so she lashes out at him before fleeing, causing him serious injury. The five return to Derry with only the dimmest awareness of why they are doing so, remembering only absolute terror and their promise to return.
The Losers meet for lunch, where Mike reminds them that It awakens once roughly every 27 years for 12-16 months at a time, feeding on children before going into slumber again. The group decides to kill It once and for all. At Mike's suggestion, each person explores different parts of Derry to help restore their memories. While exploring, Eddie, Richie, Beverly and Ben are faced with manifestations of It (Eddie as Belch Huggins in leper form, Richie as a Paul Bunyan statue, Beverly as the witch from Hansel & Gretel and Ben as a Dracula), which are It's attempts to scare them off. Bill even finds his childhood Schwinn, Silver, and brings it over to Mike's. Three other people are also converging on the town: Audra, who wants to help Bill; Tom, who plans to kill Beverly; and Henry Bowers, who has escaped a mental institution with help from It (in the form of the late Victor Criss). Mike and Henry have a violent confrontation at the library, and Mike is nearly killed but Henry escapes, severely injured. Henry, with the guidance of It (in the form of Belch this time), is driven to the hotel where It wants him to kill the rest of the Losers. Henry first attacks Eddie, breaking his arm once again, but in the fight Henry is killed. It appears to Tom and orders him to capture Audra. Tom brings Audra to It's lair. Upon seeing It's true form (the deadlights), Audra becomes catatonic and Tom drops dead in shock. Audra is left alive in It's lair. Bill, Ben, Beverly, Richie and Eddie learn that Mike is near death and realize they are being forced into another confrontation with It. They descend into the sewers, and use their strength as a group to "send energy" to a hospitalized Mike, who fights off a nurse that is under the control of It. It appears as George, but Bill overcomes the illusion. They reach It's lair and Bill engages It in the Ritual of Chüd again. Richie rescues Bill from the deadlights and manages to severely injure It with his Voices. Eddie saves them but is killed in the process. Beverly stays with Eddie and the traumatized Audra who is found alive. Bill, Richie, and Ben follow It when It retreats due to injury. They discover that It is female and has laid eggs, which are about to hatch, but Ben destroys them all while Bill and Richie continue to hunt It down. During the ensuing battle, It throws Richie aside, knocking Richie unconscious. Bill crushes It's heart between his hands, finally killing It.
At the same time, the worst storm in Maine's history sweeps through Derry, and the downtown area collapses. Mike concludes that Derry is finally dying. The Losers return home and gradually forget about It, Derry and each other. As a sign that It really is dead, Mike's memory of the events of that summer also begin to fade, much to his relief. Ben and Beverly leave together and become a couple, and Richie returns to California. Bill is the last to leave Derry; before he goes, he takes Audra, still catatonic, for a ride on Silver, which awakens her from her catatonia.
Characters
The Losers' Club
The Losers are a group of seven misfit eleven year old children who are united by their unhappy lives. They share the same misery and torment from being the victims of bullying at the hands of Henry Bowers and band together as they struggle to overcome It. Two characters, Richie and Bev, appear in King's novel 11/22/63 when Jake goes back to Derry in 1958.
"Pennywise" / It
Described as a mysterious, eldritch demonic entity of evil, It is a monster of unknown origin that preys on Derry's children and humans every three decades, stating It finds the fear in children akin to "salt(ing) the meat". Among Its powers is shapeshifting into a form that induces fear while killing the victim, normally assuming the form of a middle-aged man dressed in a clown costume, calling itself "Pennywise the Dancing Clown" and occasionally Bob or Robert Gray, modeled after Bozo, Clarabell and Ronald McDonald. It can also manipulate people and use them as pawns into doing its bidding, either by assuming a form most familiar to them, promising them their desires, or through subliminal influence. Thus, having control over what happens in Derry, many of the child murders It commits are never solved, as the adults of Derry either act as though nothing is happening or have forgotten about It. Its true form as perceived by the human eye is that of a giant spider that houses Its essence: namely writhing orange lights (termed "Deadlights"), looking directly into which can either kill a person or drive them insane.
