Insomnia
by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of Insomnia
Book Review: Mediocre(2.5 stars)
Summary: 2 Stars
'Insomnia' offers a mixed bag of not really compelling characters and events, which don't quite add up to one of King's best efforts. In spite of its shortcomings, 'Insomnia' does pick up its rather sluggish/leisurely pace, and delivers a modestly exciting conclusion.
The familiar setting of Derry allows King to drop in a few references to 'Needful Things' and 'It'(though if you haven't read those, it won't hurt if you don't pick up on them).
A bigger drawback is the close connection with the 'Dark Tower' series, which may not be readily apparent to those who haven't read any of that series. Without giving it away, someone in this story goes on to play a pivotal role there, and a large part of the ending of this book is a digression which foreshadows this character in greater detail...maybe too much for uninitiated readers.
As a standalone novel, 'Insomnia' didn't have a lot going for it. Ralph and Lois do eventually make a nice couple, but they take longer to warm up to than most protagonists in King's stories.
The 'evil doctors' are kind of an underwhelming villain(though again, there's a lot of 'Dark Tower' stuff to be revealed), the 'borrowing' from Greek mythology seems a bit desperate, and the resolution of the whole clinic bombing subplot is a bit of a letdown, as if King wanted to write one of his famed 'destruction and mayhem' scenes(like the prom in 'Carrie' or the flood in 'It'), and then kind of gave up on it halfway through.)
'Insomnia' tries a bit too hard to juxtapose King's 'fantasy' side with some 'heavy contemporary issues'(abortion, in this case). While there is some merit to the one-sided portrayal of some of the characters, the truth is, neither the abortion subplot nor the fantasy aspects are fleshed out quite as well as one might expect from King.(Perhaps lack of sleep affected his writer's muse!)
Readers of King's previous work may be torn here. A qualified recommendation: For King completists, or hard-core fans of either 'Dark Tower' or the town of Derry. Those who prefer King's horror instead of fantasy, or who'd rather read his better-developed character studies, can skip this one...without losing sleep over it!
Book Review: great read.
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, either you will love it and possibly read it again or hate it and lose interest. Personally I loved it within a few pages. I give it a 4 by itself and if you mix it in with the tied in story line of other King books than it's a five. But either way, you have an epic story [Don't worry I won't repeat what everybody else already typed in]- loveable characters and mysterious characters, and an ending that gives some closure but still leaves you almost missing the characters when you finish the book. [I missed them a little bit myself anyway.] The story has a political element that runs through the entire book. Politically it's about abortion. Then there is a spiritual element about life after death and so on. SK talks about little men on a different level with names borrowed from greek mythology like Atropos, And how they deal with life and death. I don't want to give away too much. The two main characters are Ralph and his neighbor with whom he is quite fond of. It's kind of a cute chemistry he brings about with these two senior citizen friends. Then there is a typical Mr. nice guy named Ed, who starts going insane and becomes a wifebeater seemingly out of the blue, and the way King works this story line in is just a huge hook. It really causes the interest in the story and the charisma of Ralph to work. The book is fascinating and I'm not the biggest reader, so believe me when I say that it probably won't seem nearly as long as it really is. SK has different kinds of books- occasionally there's a so-so book like cycle of the werewolf which is a good story but not really filling for a King book. Then there's books where he has a great story and writes it in a good way, and sometimes he has a good story that he writes in a great way. I think this is one of the occasions where he has a great story and writes it in a great way. It makes you think and yet it's very entertaining at the same time. I think anybody that can get slightly interested in it, will eventually like it alot. Hope that helped.Book Review: Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
Summary: 3 Stars
Oh come now. This seems to be hands down the book that has angered the most people for its political undertones. If you ask me, while the pro-life movement was savaged, not many of the pro-choicers came off especially clean either. (And let us not forget whose head gets shaved clean off at a crucial moment.) I found the battle in this book in the abortion wars to be one that was at least more credible than the ludicrous Catholics vs. the Baptists bloody subplot of the even more ludicrous "Needful Things." As for this book spouting feminist dogma, I see nothing wrong with King writing novels in which women are empowered to take their lives into their own hands for once, and find strength to do so. True, the revelation of newfound lesbianism in one of the key characters at the end seems to have come out of nowhere, but I see this novel for more than the politics. I found this an engaging, sprawling tale that, for the most part, comes together in that uniquely King way. (Face it folks... the man can not only write, but he writes WELL.) The part involving an evil ring does not seem to go anywhere except to prove to us that King has read Tolkien. We never seem to find out the real significance of the ring, but it does give Ralph Roberts ample opportunity to quote "Lord of the Rings" (which he does over and over again.) But I did enjoy this book a lot. I still hold that Tommyknockers, Dolores Claiborne and Misery are my favorites by King, but this one combines all of my favorite King elements: myriad characters, myriad weird events, and bizarre coincidences. Why at one point in this story, I almost expected the Three Fates to drop by... and surprise, they do! The blend of down to earth New Englanders, demons, Fates, references to other novels and a magic Port-A-Potty are those things that make King an enjoyable and unpredictable read every time. Kudos Stephen! The rest of you, just sit back some wintry evening, and enjoy this novel. It's worth it.Book Review: A good read; in King context, "Medium."
