I read a ton of books depicting friendships. Of all ages. I’ve read Young adult and middle grade writers like Erin Entrada Kelly, Melanie Conklin, Amy Serig King, and their superbly written friendships have stuck with me over the years. They are merely three of dozens of authors who tell a solid friendship tale that gives the reader more than they anticipated.

And then I have read adult books in the same vein. Those books where you think–Wow. That’s exactly how is it in real life. Until now. Stephen King is a magician, a poet, a disciple of something truly higher. A true storyteller. He also happens to be my husband’s favorite author, and through the years I have read books like The Shining, 11/22/63, and a newer one called Joyland. “Someday you should read It.” That someday was May 27-June 8. That’s how long it took me to read the 1174 page masterpiece that I cannot stop thinking about. In the last 30 pages, I was so anxious and scared, my legs were twisting and flopping as I read. That was a first.

Back to friendships–not only does King know how to capture the visceral and the movements and the tasks we do in friendships–the participation part–he throws this huge precise net around the spiritual part too. The things a writer isn’t supposed to be able to illustrate with words. Well, this man does. And it’s mind-blowing. Beyond his horror-writing skills and gorgeous setting descriptions, he knows how to loop your soul right into the relationships that human beings experience. Do I sound like a super fan or hyperbolic? Read It, then we will chat.

“No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.”

“What can be done when you’re eleven can often never be done again.”

“The energy you drew on so extravagantly when you were a kid, the energy you thought would never exhaust itself – that slipped away somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four, to be replaced by something much duller..”

As I write this part of me thinks maybe you have to be a LOVER of words to really understand my perspective regarding King’s brilliance. I’m not sure. As I read the book, I was grabbing quotes, sending them to Kevin, my husband and book clubber for IT (ha, one he didn’t sign up for, but enjoyed). There are so many scenes that left me stunned with “How did he do that? How did he—”

If you don’t know the premise of It, you can easily google it, but I’ll save you a few: seven friends in a flood-prone, industrial town in Maine in both 1958 and 1984. (Don’t bother with the new films from 2017 and 2019; they fail) The 1990 TV version isn’t terrible and is much more faithful. There is evil in the town, there is summer, there is a library, a clown, loads of New England creepy history, and so much humanity–all sides of it. They build things in the “woods”, they ride their bikes at ungodly urgent speeds, they use rocks as weapons, and they hang out from dusk til dawn–something I wish my kids could relate to. They band together, they protect each other, they force each other to be better and braver.

I will read It again one day. No other book has left me so speechless for its exquisite portrayal of how people relate to each other. For real. The way kids think. The way kids move. The way kids…fear and hope and love–and how it follows us into adulthood.

Beep. Beep.
Elaina xo