“It” by Stephen King

“It” by Stephen King

I’m actually not a science fiction fan at all. This is the only Stephen King work I’ve ever read, although I’ve seen a number of movies that were adapted from his novels. His superb character development, the way he builds the story arc, and his attention to detail in creating the settings have persuaded me to start exploring some of his other writings. Derry, Maine feels like it’s a real place that you could actually visit and recognize when you get there based on King’s descriptions.

The narration by Steven Weber is top-notch. It is obvious that he rehearsed and was really into it because his delivery and poise is flawless. The sheer number of characters would make narrating this novel a formidable challenge, but Weber makes them sound believable.

At times, I felt like the narration was a little too intense, which left me with the uncomfortable feeling of being confused as to whether I was watching a movie or listening to someone read the book.

At 48 hours long, you are getting a lot of value for your money compared to a typical audiobook, most of which are well under 20 hours. Due to its length, I would suggest listening to it in at least 30-minute blocks, otherwise it will take so long to finish that you might forget important details from earlier in the book.

I give my students an interest questionnaire at the start of every semester to give me some insight into their backgrounds, motivations, and interests. One of the questions is about their favorite book. I was pleasantly surprised to see that two of my students who proudly declared themselves to be non-readers had indicated that “It” was theirs. At 1,138 pages for the paperback and considering the fact that this wasn’t a book that was assigned in school, I think it’s fair to say that these students just haven’t found enough other books that interest them.

I really look forward to listening to “It” again in a few years after I have read some of King’s other works, perhaps on a long solo road trip. I’m sure that some of my perspectives will have changed and that I will pick up on new details that I missed the first time.

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