Its awakening and return to hibernation mark the greatest instances of violence during Its time awake, such as the disappearance of over three hundred settlers from Derry Township in 1740-43. In 1957, It awoke during a great storm which flooded part of the city, whereupon It went on a feeding spree, starting by murdering George Denbrough. However, the Losers' Club forced It to return to an early hibernation when heavily wounded by the young Bill Denbrough in the first Ritual of Chüd. As the story opens, It has awakened approximately 27 years later and is first seen when three bullies beat up a homosexual couple, Adrian Mellon and Don Hagarty. It killed Adrian after the bullies threw him off a bridge. When the adult members of the Losers' Club gathered, It recognized them as a threat and resolved to drive them away through both illusions and by controlling Henry Bowers, the Losers' long-time childhood bully. Bill, Richie, Beverly, Eddie and Ben managed to confront Its spider form after It arranged to have Audra in its possession. It was finally destroyed in the second Ritual of Chüd with an enormous storm that damages the downtown part of Derry to signify It's death.
Explained in the Dark Tower Series, Pennywise has the same shape-shifting ability as the sinister character Dandelo.
The character has been named by several outlets as one of the scariest clowns in film or pop culture.
Other characters
25th anniversary special edition
On December 13, 2011, Cemetery Dance published a special limited edition of It for the 25th anniversary of the novel (ISBN 978-1-58767-270-5) in three editions: an unsigned limited gift edition of 2,750, a signed limited edition of 750, and a signed and lettered limited edition of 52. All three editions are oversized hardcovers, housed in a slipcase or traycase, and feature premium binding materials. This anniversary edition features a new dust jacket illustration by Glen Orbik, as well as numerous interior illustrations by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells. The book also contains a new afterword by Stephen King discussing his reasons for writing the novel.
Adaptations
In 1990, the novel was adapted into a television miniseries starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown, John Ritter as Ben Hanscom, Harry Anderson as Richie Tozier, Richard Masur as Stan Uris, Tim Reid as Mike Hanlon, Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh, Richard Thomas as Bill Denbrough, Olivia Hussey as Audra Phillips, Dennis Christopher as Eddie Kaspbrak, and Michael Cole as Henry Bowers.
On March 12, 2009, Warner Bros. announced that a new adaptation of Stephen King's novel had started. Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison were set to produce, with Jon Silk executive producing. In 2010, the screenplay was being written by David Kajganich.
On September 21, 2010, film director Guillermo del Toro announced that he would like to direct new adaptations of the Stephen King novels It and Pet Sematary, but stated that he was very busy and unlikely to be able to make them any time soon.
On June 7, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the novel would be adapted into a two-part film, directed by Cary Fukunaga. On May 21, 2014, Warner Bros. moved the film to its New Line Cinema division. On December 5, 2014, it was announced that the first part would be set in the past and the second part in the present. The two-part film was set to begin shooting in the summer of 2016. In March 2015, the director talked about the film and said that he was trying to find a perfect "Pennywise". He also revealed that he and other writers had changed the names and dates in the script. In May 2015, it was announced that Will Poulter was cast as Pennywise in the film. That same month, it was reported that Fukunaga had dropped out of directing and that production on the film was stalled. On July 16, 2015, Andy Muschietti was in negotiation to direct the film. On April 13, 2016, King announced on his Facebook page that filming would begin soon. A week later, the studio announced that the film would be released on September 8, 2017. In June 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Bill Skarsgård had been cast as Pennywise after Poulter dropped out to pursue other projects. Jaeden Lieberher will portray Bill Denbrough. Finn Wolfhard will portray Richie Tozier, newcomer Sophia Lillis will portray Beverly Marsh, Jack Dylan Grazer will portray Eddie Kaspbrak, Wyatt Oleff will portray Stan Uris, Chosen Jacobs will portray Mike Hanlon and Jeremy Ray Taylor will portray Ben Hanscom. Owen Teague was later cast as one of the Bowers gang, Patrick Hockstetter. Nicholas Hamilton was cast as Henry Bowers, Logan Thompson as Victor Criss and Jake Sim as Belch Huggins. The first official trailer was released on March 29, 2017.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon