For my intro post, click here, and for my midway post, click here. To read all participants' thoughts of the Italong, click here.

It's all finished. Done. Over. And I'm bummed out.

I'm sad, for many reasons, but mostly because I had the most fun tweeting away, commiserating, complaining, laughing, and more with the other participants. Thank you to our fabulous hosts, Jill and Christina, for leading the charge, giving out prizes and holding clown-nose picture-fests...you both were fantastic and I can't wait to join another weird read- or listen-along with you again!

I felt like I gave birth during this process. I listened to the audiobook and lemme tell ya, it's forty-four hours LONG. That's right, 44. I am extremely proud of myself, though. If you recall, I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to listen to a long audio at some point, but tended to shy away from it because of fearful time commitments. But when Audible held a sale for $4.95 for It, holy goodness, how could I pass that up? I couldn't. And folks, Steven Weber as the narrator was UNBELIEVABLE. He made this book, in my eyes, even better. His performance was standing-ovation-worthy, and yes, I would be there throwing roses onto the stage cheering his name hoarsely. He was THE BEST audiobook narrator I have ever listened to, and I am so thankful I chose to experience the entire story in this way. It's due to the super-duo team of King and Weber that I ran 6.2 miles for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago because I couldn't, or I didn't want to, stop the audio.

My Happy Thoughts (Spoiler free, read away, my friends)

• It's not about the clown. I mean, it is. But it's really not. It's more about the fear that we have when we were children. When the bump in the night really could be much more than what the parents explain it away to be.
• Did I forget to mention you should LISTEN and not read this one? I am not kidding when I tell you that Steven Weber was a master of this tale, equal in delivery to the creation of it from King's mind. Weber acted the moments out, the dialogue becoming much more intense, hilarious, or downright heart-wrenching. That scene with the refrigerator and Bill screaming "Help me!" to everyone, and then everyone hugging him? I bawled. Thank you, Mr. Weber, you delivered that magnificently. (Not to mention that Richie and Bill were much more delightful in audio. I can't imagine reading their dialogue. It just became so much more vivid, more genuine, in Mr. Weber's control.)
• The Losers' Club from It or the Free Zone from The Stand? All day long, I'd choose to be a part of this group of seven children in The Losers' Club as they lead the charge to rid Derry, Maine of that...thing. I'd rather hang out with them than with anyone from the Free Zone. While I loved the story of The Stand, I hated most of the characters, with the exception of a few (Nick, Stu, and Tom Cullen, laws yes).
• My Favorite Character from It. Richie. Wait, wait. Trust me on this. In audio, Steven Weber makes him absolutely hilarious and those much-needed moments of humor breaking the tension? Richie was wonderfully welcome in those moments. I loved him. He (Richie and Weber) made me laugh out loud on several occasions.
• Don't be a hoity-toity snob. Stephen King once again proves he is a master at spinning a tale to keep you up at night. And I don't mean because it's scary, I mean because his writing is masterful, epic, literary... That's right, folks. This man can tell a story like no one else. Sure, it may not be "high-brow" literature, but I can assure you that any lover of a classic should experience one of King's novels at some point in their reading lives. I believe there is a likelier chance that they will close the book and feel stunned that they just read King, and that they...loved it.
• The Black Spot and The Shining. For those who are planning to participate in the readalong/listenalong to The Shining in preparation for next year's release of the sequel, Dr. Sleep, don't forget about a small character from It, a Mr. Dick Halloran, who has a pivotal part of The Black Spot segments. Dick Halloran is the cook from the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, and he is awesome. It's another example of King weaving characters from old novels into new ones and making you feel like you're part of some inside story, or joke, or moment.
• Speaking of The Shining. I'm sure the printed version is incredible, but I can absolutely attest to the mastery delivered by Campbell Scott in the audiobook version. It will not disappoint. Also, it's much shorter than The Stand or It.
• I liked this better than The Stand. I think a lot of that is because I hated Frannie from The Stand. I mean, HATED her. She was so annoying. It really didn't have any annoying characters, and if there were, I didn't notice it because Steven Weber made them interesting in some way through his audio narration.

My Unhappy Thoughts (with spoilers)

• Derry, Maine History...yawn. Yeah, I am of the same feeling with most of the #Italong participants that this part was just slightly one step above boring. I love when King meanders in his storytelling, but this part was just...not engaging. I also couldn't figure out what Mike's role in everything was when he was first introduced as an adult.
• The angriest moment I've ever had with King. The thing at the end in the sewers that Bev does to "bring everyone together?" That was terrible. I hated it. It is the only event in any of King's writing that made me upset, made me angry. I was extremely disappointed and thought it was a miserable attempt at showing the bond between the group, and it was ridiculously upsetting. I am already working on trying to forget that part of the story. I never want to remember that ever again. EVER.
• Who cares about the Turtle? Seriously, that was a let-down. I so wanted it to be representative of wisdom, and to some extent it was, but I felt a little of the air let out of the sails on that one.

