Insomnia
by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of Insomnia
Book Review: What was King thinking?
Summary: 1 Stars
Perhaps this otherwise wonderful author was in a creative slump. Perhaps he used "INSOMNIA" as a vessel to express his blatantly liberal views.King makes Pro-Life supporters out to be maniacal, wife-beating, mentally unstable nutjobs who will go to homicidal extremes to prove a point. I found this offensive, and I am usually open-minded when it comes to poking fun at certain groups (even those I support, and the pro-life "movement" happens to be one of them). King goes too far, however. His political views are so shamefully displayed here it almost makes you cringe....at one point, King brings up the useless topic of the Bill Clinton administration (no offense to Democrats...but what place do these subjects have in a Horror novel?), and adds on to this pointlessness in writing that the main character thought "he was doing a pretty good job." Stephen, what were you thinking? You're a liberal...we get it. Don't exploit your gift to rub it in out faces.
As for the story itself, King also misses the mark. The plot -- when it decides to show up (we're talking RARE OCCASIONS here, folks) -- is a decent one, but it is truly amazing how much King goes on and on and on and on and on about the most insignificant things, or at least things I personally don't care about.
The wordy text causes one to miss obscure plotpoints -- towards the end, Ralph (the lead character) must cut a gash in his forearm to make some sort of a deal with those on the "higher level" -- does anybody have the foggiest what this was about? There were many moments in the storyline similar to this...things that make you go "huh! "
Plain and simple, INSOMNIA just doesn't keep the reader interested. It starts off as a very interesting, quirky tale which is offbeat and enjoyable. And then Mr. King ruins it by dragging out the most pointless of monologues (dealing with little things in Ralph's daily life which King found interesting, but I, for some reason, did not) that seem to go on forever.
You feel physically tired after finishing the book -- the plot developments seem lethargic, and very slow and in many cases over-complicated.
In conclusion, this is an overlong, BORING book which fails to keep the reader hooked. Avoid it like the plague.
Book Review: Sleepless
Summary: 5 Stars
"Hey, hey Susan Day how many kids have you killed today?" Once again, another somewhat bone chilling book by Stephen King. This book is an absolute page turner, even on the more `boring' pages because you wait for something interesting to happen and when it does, you just can't put the book down! Some parts in this book are hard to catch on to at times. It's almost like a good movie where if you blink then you miss an important part of it. So, you want to pay more attention to the smaller things to add up the bigger things when they come around.
I could connect with Ralph, the main character who has insomnia, because I also have insomnia. Shortly after the doctor had told me that I had insomnia I thought I could research it to find out more about it. As we all know, researching does get a bit boring. So, instead I chose to read semi-non-fiction or fully non-fiction books on insomnia. And when I was at the book store I had knocked over a book and when I went to go pick it up I found that it was about insomnia. (I know creepy coincidence). So I thought it would be the perfect book for me.
This is the perfect genre for me, because I can concentrate on other genre's I get lost and it starts to get confusing to me. This book is just about the perfect book it has mystery, horror, and a little bit of oddity all in one. Although I did like this book, I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who is below the 7th grade for 3 reasons. One, some of the language is vulgar. Two, it might be hard for some people to catch onto at first. Three, It is an awful big book; unless you enjoy reading I wouldn't exactly select this book if I was that age.
Some book information:
From politics, escaped feelings, to escaped thoughts, you can't help but pick up a Stephen King book and not enjoy it. This is by far my favorite book of all time, I would highly suggest it. Stephen King has an amazing way of writing he knows how to put everything together just right. Although the book Insomnia takes about 200 pages before something interesting starts up you get into the book so quickly you don't even notice it. This book has just about the perfect setting, it is 663 pages long, and so it is a bigger book, all the better reason to open your mind to new and exciting things though.
Enjoy!
