I'd like to read the book but the thing is a whopping 1300 pages long (200 pages longer than The Lord of the Rings), and I've other things to read. Is it worth investing the time it takes to read the book?
If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris
The book is fantastic. This mini series is just garbage.
shareWhat's the justification for it being 1300 pages long though?
If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris
Read the book, it is amazing it is 1,300 pages of detail its amazing one man can create a story like that. The mini-series is watered down not just in length but in content.
share[deleted]
Because Stephen King likes to ramble. A lot. I'm struggling to get through the novel as it feels like it takes about 10 pages just to get to a point he's trying to make that should take 3 sentences.
This isn't from the novel, as I just made this up, but this is how IT reads. For example...
Most novels: Bill liked checkers.
Stephen King: Bill Denbrough liked to play checkers. He always played the red checker. Why? Because his favorite color is red. Red has always been his favorite color because it reminded him of red licorice. Licorice he used to buy for a penny at his favorite corner shop where Mr. Crowley ran his business. This business dated back a few generations and before Derry became the Derry it is now. Back then, the Crowley family... yadda yadda yadda.
Because Stephen King likes to ramble. A lot. I'm struggling to get through the novel as it feels like it takes about 10 pages just to get to a point he's trying to make that should take 3 sentences.
Yes, exactly. Its very frustrating.
Most novels: Bill liked checkers.
Stephen King: Bill Denbrough liked to play checkers. He always played the red checker. Why? Because his favorite color is red. Red has always been his favorite color because it reminded him of red licorice. Licorice he used to buy for a penny at his favorite corner shop where Mr. Crowley ran his business. This business dated back a few generations and before Derry became the Derry it is now. Back then, the Crowley family... yadda yadda yadda.
I read the first 100 pages and that's actually exactly how it reads.
In that chapter where Stanley mysteriously kills himself in the bathtub and his wife finds him, there's about 15 pages of pointless background information leading up to it, stuff about the difficulties they've overcome being Jewish, occupational difficulties, marriage difficulties, the in-laws snotty attitude, an anecdote about the wife at party years ago etc etc, and it just goes on and on. How is any of this relevant?
I'm not reading it, I could read three or even four classics in the same time it'd take to read this.
If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris
You are missing out.
shareFor me, that level of detail is the best part of King's writing. You get to fully know the characters.
sharethis!
King's attention to detail is one of the reasons he's enjoyed so widely... and if you think a 1300 page book is big, you'll "love" those random college classes that require you to read a novel a week... even a short book can seem that long if it's boring. At least King's 1300 pages is a fast read considering the depth he goes with most characters.
I'm not reading it, I could read three or even four classics in the same time it'd take to read this.
I'm currently reading the novel for the first time. The good bits are great, but some stuff just seems totally pointless. Like where he lists off all the medications that Eddie had in his bathroom...
The story finally feels like it is really starting, and I'm about 300 pages in.
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The main reason that Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live
In that chapter where Stanley mysteriously kills himself in the bathtub and his wife finds him, there's about 15 pages of pointless background information leading up to it, stuff about the difficulties they've overcome being Jewish, occupational difficulties, marriage difficulties, the in-laws snotty attitude, an anecdote about the wife at party years ago etc etc, and it just goes on and on. How is any of this relevant?
LOL. Here is something I wrote on the Stephen King page talking about pet peeves about some of his writing:
Going on and on, describing everything and taking forever to get to the next action point. Sometimes I get annoyed when I want to know what happens next in a particular scene or plot and he goes off on some tangent taking 20 pages to tell me a character walked down to the mailbox and got the mail. We'd have to describe every blade of grass, follow the plot of an ant for five minutes, give us the life story of a bird that flew by, explain in detail the paintjob of the mailbox etc., etc.
I don't always feel this way but at times I do feel like, CAN WE GET BACK TO THE STORY PLEASE!!!?
