Insomnia

A magnificent read - SK is an absolute genius. This is my favourite SK novel so far, I got slowly pulled in by the simple opening scenes of an elderly man in his own home, not very exciting by anyone's standards, but in the hands of SK you can't help but become hooked. A great pace to the story

Show More

that kept me from doing much else but read, I became addicted..........I lived and breathed the book until the very end and continued wth it in my head for days afterwards. I've yet to find another SK novel to take me on that thrilling ride once more...........and knowing the acute brain and story telling skills of this man, I know I will

Show Less

This is one of my favorite King novels. It is smart, plausible, in an odd sort of way, and terrifying. I think it is a commentary on the thought that when your time is up, there is nothing you can do. You will never look at balloon strings the same way.

When I first read this book, probably around the time it first came out in paperback, I liked it a lot. That was due mainly (I think) to its obvious connection to the then-unfinished Dark Tower series. Now, with a great deal more reading experience and the Tower having been breached, I like it

Show More

less. It's still decent, but nowhere near the top of the list.

King himself, in On Writing, calls this a "stiff, trying-too-hard" book, and I'd have to agree with that assessment. Too much of the plot is advanced through expository dialogue, and the character of Dorrance Marstellar is deus ex machina personified. It also loses some points for not being totally accurate in its connection to the Dark Tower, although, given the time fractures inherent in that series (not to mention the fact that this book came out at least ten years before the last Tower books), that's probably not a big deal.

For all of that, I think the premise was pretty cool, and the characters (the main ones, at least) were well written. King rarely disappoints on that score. All in all, I'd say this book is a must-read for Tower junkies, but anyone else can probably give it a miss.

Show Less

I'm doing a review on this book because i saw some from other people and it reminded me that its' in my collection. for some reason this brings to mind swan's song as well. these two books are two of my favorites. This book does twist and turn and kindof like from dusk til dawn throws you into a

Show More

place you don't remotely expect, more like in a direction it wasn't headed to. However it is probably my favorite king novel, this and the bachman books. I was completely absorbed in the story and loved it. i have to admit when i started the book it gave me the creeps but it isn't that type of book. it is definently worth reading, and completely. i felt very drawn to the characters and i couldn't put it down either.

Show Less

As per usual, it's been over twenty years since I read this novel, having burned through it in a few days immediately after its publication date, 23 years ago tomorrow. But I held very few memories of this, beyond the main character being older, not being able to sleep (well, duh...), and watching

Show More

something weird happening on his street with shadowy figures. And some dim recollection that this tied in with the Dark Tower series somehow.

This time around, I now believe this to be one of the weaker efforts by King. The basic plot is actually quite simple—and no, I won't spoil it, because it frigging takes King forever to get around to it—but the execution felt both unfocused and spitballed.

Part One, taking up about the first almost 40% of the novel, is a shockingly over-long preamble to the main event that easily could have been cut from 300 pages to likely something more like 60 and massively improved the pacing. There's some irony in the fact that a book named Insomnia made me want to go lie down for the majority of this section. Beyond Ralph sleeping less and less, and Ed Deepneau losing his shit, very little else happens, and what does isn't all that exciting.

Part Two raises the stakes, thankfully, and this is where King seemed to find his footing for a while. Unfortunately, in finally getting the plot going, it also contains a massive information dump that King seems to have a hell of a time wrapping up and getting out of so the story can progress. And once he does, then he seems to (at least to me), emasculate the main villain of the piece, Atropos.

Long story short, this is a bit of a blind alley on the way to the Dark Tower, and a quick check in on a couple of the kids from the Loser's Club from It, so it's kind of required reading for the King completist (and yeah, I'm one of them), but overall, while it does have some lovely moments, primarily between Ralph and Lois, for the most part, there are far better books by King to read.

And so ends the first chunk of my King re-read. I've completed his first twenty years (minus the Dark Tower books and The Talisman). I'm going to give it a bit of a break, then resume in the near future, starting with Rose Madder.

Show Less

One of his worst...it put me to sleep, fast....took me 6 months to finish..read other books in between. Weak plaot, weak characters and too overblown...

A real fantasy in the wider sense rather that strictly horror, with some great special effects. There's no real intellectual content, it's just Story and fittingly I did lose quite a bit of sleep as I was up until 4am compulsively reading it. It ties in to a number of King's other novels, mostly

Show More

The Dark Tower series. You don't have to have read that to enjoy this and it might actually be better if you haven't as you get a sense of metaphysical mysteriousity. Highly recommended to the newcomer and established fan alike.

Show Less

Ralph Roberts just wants one good night of sleep before it kills him... or drives him insane... and at this point, he's not sure which of those is worse.

In Insomnia, we are treated to a look at the cosmic forces at play in Stephen King's multiverse. With events that tie directly to Roland's quest

Show More

for the Dark Tower and the potential success of that quest, we are introduced to the Purpose, the Random, and finally come face to face with the Crimson King himself.

A cosmic chess game is played out in the small town of Derry, Maine, where only 8 years ago the most malevolent force of all was finally banished. Now other forces are at work, and the fate of King's multiverse hinges on how this particular fight turns out.

Little bald doctors, insomniac retirees, the colors at play on levels beyond normal sight, and one madman with a mission; sounds like a real barnstormer... er, burner, barn burner.

I do have to say that I really enjoyed this one. It had me champing at the bit to see what would happen next.

Show Less

Our hero, an old man with a dying wife, begins loosing sleep and (he thinks) hallucinating. He can see auras around people, fields of light that change according to their mood and health and terminate in a long "balloon-string," their soul. And if that's not strange enough, he starts seeing three

Show More

little bald men dressed as surgeons, who go around snipping people's strings. ( I could not make this up).

