Insomnia
by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of Insomnia
Book Review: I'll refrain from the hackneyed "it's a cure for"...
Summary: 2 Stars
If INSOMNIA was a stock instead of a book, you could short it and make it a lot of money. My sincerest apologies upfront for such a negative proclamation, but I'm afraid this particular piece warrants such baleful analogy. To take the metaphor further, King found himself in a creative bear market when he took up the task of putting a tale behind such a fantastic title; INSOMNIA is, after all, an effusively evocative moniker, especially useful to the composer of the fantastic and the Grand Guignol. What could possibly happen to a hapless character suffering from the anti-somnolent affliction in King's dexterous hands?
Unfortunately, not a whole lot.
Well, let me rephrase: a lot happens, but none of it is necessarily transfixing. INSOMNIA follows the latter-stage life of recent widower Ralph Roberts, citizen of Derry, the Maine municipality which, at one time, was terrorized by a sadistic, shape-shifting clown from the dark bowels of reality. Ralph is having difficulty sleeping, and try as he might, he cannot seem to find a panacea which would afford him a proper night's rest. But his sleepless nights become even more restless when he begins seeing strange visions outside his window, the so-called "little bald doctors"- what are they, and what are they up to? Are they, good, evil, apolitical? Ralph also seems to have developed an extrasensory perception of the world around him, his eyes detecting colorful auras attached to people- what are these ribbon-like palettes, are they representatives of people's spirits, their souls?
But there are other concerns brewing in the cauldron of Derry. Susan Day, staunch pro-choice activist, is coming to town, bringing with her one heck of a polemic catalyst. Edward Deepneau is acting kind of crazy, and Dorrance Marstellar is running around uttering cryptic aphorisms like "done-bun-can't-be-undone". Ralph's female friend Lois is also undergoing a similar transformation as he himself, and together they find out what the trio of elfish creatures are and what roles they play in helping to maintain the homeostasis of existence and the productive distribution of destiny; they also do chivalrous battle with a sinister, frightening creature known as the Crimson King, a demon which is determined to confer its chaos.
INSOMNIA is not so much a book of plasma-chilling horror as it is a study in Dungeons-and-Dragons-like fantasy...a diluted kind, to be sure. In fact, a Lord-Of-The-Rings motif is threaded through the text, quite apt for today's marketplace. But the problem is the narrative never quite reaches critical mass, no fusion ever takes place, and we are left with a story full of characters and plot and concepts and well-meaning prose which can never be summated into anything grand, no matter how many sigma symbols we place before it. King even called the book's primary draft not fit for publication in an interview, saying that he was waiting for the "sparrows" to make it fly (he had a similar situation with THE DARK HALF, whose initial attempt lacked the hook of the sparrows, making the story less than vibrant; once he came up with the sparrows notion, a winner was born). I believe the birds which gave wing to INSOMNIA was the linkage between the conundrums in Derry and their relationship with Roland's parallel world in THE DARK TOWER series. Although it is arguable that this additional element did indeed add pizzazz to the manuscript, I'd offer counterpoint and say that whatever amount of gain King scored, it was insufficient to avoid a net loss in overall effect. (I'd also add, somewhat irrelevant to the current topic, that his consistent insistence on turning many of his previous works into subordinate chapters of the Tower series diminishes their value; I myself like it when pieces stand alone are not dependent on the rules and regulations of another universe [unless, of course, they were meant to in the first place]; just my personal preference.)
There is no question that King is an ace storyteller; his achievement at the craft is manifest in INSOMNIA. That's what my two stars are for: his writing is competent and poetic, he has a gift for metaphor-alchemy, his characters exist in several fleshy dimensions- here there be no bag-of-bones cast. But sometimes, ability can not cast a long enough shadow over banality, and I think INSOMNIA is one of those times. Reading it will not be such a bad decision, especially if you are a fan and if you desire to be exhaustive in your coverage. The book is an underperformer in King's literary portfolio, but one that still beats the broader market at large...
Book Review: It will keep you awake by how bad it is
Summary: 1 Stars
I've never suffered from Insomnia, but I can imagine that it would not be a pleasant experience to go through, especially if you suffer from the things Stephen King's characters go through in this book.
