- After the Flood (1957)
- After the Carnival (1984)
- Six Phone Calls (1985)
- Derry: The First Interlude
- Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall
- Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (I)
- One of the Missing: A Tale From the Summer of '58
- The Dam In the Barrens
- Georgie's Room and the House On Neibolt Street
- Cleaning Up
- Derry: The Second Interlude
- The Reunion
- Walking Tours
- Three Uninvited Guests
- Derry: The Third Interlude
- The Apocalyptic Rockfight
- The Album
- The Smoke-Hole
- Eddie's Bad Break
- Another One of the Missing: The Death of Patrick Hockstetter
- The Bullseye
- Derry: The Fourth Interlude
- In the Watches of the Night
- The Circle Closes
- Under the City
- The Ritual of Chud
- Out
- Derry: The Final Interlude
- Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (II)
The Reunion
For the most part, I love this chapter, although it could use some tightening. The story has now been introduced and we're now steadily moving forward.
One annoying thing about the chapter is that King AGAIN divides each section up with his little "Dick and Jane" sentences ("Bill Denbrough Gets a Cab," "Ben Hanscom Gets Skinny," etc.) Incidentally, a common criticism that readers have had with the book in general is that they prefer the childhood storyline over that of the adults, but I feel that both have their strengths and weaknesses. In particular, the adult story is a lot tighter and moves much quicker. Reading this chapter, I feel like I am experiencing the novel at its prime.
The chapter beings with Bill being woken at the Derry Town House by a phone call from Mike. It's interesting to think that it will be 24 hours before any of our heroes get to sleep again, and what a long 24 hours they will be. After getting the meetup info from Mike, Bill takes a cab ride over in a sequence that is both very melancholy and comical. The character of the cab driver is pure comedy and something you'd see in a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Our heroes all meet at the Asian restaurant and there is some beautiful melancholic writing as Bill experiences seeing everyone again and reflects how they've all grown. I do again find myself wishing that "The Apocalyptic Rockfight" chapter had been placed prior to this scene; it feels awkward to read about Bill embracing Mike when we haven't seen them meet for the first time yet. After this, the gang has a big meal and Ben starts telling them of how he lost weight in a story involving a coach he met in high school. Personally, I think this goes on far too long; I mean, it's great that Ben found the motivation during his teenage years to get in shape and it's a nice, inspirational little story, but do we need to get every single detail? The first time I read this, it struck me as if King was giving weight-loss tips to his fans.
Next, Mike reveals to the others what's been going on, including the details of the killing spree. Notice how he is able to give all the relevant details of the Adrian Mellon affair in less than a paragraph, unlike Stephen King. Again, if that whole chapter had been removed, and we were just given this short account about Mellon from Mike, would the story have suffered at all? The section continues with a lot of dialogue that exists mostly for exposition. Our heroes are further developed throughout this section as Mike reveals other things about them that he suspects are the result of their encounter with It: the fact that they are all successful and the fact that none of them have been able to have children despite being fertile. This is interesting, but it's never really developed what the correlation is between this and fighting It, so I feel this could have been trimmed as well. Finally, the gang decides to go out and reminisce around Derry before meeting again that evening, only to get a nasty shock: their fortune cookies open to reveal disgusting scares such as eyeballs and bugs.
So in the end, while this chapter could definitely have benefited from a trim, and nothing can hide the fact that it is mostly just exposition, it is still a fantastic read, mostly because we've come to love these characters and the bond they have with one another.
One annoying thing about the chapter is that King AGAIN divides each section up with his little "Dick and Jane" sentences ("Bill Denbrough Gets a Cab," "Ben Hanscom Gets Skinny," etc.) Incidentally, a common criticism that readers have had with the book in general is that they prefer the childhood storyline over that of the adults, but I feel that both have their strengths and weaknesses. In particular, the adult story is a lot tighter and moves much quicker. Reading this chapter, I feel like I am experiencing the novel at its prime.
The chapter beings with Bill being woken at the Derry Town House by a phone call from Mike. It's interesting to think that it will be 24 hours before any of our heroes get to sleep again, and what a long 24 hours they will be. After getting the meetup info from Mike, Bill takes a cab ride over in a sequence that is both very melancholy and comical. The character of the cab driver is pure comedy and something you'd see in a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Our heroes all meet at the Asian restaurant and there is some beautiful melancholic writing as Bill experiences seeing everyone again and reflects how they've all grown. I do again find myself wishing that "The Apocalyptic Rockfight" chapter had been placed prior to this scene; it feels awkward to read about Bill embracing Mike when we haven't seen them meet for the first time yet. After this, the gang has a big meal and Ben starts telling them of how he lost weight in a story involving a coach he met in high school. Personally, I think this goes on far too long; I mean, it's great that Ben found the motivation during his teenage years to get in shape and it's a nice, inspirational little story, but do we need to get every single detail? The first time I read this, it struck me as if King was giving weight-loss tips to his fans.
Next, Mike reveals to the others what's been going on, including the details of the killing spree. Notice how he is able to give all the relevant details of the Adrian Mellon affair in less than a paragraph, unlike Stephen King. Again, if that whole chapter had been removed, and we were just given this short account about Mellon from Mike, would the story have suffered at all? The section continues with a lot of dialogue that exists mostly for exposition. Our heroes are further developed throughout this section as Mike reveals other things about them that he suspects are the result of their encounter with It: the fact that they are all successful and the fact that none of them have been able to have children despite being fertile. This is interesting, but it's never really developed what the correlation is between this and fighting It, so I feel this could have been trimmed as well. Finally, the gang decides to go out and reminisce around Derry before meeting again that evening, only to get a nasty shock: their fortune cookies open to reveal disgusting scares such as eyeballs and bugs.
So in the end, while this chapter could definitely have benefited from a trim, and nothing can hide the fact that it is mostly just exposition, it is still a fantastic read, mostly because we've come to love these characters and the bond they have with one another.