On the whole, while I personally have some affection for this book, I can't give it my unconditional recommendation. Steven King has written many great pieces that anybody can read (Desperation, Hearts in Atlantis), but this is not one of them. While King fans will find a lot to like, anybody who's not already fimrly entrenched as a King enthusiast should probably stick to one of his more accessible books.

Show Less

I do not remember being overly impressed with this story the first time I read it. In fact, I remember thinking it was one of Sk's more mundance efforts. This time around, however, I admired the complexity of the plot and the progression of the characters towards other dimensional levels. I like it

Show More

so go figure.

Show Less

Like much of the latter King overlong and overwritten. The book has always been personally compelling to me because I first read it during a period of my life when I suffered from dreadful insomnia. Like Ralph I find that everyone had a cure for me and none of them worked. To this day whenever I

Show More

wake up at 3 in the morning I think of this book.
It is interesting to see King attempt to expand on what had earlier been a more implied than clearly explicated shared universe.

Show Less

Currently reading and about to finish this book. This is my 3rd King book. I was never a huge Stephen King fan but was pushed to read him by my bf who is a big fan. The book has a slow start and is fairly long, the story really does not start to pick up until the second half of the book, which has

Show More

caused me to take long pausing in reading because I was loosing interest. However once you get through that rough patch, the book is very good and as always very well writen.

Show Less

Another one of my favorite King stories. Loved the men and their auras. Another of the only to make me cry

In this Stephen King book you must prepare yourself to face the supernatural and the spine tingling yet again. In his book, Insomnia, you walk with two elderly people, facing the struggles of insomnia, and the supernatural powers that come with the lack of sleep. I never thought that a horror book

Show More

could be so heartwarming, but you find yourself loving the main characters. This book is very well written, and stays true to the Stephen King style we all love. It is a must read for anyone loving horror, suspense, supernatural, or mystery stories. A book for young and old alike.

Show Less

Insomnia seems to be Stephen King's attempt at a morality tale, which succeeds with mixed results. He creates a cast of memorable characters. I found his use of an elderly couple as his hero/heroine to be both unique and charming and the epilogue (that continues to follow these characters) is,

Show More

without a doubt, touching. King's lurking references to his other works also surface here (s0mething I've always enjoyed in his work). On the other hand there, are a quite few times when the story starts becoming rather ridiculous and laughable - not a response I think the author had intended. Over all, it's not a bad read if you have the time.

Show Less

Rated: PG-13 Language
Through some paranormal quirk Ralph Roberts gets a look into alternate view of our world. As always Stephen King is very descriptive, and fun to read. One of the better Stephen King endings.
There is a lot of crossover in this book with the Gun Slinger series. That is really

Show More

fun for me, but if you haven't read the Gun Slinger series I could see this crossover as annoying.

Show Less

This Stephen King doorstop has many of the horror-master's signature tropes: it's set in Derry, Maine; it's a tale of very ordinary people called to confront and fight extraordinary evil; it's got a whole funky school bus full of odd and delightful supporting characters; it's long and unevenly

Show More

written.

One element that distinguishes this book is King's rather overt treatment of a single political/moral issue, i.e. abortion. His own views are certainly communicated clearly, which isn't a plus, but King is not stupid or unfair. He gives the 'opposition' on this issue a good hearing, both via characters expressing their views without being caricatured, and in certain plot developments that suggest King himself may have some deep doubts of his own views.

Recommended, but only after you've read the dozen or more King novels that are much better.

Show Less

I so could have done without his nonstop, unending views on abortion. You're an entertainer, not a politician, and your views on abortion had no bearing on the story whatsoever; it was just a poor, transparent way to rant and rave about something you have very little expertise on. Stick to the

Show More

fiction, please. Otherwise, the story was very good and enjoyable, and I continue to ENJOY THE TIES THAT BIND ALL sTEPHEN kING'S WORKS TO THE dARK tOWER

Show Less

Second in the Derry trilogy. I felt there was a good story here, King just missed it by trying too hard. The Greek mythological aspect is more successful than in Rose Madder, though the Dark Tower tie-in las act is mystifying.

This book isn't scary, but it is still a very good read with some interesting concepts of reality.

This book is one of King's more bizarre works. I bought it as a joke for my son who was experiencing a rather bad case of insomnia. I ended up reading the book since I am a fan of Stephen King. What I got out of the story took me completely by surprise and was nothing like I expected. It was a good

Show More

read but bizarre to the extreme. This book reminded me that you never know what you will get when you read a Stephen King book. I enjoyed reading the book and couldn't put it down, but it is not the type of book I will read again and again. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of King, Koontz, or their type of genre.

Show Less

This is a gripping story that may give some people nightmares with its contents. Stephen King successfully develops a character that has issues sleeping since his wife died. He doesn't know what the problem is until later when he realizes he has insomnia. The main character, Ralph Roberts, gets

Show More

less and less sleep every night. He starts seeing things and he thinks he’s losing his mind but he’s getting a more or less psychic power. This book was one of the books I got and couldn’t put down. It’s a very long book and it was one I’d lose track of time while reading. I recommend it for anyone who’s not too scared of what Stephen King is capable of getting across.

Show Less

This has to be one of the slowest starting books I have ever read took about three months for me to actually read the first 200 pageswhich is weird because i usually read a book in about 3 to 4 days. Now with that said once it starts it was fantastic and i finished it within a week. The story is

Show More

great and i def. understand why he built the characters up the way he did.

Show Less

Not one of Stephen King's better efforts. The story could have been told in half of the 749 pages. I persevered to the end but was disappointed. I was intrigued by the idea of auras which I don't think are that far fetched.