How do you explain a plot that makes no sense? Get ready readers and make sure you got your thinking caps on, because some of this probably is not going to make a whole lot of sense (just like this novel).
The story is basically told from the point of view of Ralph, in third person. In the beginning of the story Ralph's long time wife dies of cancer. Shortly after, Ralph discovers that he is getting less and less sleep with every passing night, and the realization comes to him: he has insomnia. We then get the pleasure of reading though 200 pages or so of Ralph trying to find various ways to cure his insomnia. If you do suffer from insomnia, this just might be the cure for you in these first 200 pages. Despite how boring the first part of the novel is, it only goes downhill from here.
It goes from boring to ridiculous.
All of a sudden crazy things start happening to poor old Ralph. First, he watches his long time neighbor start to go crazy, becoming violent towards his wife, and demonstrating in violent anti-abortion protests. Worst yet, Ralph begins seeing things, like an eerie acid trip. The world changes in front of his eyes; people suddenly have colored auroras all around them now. Some people have orange ones, some purple ones, etc. These auroras represent people's emotions or vibes. Beside these auroras, they have balloon strings attached to these auroras that represent lifelines. Ralph's hallucinations begin to worsen, and he begins to see little bald doctors from another dimension of time causing havoc, and cutting these balloon strings from people's heads causing them to die. Are you getting it all yet? It gets worse. Ralph next finds out his lady friend, Louis, can see the same things as he can. Eventually, some of the bald doctors (there are good ones and bad ones) need his help to save a little boy that is going to die in the near future. The event this disaster is to take place is no other than a Pro-choice rally that is going to be held. Ralph's crazy neighbor is planning to suicide bomb the whole thing, and now it is up to Ralph and Louis to stop him, with the help of their "other dimension" friends. What will happen? Who cares?
Did I mention that Ralph is able to do a karate chop that sends a wave of colored energy which can do harm to the bad "other dimension" doctors? Or that Louis can do the same thing with her hand pointed like a gun, similar to what we did as a kid when we played cops and robbers. Did I mention that Ralph, despite all the chaos going on around him, gets the urge to have sex with Louis? I am sure I forgot to mention that the little doctors from the other dimension love to say dirty phrases that are so bad they couldn't even be appropriate in an R-rated movie, and that everyone in the whole down of Derry, both old and young, use the f-word like its going out of style. I gotta mention the dramatic climax where Ralph fights a giant catfish.
Ugh. I could go on and on. The book gets more stupid and ridiculous as it rolls on, and you are almost praying for the boredom you felt to come back in the beginning of the novel. The plot has more holes than a slice a swiss cheese. The dialogue is weak. The characters are weak. Ralph and Louis try to be funny but they are not. King tries to come off as creative, but I assure you there is a fine line between creative and ridiculous. King also could have left out the heavy handed issue of abortion from this novel, because it doesn't even need to be there, and it makes this book even worse. I have read some of the reviews here, and I am stunned people could actually enjoy this novel. If you gave me a quarter for every time I rolled my eyes and said "c'mon" I would be a rich man. The novel gets worse and worse as you progress, and the "touching" ending makes it even worse, as if somehow King is trying to put a powerful statement on all this trash.
This is the worst novel I have ever read by Stephen King, who I really do love as an author. I think that alone makes this novel even more inexcusable, considering the talent that he has. He should know better than this. I just was amazed how bad this material really was. I could go on and on about what else was bad and why, but I think the things I have said should suffice.
Grade: D-
Book Review: The King Takes A Stab at Fantasy/ Horror!
Summary: 5 Stars
Insomnia(1994). Stephen King's 23rd Novel.
If you are a fan of Stephen King(AKA "Constant Readers"), 'Insomnia' is a book that you either love, or you hate. There is absolutely no middle-ground. I was wary of reading this for a long time because more than a few people told me it was so boring they couldn't get past the first 100 pages. But there were a select few who said that it was a masterpiece, a mixture of Fantasy and Horror with dazzling results. Connected very heavily with the Dark Tower Series(Which I haven't read yet), 'Insomnia' interested me, so I decided to pick it up against the recommendations of many people. Like it or not, 'Insomnia' was a huge success, hitting #1 on the New York Times Book List, and staying there for quite a while. So, is 'Insomnia' a frail attempt at fantasy that bores the reader to death, or is it an underrated masterpiece? If you ask me, it's an underrated masterpiece, and Read on to find out why!