Summary: 3 Stars
Insomnia was a good read. King is a masterful storyteller; the narrative voice, the compelling main characters and the absolutely unstoppable plot are all trademark King features. Still, compared to the other King that I have read, I would rank it somewhere in the middle. The recent King novels that I read before this were Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Bag of Bones. Insomnia is very obviously a 1990's King; he writes with the kind of dry, New England wit that has come to distinguish him. But Insomnia just does not feel as tight as The Running Man or as compelling as Bag of Bones, which I feel really is King's best work that I have read. The dialogue in Insomnia is a choppy (which isn't unusual) and the pace of the story seems to start out slow and then to fluctuate back and forth between slow and quick.
There is also a lot of exposition involved, a good deal of fleshing out the world of the Dark Tower series, which is a little frustrating. The climax of the book turns out to actually be about two figures from the Dark Tower series which kind of annoyed me. I was compelled by the characters in the book, I felt empathy for them and I felt that the book didn't need this kind of deus ex machina to stress the importance of the climax, to make it integral to the continuation of the King Uber-story.
I am focusing here on some of the bad things. I listed the good things above, but you really just can't say enough about King's easy prose style. King is one of the authors that I just flat out love to read; he is imaginative, his voice is distinct and he consistently reinvents the fantasy (because this book is more fantasy than horror) genre in very exciting ways.
So to sum up: not King's best, but a good, fun read. Despite the three stars, I definitely suggest reading it (just make sure you have already read It, The Stand, Bag of Bones...).
Book Review: A strong effort by a master
Summary: 4 Stars
Ralph Denton of Derry, Maine, is an old man with a common ailment for the elderly: insomnia. But despite all his efforts to get a good night's rest, he start waking up earlier and earlier. Eventually, he links this phenomenon with a strange ability to see a whole new world around us that none of us can see. The aura surrounding someone signifies how long they have to live. And then he starts to see things more substantial than auras, actual beings that exist on some plane that is critical to our world.
I love that this book strikes off in new directions for King. His first senior citizen hero is a novelty, and he makes even a whippersnapper like me put some serious thought into what it will be like to reach an advanced age (if I'm so lucky). Contemplating the inevitable troubles that accompany aging is actually perhaps the scariest thing in the book; at the least, it's refreshing.
I also enjoy seeing Derry from another pair of eyes. In It, King described how children operated in a world of their own that was basically hidden from the world of adults; this description was so true that it stuck with me. I was delighted to see another world and society operating, equally unseen, in the town of Derry. It is a take on the senior citizen community that was really engaging and enjoyable.
The chills are chilling (and I like that there's an homage paid to ancient Greek Mythology), the scares are scary, and the gore is gory. But no one reading a King book would expect any less.
The real test of a King novel is how the pacing and the plot and the character development work, and I'm pleased to say that in this book, they all work quite nicely. There are a couple of confrontations that come off as a little cheesy to me, but for the most part, the book is a great read.