Insomnia

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Summary: A different type of Stephen King novel
Review: I have seen a lot of reviews that have deeply criticized Insomnia. This book is definitely a moderately difficuly book, but nonetheless I love it. You must be very patient with it. This book is like a snowball going down a hill. It gets faster paced and more exciting as it goes on. The last 300 pages of this novel are probably the best last pages he has written, and that is saying a lot when I've read The Shining, The Stand, and most other popular King novels. This book really enables us to see what Mr. King is like. We can see his positions on many political issues such as abortion. The book is very touching and I think everyone cried when Ralph dies at the end. My favorite part is probably when they are in the lair of Atropos and Ralph is cutting poor Atropos in pieces. Another weird scene is when the Crimson King poses as Ralph's mother. If you can get by the first 300 pages this is a tremendous book. The first 300 pages were totally sparse of action, but I found it bearable because Stephen King does a great job of letting us see what it is like having just lost an important family member like a wife, and suffering Insomnia. This novel turns from a dull book to an extreme page turner at around page 400(soft cover) when Ralph and Lois go into the Derry Home hospital to see Jimmy Vandermeer and see for the second time the little bald doctors, Clotho and Lachesis. When the quartet went to the 'upper levels' so many of my questions were answered about why Ralph was suffering Insomnia and also I learned a great deal about the Dark Tower series. The only Dark Tower book I have read was The Gunslinger. Insomnia cleared up a lot for me. I will say this again, Insomnia is a great book ,but you must get by the first 300 or 400 pages first, then the action comes.

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Summary: One of Stephen Kings Best & Best Audio Book I have ever herd
Review: This is an overlooked gem. Stephen King has a great hero who is 75 years old and just does what needs to be done (truely greatest generation, I mean I wouldn't go under that tree!) . He hooks up this a woman as strong as him. I hope Stephen King never dies. This is also Eli Wallach doing the voices and man did he hit it out of the park with this one. Great music as well. 20 STARS! One of the best Books on Tape ever done.

Rating:
Summary: Hours of my life wasted on this...
Review: Crap, crap, crap, crap! I love King, but had to drag myself through this uninteresting story. I made myself finish it because I had faith Uncle Stevie (King that is) would reward the reader in the end. Boy was I wrong! Look to his earlier stuff for a good read, this book's a real nightmare! PS- Did I mention it's crap?!!

Rating:
Summary: Total waste of my life
Review: It must have taken me over a month to read this book and i read 90 percent of it and put it down and never finished it.Why? Because it sucked and it didnt go anywhere and i didnt care what happened to anybody in it. this is hands down the WORST book he ever wrote and everyone knows it. If you go in the store and pick up any Stephen King book you always see tons of great reviews on the front back and inside, this book does not have one good review written on it so that must mean something. After this book i pretty much gave up on King,I think i tried to read The Regulators and Desperation but they both were pretty uninteresting. so basically what Im saying is dont read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be fooled by negative reviews
Review: Bottom line: this is a good story, plain and simple. It's not an outright horror novel. This is a story of characters and ideas. Yes, it is long and others have complained of this, but I found it to be a flowing read; even the so-called "slow" first 200 pages. I enjoyed Ralph Roberts and his friends and was captivated by his predicament.
Insomnia is a wonderful book to read if you're a King fan or not, but...
This really is a Dark Tower story, one that just doesn't follow the principle characters. One of the main points in the DT series is that there are other worlds. Ralph's Derry, Maine happens to be one of them. The Crimson King is the antagonist of the Tower, while Roland is the "hero." His name and certain images are presented later on in the book and may seem odd to those who have not read the Dark Tower series. If you love the DT series, you have to read Insomnia and it is that much more enjoyable. If you haven't, pick up the Gunslinger and Drawing of the Three to test the waters. You'll definitely want to read the whole series.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but worth a look
Review: I say this book is worth a look, but it's not as simple as that. At almost 800 pages, this book kept me occupied for more than two weeks. While it kept me interested, it took so long to read that I felt like I could have read three other good books in the same time period. In my opinion, this book could have been trimmed to 400 pages and been no worse for the wear.

