Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:14 pm
The last 40-50 pages were actually pretty good. I like the way King allows stories to wind down after the climax. I liked the last scene(s) from 1958, the magical hand cutting promise at sunset, and then Bill walking back home by himself. That was cool. I also liked Bill's last ride, and how that was set up with the skateboard kid and finding the bike.
So my only complaints were how It was beaten and the kiddie gang bang in a sewer. The former is a much bigger deal. The confrontation with It should have been more difficult or character driven or ... something. Why does belief confer such power? Is it belief, or the damn Turtle deus ex machina? It seems so trite: believe and you can do anything! Really? Well, sure, if you're backed up by the creator who pooped out the universe! If I wanted this story, I'd read the Bible. "Belief + God = kickass powers to save the world," is not why I read stories. It's worthless to me. It teaches me nothing about my humanity. It's pure fiction.
King does this a lot, giving his characters powers with no personal meaning (like TC's ring) or explanation, seeding his stories with all sorts of DEMs to get characters out of jams. That's why I liked Bill's last ride. It was personal, character-driven, and made sense. It was a kind of 'magic' I could believe in. I could see how it would wake up Audra. I could see how it would tap into something deep within Bill, something vital and essential to Life itself. That kind of belief I can accept, the faith or trust that everything is going to be alright despite the risks. That's the same kind of "faith" that a caveman brings with him to the mammoth hunt. It's bravery, it's the nobility of the human spirit ... it's not believing in the Tooth Fairy just because it's a cute part of childhood.
The best work from King that I've read is from the 90s. I'll have to try something more recent to see if this trajectory (of getting better as he ages) holds.
So my only complaints were how It was beaten and the kiddie gang bang in a sewer. The former is a much bigger deal. The confrontation with It should have been more difficult or character driven or ... something. Why does belief confer such power? Is it belief, or the damn Turtle deus ex machina? It seems so trite: believe and you can do anything! Really? Well, sure, if you're backed up by the creator who pooped out the universe! If I wanted this story, I'd read the Bible. "Belief + God = kickass powers to save the world," is not why I read stories. It's worthless to me. It teaches me nothing about my humanity. It's pure fiction.
King does this a lot, giving his characters powers with no personal meaning (like TC's ring) or explanation, seeding his stories with all sorts of DEMs to get characters out of jams. That's why I liked Bill's last ride. It was personal, character-driven, and made sense. It was a kind of 'magic' I could believe in. I could see how it would wake up Audra. I could see how it would tap into something deep within Bill, something vital and essential to Life itself. That kind of belief I can accept, the faith or trust that everything is going to be alright despite the risks. That's the same kind of "faith" that a caveman brings with him to the mammoth hunt. It's bravery, it's the nobility of the human spirit ... it's not believing in the Tooth Fairy just because it's a cute part of childhood.
The best work from King that I've read is from the 90s. I'll have to try something more recent to see if this trajectory (of getting better as he ages) holds.
