9-13-17 update: 
 Going to see the new movie today and was just checking out my review. I can't believe I don't have a picture of the Pennywise dolls I made a few years ago. That's how much I love this story. It made me knit shit, and that's the highest praise I can offer. And now I get to make another one based on Bill Skarsgard's visage! Hopefully I'll remember to post that here when it's done, maybe later this year. 
 Pennywise on the left is based on his description in the book. On the left is Tim Curry's take on it. 
 6-29-16 update: 
 Five times now (three real reads, two on audiobook), and this book is still so amazing. The story is amazing. The writing style is amazing. The words are amazing. The suspense is amazing (at least the first time or two I read it; it's kind of hard to keep that going when you know the outcome beforehand). The pacing is amazing. The format is amazing. The characters, primary, secondary, tertiary and beyond are amazing. This review is not amazing, but it is brought to you by the letter "A" for "amazing." Simply amazing hence the five stars which stands for "It was amazing." 
 I love the whole thing from start to finish and am still so impressed with the last section where King weaves the mirrored events of 1958 & 1985 together seamlessly. The ending is simultaneously happy and depressing. It takes real skill to pull that off. 
 I recognize it isn't for everyone, though. (I'd never suggest this to my mother, for example; she doesn't like horror). You need to be able to handle that and general weird shit (not to mention over a thousand pages) to be able to dig this, but if you can... Oh folks. Oh good friends and neighbors. Do yourself a favor and check it out. I'm biased since this is probably one of my top five favorite books. Not just top Stephen King (it easily takes first place in that category), but top five of all books I've read. It's right up there with Peter Pan and A Christmas Carol. Some books are just so rereadable, and this is one for me. I foresee a sixth reread (or listen) in the next two or three years. 
 Update ca. 2013: 
 Listened to the audiobook version read by Stephen Weber. WOW! A great book read by one of the best narrators I've ever heard. Five stars for that too. 
 Original Review: 
 I must confess that this is my favorite SK book. It's over 1,138 pages in hardback, and I've read it three times, so that must say something for it. It is pure horror. I don't consider myself easily freaked out by stuff that's supposed to be freaky (be nice to me, though, and my skin will start to crawl, but that's a different matter entirely), but the first time I read this book, there were a couple of parts where I turned on all the lights in the house. I also did that the second time I read it. By the third time, though, I had calmed down, and was fine reading it with just the lamp. So, that's one major attraction. 
 The other is that it's set in the 1950s with kids approaching teenagery. I've always been attracted to life in the 50s. I feel like it was a simpler time, and I find that appealing. Actually, I feel like I was born at the wrong time, and that I should actually have had my formative years during that decade. Plus, this thing is just so well written. I don't want to say that it's the pinnacle of his career because his style has changed over the course of the past 30 years, and it's like comparing apples to oranges; I enjoy both of them. Still, this is my fave.