I have just finished reading It by Stephen King. I bought it Thursday morning and have finished it now, Wednesday afternoon, day before Thanksgiving. I have not done anything in those six days in between except go to work and school, eat, sleep and read. The book is 1,400 pages. I didn’t think I would finish it by the end of the semester, but I thought ‘Hey, why not?’ I had always wanted to read It. I was hooked after the first chapter. I did no schoolwork during my six day reading span. I didn’t want to do any. I didn’t care about school until I finished this book. A new video game I was excitedly waiting for came out on Friday, but I didn’t buy it. I was reading It. I wish I was smart enough, apt enough, sure enough to describe how that 1,400 page book made me feel in one blog post, but I’m not. I can only give you a brief summary.
In Derry, Maine, a malignant evil resides in the sewers, killing children and possesses shape-shifting, supernatural powers. Unbeknownst to the characters, this has happened every 27 years since the beginning of Earth. It usually presents itself as a clown. In 1958, seven children (11 yr olds), one who’s brother was killed by It, overcome their experiences and fears with the monster by delving deep into It’s lair and killing It, or so they thought so. They merely injured it but promised to come back and finish what they started if the killings ever began again. 27 years pass and in 1985 they are all called back to Derry, Maine to finish off the monster. Problem is that, for them to move on cope with adulthood and tragedies they faced, they had to forget about their childhoods. As they assemble, memories start to uncover and they are then faced with the fact that they do not possess the natural, dormant power that resides in a child. Eventually they defeat It, both in the present time 1985, and the 1958. The story is written in two different timelines that intertwine.
This is the fifth book I have finished this semester. None of the previous four made me feel anything like It did. With those other books, I read before sleep every night, it felt like a chore. I applied the methods, I learned a lot about different ways to read and saw that the methods were accurate and possible. But I never lived through the books, through the words. I trudged through them, (except A Walk to Remember, which I read in a couple nights) but still, they didn’t enthrall me like It did. Didn’t make me feel alive. I was ashamed to have dumped everything I learned and read It mimetically, and even more ashamed that I didn’t give a shit I was doing it. I highlight different lines in my Kindle. Clues, inferences, hints that connect with the methods or give me some readerly insight to the future of the novel. I read over something so important in It, I couldn’t believe I had done so. In one scene It is said to have, ‘Come from the sky’ ‘Come from space at the beginning of time’. I knew then that It was either an alien or some kind of evil, divine, supernatural spirit. The latter became somewhat true. But reading mimetically, I skipped right over it and when my virtual role as a student, who knows new methods, stopped my absorbed self and said, ‘Hey that was really important, you should highlight it,’ I shrugged my shoulders and said ‘Fuck it,’ turning to the next page. I was gravitated to It. It pulled me closer and deeper until I was stuck; much like the actual It (clown) did to children in the story (kind of scary).
This all relates back to that method we learned about in the beginning of the semester, Reading For. It was liberating to read a novel for the adventure, pleasure and mimetic plot. Honestly, I enjoyed it much more than resisting the text and searching for method use. I needed it. I was like an addict that waded through rehab only to get out and sniff cocaine again after getting only a glimpse, a slight taste or smell of it. That is really the best way I can describe It. I was deprived of my Reading For, and when I got that little taste, that passionate alert of what It had to offer, I became addicted again.
Oh well, there are worse things to be addicted to.
In Derry, Maine, a malignant evil resides in the sewers, killing children and possesses shape-shifting, supernatural powers. Unbeknownst to the characters, this has happened every 27 years since the beginning of Earth. It usually presents itself as a clown. In 1958, seven children (11 yr olds), one who’s brother was killed by It, overcome their experiences and fears with the monster by delving deep into It’s lair and killing It, or so they thought so. They merely injured it but promised to come back and finish what they started if the killings ever began again. 27 years pass and in 1985 they are all called back to Derry, Maine to finish off the monster. Problem is that, for them to move on cope with adulthood and tragedies they faced, they had to forget about their childhoods. As they assemble, memories start to uncover and they are then faced with the fact that they do not possess the natural, dormant power that resides in a child. Eventually they defeat It, both in the present time 1985, and the 1958. The story is written in two different timelines that intertwine.
This is the fifth book I have finished this semester. None of the previous four made me feel anything like It did. With those other books, I read before sleep every night, it felt like a chore. I applied the methods, I learned a lot about different ways to read and saw that the methods were accurate and possible. But I never lived through the books, through the words. I trudged through them, (except A Walk to Remember, which I read in a couple nights) but still, they didn’t enthrall me like It did. Didn’t make me feel alive. I was ashamed to have dumped everything I learned and read It mimetically, and even more ashamed that I didn’t give a shit I was doing it. I highlight different lines in my Kindle. Clues, inferences, hints that connect with the methods or give me some readerly insight to the future of the novel. I read over something so important in It, I couldn’t believe I had done so. In one scene It is said to have, ‘Come from the sky’ ‘Come from space at the beginning of time’. I knew then that It was either an alien or some kind of evil, divine, supernatural spirit. The latter became somewhat true. But reading mimetically, I skipped right over it and when my virtual role as a student, who knows new methods, stopped my absorbed self and said, ‘Hey that was really important, you should highlight it,’ I shrugged my shoulders and said ‘Fuck it,’ turning to the next page. I was gravitated to It. It pulled me closer and deeper until I was stuck; much like the actual It (clown) did to children in the story (kind of scary).
This all relates back to that method we learned about in the beginning of the semester, Reading For. It was liberating to read a novel for the adventure, pleasure and mimetic plot. Honestly, I enjoyed it much more than resisting the text and searching for method use. I needed it. I was like an addict that waded through rehab only to get out and sniff cocaine again after getting only a glimpse, a slight taste or smell of it. That is really the best way I can describe It. I was deprived of my Reading For, and when I got that little taste, that passionate alert of what It had to offer, I became addicted again.
Oh well, there are worse things to be addicted to.