Plot-
After the death of his beloved with Carolyn, Ralph Roberts begins to have symptoms of insomnia. Each day the insomnia seems to get worse, yet he neglects to see a doctor. Then, to his disbelief, Ralph begins to see things, things not of this world. People on the streets have "Auras" and "Balloon Strings"(Lifelines), and Ralph thinks it is all a delusion from his insomnia. Meanwhile, controversial feminist and pro-abortionist Susan Day is persuaded to come to Derry to speak on behalf of Derry's Women Health's Care Center and Abortion Clinic called WomanCare, and many people are VERY unhappy about this. One of those persons is Ed Deepanau, Ralph's former friend and neighbor, but lately his enemy, as he beat his wife to a pulp and hired somebody to kill Ralph "because he was meddling", and he warned Ralph of the Bald Doctors and the Crimson King. Ralph takes these warnings as delusions from a madman, but late one night, at his neighbor Mary Locher's house, he notices two figures standing outside her house, two Bald people with doctor's smocks on, and scissors in one hand. Soon after this occurance, Ralph is thrust into a quest that will determine the lives of over 2,000 people, and even his life.......
Writing/Opinions/Etc.-
'Insomnia' was the first Stephen King book I'd read with Fantasy elements or connections to The Dark Tower, so I was very interested in getting to read it, and ultimately I'm glad I did. King writes about a dimension behind the vision of most humans, but a select few can see it, and the horrors of death and the afterlife are plausibly explored in King's prose, and in turn, it seems so real it's actually very scary. Although many times the plot seemed a tad odd, I easily followed the story, and I was hooked! I can't imagine why anybody would think this was boring, as from page 1 to page 760, King serves up a Fantasy/Horror classic that hooked me in with its brilliant plot and idealogy and kept me guessing up until the climactic ending(The end is very much 9/11, and this was written in '94). It's funny how King can make such ludicrus happenings seem SO real, but his writing effectively did so!
Overall, 'Insomnia' was a terrific great, and definetively lived up to my highest expectations! King effectively writes a Horror/ Fantasy classic, and this really encourages me to delve into his Dark Tower series!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO FANS OF STEPHEN KING, HORROR, FANTASY, SCI-FI, DRAMA! 'INSOMNIA' HAS A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY, THOUGH I DON'T HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO STEPHEN KING NEWBIES, AS ITS LENGTH AND PLOT MAY SEEM OVERDONE! NOT KING'S BEST, BUT EXCELLENT NONETHELESS!
Also Recommended-
Dark Tower 5- Wolves of the Calla- Stephen King
IT- Stephen King
Strangers- Dean Koontz
Thanks For Reading!
Book Review: A fantasy novel about real life
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of King's long books, which unfolds slowly. It begins in the realm of ordinary life, among "the Harris Avenue Old Crocks," as hero Ralph Roberts calls the retired folks of Derry, Maine. Through the medium of Ralph's insomnia, it moves step by slow step into another dimension of reality.That dimension is described by the metaphor of the Dark Tower - so this book serves as a side trip on the quest of reading the Dark Tower series. Existence is vertical, with us ordinary humans ("short timers") on the ground floor, and "long time" beings we can't usually see existing a few flights up. The tower extends immeasurably upward, and the higher you go, the faster time moves, and the wider the view you get of existence. In this book we (briefly) meet one of the higher up "bad guys," described variously as the Crimson King, Red King, or Kingfish.
It took many pages and many hours of reading to find out what this book had to do with the Dark Tower. But did I mind? No - I loved reading about Ralph, Lois, Bill McGovern and his Panama hat, Lafayette "Faye" Chapin and his chess tournaments, Dorrance "Old Dor" Marstellar and his books of poetry, Ralph's grief over the loss of his wife, his increasing insomnia, the incipient romance between him and Lois, Rosalie the stray dog.