Final Thoughts

It becomes yet another example of Stephen King's ability to master the epic tale, to deliver suspense, and edge-of-your-seat thrilling scenes, combined with the softer and emotional side of childhood. It becomes so much more than a story about a scary clown in a sewer and instead becomes a journey of seven children from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s as they grow into adults who have a job left unfinished. And please, please, take a chance and download the audiobook. You will not be disappointed.

This is another selection for Carl's RIP event. To read other RIP participants' reviews, click here. Additionally, it satisfies the project I co-host at The Stephen King Project.

A big swooshing balloon filled, underground sewer thank you to the ladies over at Fizzy Thoughts and Annotated Reading for hosting the IT-along! With clown noses and bookmarks to share, it's been so fun! To read other participants' posts, click here.

Midway through this book of a group of young kids in 1958 in Derry, Maine, self-dubbed as "The Losers' Club" who are slowly understanding that there is an evil pursuing children, I'm struck by yet again how much I love the way King writes. Alternating chapters with each characters' viewpoints, both when they were children and as adults, it's an incredible story.  It deviates to unimportant events (quite a bit, actually), but I actually enjoy all of it. It may be because I'm listening to the audio book that I don't notice all the back story and uber-character development because the audio is so vivid.

A few thoughts:

• The audio book is AMAZING. Steven Weber is MAGNIFICENT. Had it not been for Trish recommending the audio and then Audible.com having an incredible $4.95 sale, I never would have downloaded this 44-hour audio book. Forty.Four. HOURS. Instead of being afraid of such a massive audio length, it's because of Sir Weber that I shirk the reading of the book in favor of listening to him take us through the cadences of no less than twenty-two characters. Twenty-two! The fact that King keeps it all straight so that you aren't confused, and that Weber can alter the voices so distinctly that it's always clear who's speaking, is incredible. I do believe that this type of a book may best be listened to in audio. The characters' inner thoughts just become even more riveting.
• Characters and places reappearing in multiple novels. You may know that the fictional town of Derry, Maine is regularly featured in King's novels, but it's wildly fun when you have a reappearing character pop up. One of the main characters in The Shining (my review is here) is Dick Halloran, the cook at the Overlook Hotel. He is briefly mentioned in Mike Hanlon's section as a fellow soldier at "The Black Spot." I love being familiar with King's characters to notice that!
• King writes so genuinely about kids. The main thing about Stephen King stories is that he does an incredible job of realistically conveying what it is like to be a kid. Insecurities, feeling left out, how bullies act and how the bullied feel afterwards, is so genuinely drawn that every scene feels so believable. It's not unusual for me to get a little verklempt when I read certain sections, like the part about Ben and the "H" scar on his stomach, for example. Gawd, people. I was so sad when I listened to Steven Weber narrate those scenes.
• The character I love. I adore all in "The Losers' Club," especially Bill Denbrough, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Ben. He has no friends but never once considers himself as lonely. When he finally gets close to Bev, Eddie, Richie, and everyone in the group, it's just that much more special. Getting beat up by the bullies is frightening but I did love it when Ben turned around to beat them up in the alley after the movie.
• Turtle? I am lost. No idea what this is.
• IT vs. The Stand. I gotta admit, I think I like IT so much more than The Stand, but I do think it's because of the audio book, so I have plans to listen to The Stand in the next couple of years to give them both a fair comparison.
• The Shining. For those who will be participating in the upcoming readalong for The Shining, I highly recommend the audio book narrated by Campbell Scott. It's incredible.

Hoooo boy, Stephen King keeps it creepy. As I've mentioned before, my evening runs in the neighborhood are creepier every time I pass a sewer drain. Weber's clown voice comes through into my ears with "We all float down heeerreee...." and that makes me pick up my pace.

In celebration of all things Stephen King and my new nose (er, I mean, clown nose), here's my pic for Fizzy Thought's public shaming contest. I decided to listen/read for the #ITalong, and let me tell you, Steven Weber is AMAZING as the narrator for IT. His voices are just fluidly perfect for each character, and it is incredibly entertaining (and scary). I love listening to it much more than reading it and those nightly runs I now take tend to get much creepier and disturbing when I have to run past any sewers, gutters, drains...

I'm not the most coordinated to begin with, and I was taking the picture myself (because I didn't want my husband to think I was bizarre, but the online world? No problem!) and for some reason I thought I was waving hello, when really...it looks more like an alien hand, right?