Despite these criticisms, the book was entertaining. Ralph Roberts begins experiencing "early waking" insomnia after the death of his wife. He later learns that his widowed friend Lois Chasse has the same problem. They begin to detect auras and see "long-timers", beings that exist on a different plane and live much longer lives than human "short timers". All of this spiritual enlightenment is set amid the backdrop of an abortion rights convention and the extreme reactions of Derry townsfolk on either side of the debate.

This novel explored interesting themes of fate--whether we should tamper with it, whether it really exists, whether we can change it, whether a force known as "the random" can interfere with it. It also explores the theme of death--whether there is a preordained date certain for each human, whether we can change the date certain and whether we should try, and what happens next. These themes were interesting and required the reader to do a little more heavy lifting than other King books I have read. Which is probably a good thing, but I still question whether King needed 800 pages to accomplish this goal.

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Summary: Steve, what happened?
Review: I've loved every single Stephen King book I've read - except for this one. It stinks! I can't understand what happened - how can such a talented writer produce such a bomb?

It's just *dull*. You'll just be waiting for it to end. If you have not read any King, do not choose this one. Anything else he has written is better.

Rating:
Summary: Will keep you awake like you had...well...insomnia
Review: This is one of my favorite King books from these last few years (along with the Dark Tower series). This was one book that literally kept me up to finish. I love the image of the little men with their scissors cutting the chord and that our "hero" can now see them because he is slipping in that delirium of waking sleep. Or is he just imagining everything. Though the story loses its momentum and focus 2/3's of the way through it is quite interesting as the main characters are extremely fleshed out where you know the pain and agony of the main character - suffering through his own waking hell - unable to refresh himself with even one nights sleep - and why does he keep waking up at that exact same time? I loved the story and the details King came up with on this one. The twisted little dirty man with his bloody scissors was really a visually fleshed out "monster?!?" and a rather perverse one at that. I have not read this book in many years but so much of it still stays with me - from the walks by the airport to the den of blood and bones. An interesting look at the afterlife and what if. Makes me think of the "Men in Yellow" from "Hearts in Atlantis" and like so many of King's books - seems to referance a lot of books that come before and after.

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Summary: Amazing Dark Tower Backstory
Review: What you make of Stephen King's "Insomnia" all depends on what kind of story you enjoy. If you like King stories like Christine or Firestarter, then this is one you may wish to skip.
However, if you're a fan of his epic Dark Tower series, then this is the book for you. While it appears to get off to a slow start, it is really just setting the stage for an amazing fantasy.
Ralph isn't your typical protagonist (being older), but you warm up to him really quickly. He is your average Joe who has entered the doldrums of old age, and you become sympathetic to him right off the bat (when he loses his wife). He's a good man at heart, even after he starts losing sleep, and always has that good natured aspect with him throughout the story.
And the story...Stephen King really shakes things up by throwing in political issues (something he's only TOUCHED upon in The Dead Zone, and really not controversially). Abortion is the hot topic, and no matter what your views on it are, you can't help but appreciate how King weaved it into the supernatural aspect of the story.
Fans of the Dark Tower will get a nice dose of backstory, and a good look at the Crimson King. People not farmiliar with the Dark Tower will get a story that will most likely make them smile. It is probably one of King's lighter tales, making Ralph's friends a caring, lovable bunch, and focusing (especially in the beginning) on their lives Derry, Maine. Sure, they might see a bit more active than your run of the mill senior citizen, but if King didn't make them that way, the story would be much more boring.
Read it, but hang in there for the first two hundred pages. Your reward is a beautiful tale of purpose and loss.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD!
Review: This is Stephen King at his BEST people. Ralph Roberts is suffering from insomia, and things are not going his way. Of course if this was not written by Stephen King, then this novel would be boring, but it isnt. First it starts off with Insomia, then it leads of these things that float around everybody's heads (sort of like life.), and when he breathes them in, he grows stronger.
Then he starts seeing these gray beings everywhere. Eventually he meets one of them and talks to them, they tell him that he has to save a four year old boy named David because the bad gray being is out to kill him!
Now David is a certain key in The Dark Tower series, and the same thing with Ralph Roberts. So all in persective, this is a good novel, it may be long, but it is good nonetheless.