Ralph and Lois are gradually drawn into a fantastic world, in which they can walk through solid objects, living things are surrounded by colorful auras, and the life-energy represented by the auras can be used as a weapon against foes only perceptible on this higher level of existence. Higher powers have set in motion terrible events, and other higher powers invest Ralph and Lois with a mission to stop them. Like the fantasy sequences in Rose Madder, it sometimes takes on the aspect of a quest game (as in Ralph's attempts to retrieve objects taken from future victims by Atropos, the pranksterish agent of random death.)
There are several (at least) kinds of Stephen King novel. They vary in type, length, and pace. Types include supernatural horror, what I think of as real life horror with supernatural sprinkles (Dolores Claiborne,) real life horror mixed with fantasy (Rose Madder) and fantasy (The Dark Tower.) This book is a traditional novel, about life, love, growing older, death, grief - mixed with fantasy. Not everyone knows King is a fantasy as well as a horror writer. I just found out myself, to my delight. No one expects King to write a traditional novel. I think that's why a lot of people have been disappointed by this book. They don't open a Stephen King novel expecting to read about a bunch of old people playing chess at a picnic table and watching planes take off at the nearby airport, or about a romance between a 70 year-old widow and widower.
Personally I love the combination of real life and fantasy.
In pace, some King books are tight and fast. You can't put them down, or stop reading for a moment to try to guess what's going to happen. I love those, but they go by too fast. I like trying to guess what's going to happen. That's why I especially enjoy the greater length and slower pace of this book. I had plenty of time to ponder the puzzles.
I don't know if I can answer the question of who would like this book. It's pretty clear that people with no patience for long descriptive novels that unfold slowly should stay away from it. People who like such novels sometimes hate it when they depart from ordinary reality, so they probably wouldn't like it. Probably a taste for fantasy is the key to enjoying this novel. If you were a Tolkien or Lewis fan as a youngster, and then graduated to descriptive 19th or 20th century novels, you would probably like it. One thing I can say unequivocally - I loved it.
Book Review: Best and Worst
Summary: 4 Stars
Of all the many modern authors that write today, few are more frequently typified than Stephen King. To his critics, he is a windbag with a tendency to bloat who's far too much in love with the sound of his own voice to keep his length under control. To his fans, he is a masterful storyteller with a talent for creating lively, organic characters. Both of those poles of King appear in this book, and both to almost as great an extreme as I can remember from any of his previous writing.Let's start with the good. The characters in this book are wonderful. While I certainly don't believe that he captures the essence of old age at all (these folks are almost as active as the ridiculous old people they have on television commercials these days), since I don't see the age of the protagonist and his cohorts as being critical to the plot, I'm inclined to disregard that gaping oversight in light of the masterful treatment that he gives all of the characters who people this book. King's typical narrative voice is also present here, lending the novel a familiar tone that most readers should be able to fall in with quickly and comfortably.
The bad. This book is big. Very big. About two hundred pages too big, truth be told. The thing about the criticism of King's inability to control his bloat is that it's right, and in no other work outside of It is it more apparent than in this one. Not nearly enough happens in this book to mandate the amount of time you're going to spend reading it. By allowing the length to spiral out of control, he only makes it that much less accessible to the action-oriented horror base of his audience. King also drops a lot of brand names here--another frequent criticism. I personally don't care. You might.
In one notable deviation from King's excellent treatment of his characters, his shallow, somewhat misogynistic understanding of the female psyche rears its ugly head. I'm not a hundred percent on this, but I'm pretty sure that there's no connection between battered women and lesbianism, as King implies.
Most importantly, there's a deep element of this book that is utterly and completely unaccessible to anybody who is not at least passingly familiar with King's magnum opus--the Dark Tower. Indeed, I would wager that if you haven't read at least the first three books in the series, you're going to be completely lummoxed when it comes to understanding why some of the characters do what they do, or what's going on at all. Insomnia was penned during a period of Steve's career when he was unable to write a Dark Tower book, even though he wanted to, and that frustrated desire led him, in this case, to write a book that is so intensely mired in that world's mythology that it's nigh on incomprehensible to those not in the know. I am, so I didn't have a problem. In fact, I'd say that any Dark Tower fan probably needs to read the book precisely for that reason. Other, less familiar readers WILL have problems, however.
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.