Insomnia

Rating:
Summary: Slow, but worth it
Review: Although Insomnia is not a very fast read, it is well worth the time that is required to get through it. The characters are so real that you may question whether those earrings you lost ended up in the hands of Atropos. If read with an open mind, this book will tap into the imagination and open doors to the possibility of existence beyond our 'plane'.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at alternate realities
Review: Being a big Stephen King fan, I'm a complete sucker for his brand of suspense and terror, and usual blood-spattered gore. Insomnia is not that kind of novel.

While no doubt a thriller, Insomnia deviates from King's usual formula and instead of nasty beings or blood-sucking monsters, we get a tour of a reality that could exist right under our noses. The story unfolds slowly, paralleling the main characters' slow realization and understanding. The characterization is wonderful, the story is engrossing, and the concept may change the way you view the world, if ever so slightly - I know it did for me.

If you read King only for his stories like Cujo or Pet Semetary, this probably isn't the book for you. But if you're more in to the subtleties and the psychological aspects of his novels, I highly recommend Insomnia.

Rating:
Summary: great read.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Absolutely wonderful. Brings to life those; "imagine if this could happen" thoughts. I could not put the book down. I recommend this book to any one with an imagination.

Rating:
Summary: Order and Chaos
Review: What if there were an Order beyond our perception and Chaos was necessary to keep the equilibrium? And what if Chaos extrapolates the traditional rules of the game, and the Order needed the help of humanity to fix things out? This is what Insomnia is about, inspired by an ancient Greek myth. The story is very interesting and one of the most ingenious that I ever read, in the style of "The Green Mile" by King. If you enjoied "The Green Mile", you'll certainly enjoy this one much more. This is not a Horror bloody story, like "Desperation" or "Night Flier", but is much more like "The Shinning" and "Green Mile", a fantastic, fiction great suspense. This was one of the best books I read by King. Since this work is very unique (well, just like most works by Stephen King), I won't dare summary it here. I would say that this one is a great book to start reading King if you never read one of his works.

Rating:
Summary: The Dark Tower Connection
Review: From the first page I was in love with the main character and was caught by the oddity of it all. I'd tell myself "Ok, just one more chapter, then I'll go to bed". At the end of the chapter I'd say "I can't stop right now!". I read most of this book during the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep, so I guess I could relate with the old man's sleeping troubles. I love that it was based in Derry, and I got a kick out of the mention of Roland, the gunslinger. The only thing was King's longwinded descriptions. Usually I love his detail but during this long book I found myself skipping small descriptive paragraphs. But that's a small price to pay for such a gripping book.

Rating:
Summary: Potential to be the best ever!
Review: The first 2/3's of this book are among Stephen King's best. But as he is occasionally apt to do (as in the miserable Tommyknockers), the story veers off into the surreal. By the time I reached the final page, I was just glad it was over. My advice? Read the first two thirds and just imagine how cool the ending could have been.

Rating:
Summary: How do insomnia and a neighbor gone crazy alike?
Review: Well, to answer that you'll have to read the book.

I think that besides a very interesting story, this book brings to light a few things to think about:

1) What is the line between being "normal" and "crazy"? Would people reject things they sense just because they're not considered "normal?....

2) The book makes you reconsider the way people generally look at elderly people. Instead of being the typical senile golden agers who only think about the past, both Lois and Ralph build themselves a future....

Rating:
Summary: READING INSOMNIA HELPED ME FALL ASLEEP
Review: I respect most of Stephen Kings work but I did not enjoy reading Insomnia. He draged the story along with a few good ideas but for the most part it was a chore to read. In my opinion one bad point that stood out the most was that there were too many liberal minded characters voicing their opinion when it was really unecessary. It looked to me like Mr. King was using his story to get certain political beliefs into the minds of his readers. Another annoying apect of the book was how trite the characters dialouge could be at times. There were a lot of predictable moments that spoiled the little suspense the novel offered.

One highlight of the book was at the end of the story when the main character (his name slips my mind) faces one of the best villians ever emagined. Taking this into consideration I gave this book 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Strange but almost true...
Review: A very strange story involving death, mythology, and little colored ribbons. It really reads like a childrens book with lots of fantastic characters and colorful dialog. However it is just too long and the fantasy wears out after a while.

I recommend the unabridged audio version, you'll get through it quicker and probably enjoy it more overall.