Book Review: Having trouble sleeping? Don't read this book!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
INSOMNIA-by Stephen King Are you looking for a quick read? Don't pick up this book. Insomnia, is a long and detailed book that needs to be read when you have a lot of extra time on your hands. Not only because it's long, but because it is one of Stephen King's best, once you start it, you have to finish it. In this tale of horror and mystery, Ralph Roberts and his wife Carolyn are happily married for many years. Ralph is around seventy-five years old, but he is active and enjoys exercising. In the past couple years he has found a love for walking a path with hills. Carolyn, is around seventy-two years old, and enjoys cooking and taking care of her husband. She always took care of everything that Ralph needed, until she couldn't do it anymore. In her early seventies, Carolyn is diagnosed with an incurable disease and is given a short amount of time to live. After Carolyn dies, Ralph has a hard time coping with the death of his wife. Eventually, he realizes that he is waking up earlier and earlier. What is happening to him? Why can't he sleep? Stephen King is absolutely brilliant in this book! He captures an element of fear that no other author has dared to write. Due to the fact that this book is long, this may cause a problem for people who have trouble with understanding long, drawn out paragraphs. This book is suspenseful, causing you to keep reading, making it one of his better works. I can't compare this unique plot to any other of his books, but I really felt what it's like to feel like you're going to die, through his vivid descriptions and haunting words. Because this is a book based on older men and women, it's probably easier for people of that age group to understand the situation that the protagonist is involved in. Additionally, a lot of this story is about the strength of love through marriage, and it's probably something that is difficult for teenagers to understand. Aside from the age difference between the characters and the reader, and the length of the book, this book is definitely something you should think about reading sometime in the future. Though it is a horror, there is an element of fear and mystery that intertwines with the horror that makes this read irresistible!Book Review: Having trouble sleeping? Don't read this book!
Summary: 4 Stars
INSOMNIA-by Stephen King Are you looking for a quick read? Don't pick up this book. Insomnia, is a long and detailed book that needs to be read when you have a lot of extra time on your hands. Not only because it's long, but because it is one of Stephen King's best, once you start it, you have to finish it. In this tale of horror and mystery, Ralph Roberts and his wife Carolyn are happily married for many years. Ralph is around seventy-five years old, but he is active and enjoys exercising. In the past couple years he has found a love for walking a path with hills. Carolyn, is around seventy-two years old, and enjoys cooking and taking care of her husband. She always took care of everything that Ralph needed, until she couldn't do it anymore. In her early seventies, Carolyn is diagnosed with an incurable disease and is given a short amount of time to live. After Carolyn dies, Ralph has a hard time coping with the death of his wife. Eventually, he realizes that he is waking up earlier and earlier. What is happening to him? Why can't he sleep? Stephen King is absolutely brilliant in this book! He captures an element of fear that no other author has dared to write. Due to the fact that this book is long, this may cause a problem for people who have trouble with understanding long, drawn out paragraphs. This book is suspenseful, causing you to keep reading, making it one of his better works. I can't compare this unique plot to any other of his books, but I really felt what it's like to feel like you're going to die, through his vivid descriptions and haunting words. Because this is a book based on older men and women, it's probably easier for people of that age group to understand the situation that the protagonist is involved in. Additionally, a lot of this story is about the strength of love through marriage, and it's probably something that is difficult for teenagers to understand. Aside from the age difference between the characters and the reader, and the length of the book, this book is definitely something you should think about reading sometime in the future. Though it is a horror, there is an element of fear and mystery that intertwines with the horror that makes this read irresistible!Book Review: Latent darkness with an aural light at the end of the tunnel
Summary: 4 Stars
Judging from other reviews I've read, this seems to be a book people either love or hate. I loved it. As Stephen King matures, so too do his interests. This is one of his least gory works, and it has an unusually political backstory. King masterfully navigates the shoals of America's abortion debate, managing to make it an integral part of the scenario in which the story unfolds without exhibiting bias towards either the pro-choice or pro-life camps. This in itself is a masterful accomplishment, if you believe (as I do) that fiction writers should tell a story and that messages are for telegrams.
Ralph Roberts is a widowed septuagenarian who can't sleep. A retired travelling salesman and bookkeeper, he shares a duplex home with a retired schoolteacher. At first glance he would hardly seem a literary hero in the traditional epic mold. Yet in King's hands Roberts exhibits a quiet dignity, a serene determination that gives him inner strength when he needs it the most. Roberts is willing to stand up for what he believes is right, and does so without being corny. The human characters around Roberts are fully developed before the first hint of the supernatural appears in his life. When it does, the writing is vintage King: his imaginative descriptions of characters' auras, and the ways they change in different circumstances, create vivid images in the mind's eye. Evil forces ARE at work here, no doubt about that. When Ralph and his sidekick Lois finally make it into the lair of the sinister Atropos, the latent darkness of the moment is comparable to that found in King masterpieces such as "It".
From a storytelling standpoint, I felt this one of King's strongest works. Some of my favorite King books and stories over the years have been those which were as much sci-fi as horror, such as the short stories "Word Processor of the Gods" and "The Jaunt" in Skeleton Crew. This book fits nicely into The Big Picture that King is working to shape his works into - you'll find a few familiar surnames in extremis, such as Funderburke and Creed. You'll find a work which clearly shows the care its author put into creating it for over three years of his life. Most of all, you'll find a compelling story that you won't want to put down at night.