Good or bad, King certainly adds a lot to the length of his books with stuff like you described above. It makes his books a lot more inimidating and time-consuming to read, but it also makes them more thorough and detailed.
sharePerfect example but you let out a few parts-
A man named Yin in China was born in a small village. The village was founded in the 1600s an explorers discovered it. The explorers fathers was adopted in the early 1600s and his favorite color was read. He was in search of precious stones for his wife. His wife was born into a wealthy family and loved stones. So Yin's father devoted himself to finding them in order to win her heart. He came upon a tree and took a break. The tree was planted by a foreigner who loved trees. His grandfather had a tree farm. Yin dreams of the man who plants the tree. Continues for 20 pages. When Yin wakes up he finds a few stones and invents checkers. Yadda yadda
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steven king is always very long winded in his books...you could get the book on audio tape and listen to it instead
shareDefinitely read the book. It's so great that you'll probably end up wishing it were longer despite the admittedly huge length (though it's only 1,100 pages, not 1,300). And you can read multiple books simultaneously, you know.
The only complaint I have with the book is that it can get a little too detail-oriented at times, and also has an annoying tendency to go off on random tangents about side characters that don't matter to the story. Anyway, after reading the book, maybe check out the mini-series, but you'll almost certainly be disappointed after the magnificence of the book.
I'm currently reading the book, and it's only 1,100 pages. I thought for a moment that there was a longer version, 1,300 pages, and I was excited to go out and find it!
This novel could have been 3,000 pages, with more detail everywhere, and I would devour it again (no pun intended).
I especially love the scenes with the kids just being kids, building a dam, or on safari through the jungle with tigers and piranha posing danger!
I intend to live forever.
So far, so good.
The number of pages depends on the edition. My copy is in Spanish and it's 1500 pages.
shareRead the book. Well worth it!
shareOh my, the book is an absoloute masterpiece, one of the best books ive ever read, easily my fav horror book. It is FKN amazing. defienently read it, its enthralling and very, very scary.
The TV movie, is but a pale reflection of the book, they extracted ALL the good stuff out and left just a skeleton of the book. The only thing the movie got right was pennywise and the losers club as kids. honestly, the rest is meh..
But seriously, they book is amazing, read it.
Check it out, The Best movies ever made. (I think)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls009262429/
The novel deserves to be read in its entirety; cover to cover.
Sure, there is alot of off topic fluff between the 'meaty bits' of the novel, but as a whole it worth the invested time. King goes into great character depth in the novel, devoting sizeable to chunks to, for instance, Beverley's relationship with Tom Grogan. It is just part of his writing to style to tell you about the characters.
If you do read the whole thing you will likely be in the group who believe that the mini-series did it little justice and produced a watered down sketchy version. Truth is that even 3 hours cannot really cover the novel, so the film makers had to omit whole chunks of the novel and translate even important, fairly extensive parts into 30 seconds or so of footage. However, it was still handled poorly.
I'm sure you made your mind at this point but the book is amazing. I enjoy the mini series but not the same level as the book.
shareIts worth reading. The miniseries is a poor alternative to reading the book, but you might as well watch it either way. If you're going to put the time into reading the 1300 pages, you might as well do 3 more hours to get the full experience.
shareI'm reading the book now and I agree with all the details. At some point I like them but others I don't. A few times I've scanned a page then flip to get past it. I mean do we need to know the full history of the bar were Ben goes to drink before he returns to Maine? I'm about half way through the book I'm enjoying it. I'm often eager though to get to places that were shown in the movie. It seemed like it took forever just to get to where the kids build the dam. I managed to read all the history of the Barrens and hope it was worth reading.
One of my teens who enjoys reading asked if I liked Stephen King books. This is just my second one but I told her if you want to read 20+ pages on the history and decorations of a hotel entry way then read it. She laugh and I told her that was in The Shining. I went on to tell her the book was good and I am glad I'm reading IT now even though it can get as boring as The Shining did.