A #1 national bestseller—“A yarn so packed with suspense, romance, literary reference, fascinating miscellaneous knowledge, and heart that only Stephen King could have written it. Marvelous—that is, full of marvels” (Booklist). Since his wife died, Ralph Roberts has been having trouble sleeping. Each night he wakes up a bit earlier, until he’s barely sleeping at all. During his late night walks, … late night walks, he observes some strange things going on in Derry, Maine. He sees colored ribbons streaming from people’s heads, two strange little men wandering around town after dark, and more. He begins to suspect that these visions are something more than hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep.
There’s a definite mean streak running through this small New England city; underneath its ordinary surface awesome and terrifying forces are at work. The dying has been going on in Derry for a long, long time. Now Ralph is part of it…and lack of sleep is the least of his worries.
Returning to the same Maine town where It took place, a town that has haunted Stephen King for decades, Insomnia blends King’s trademark bone-chilling realism with supernatural terror to create yet another masterpiece of suspense.
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The very first Stephen King novel I read, back when I was in 8th grade. Not the best novel for first-timers, probably, but it hooked me for life.
One of my least favorite things to do is give a bad review. To me, unless a book is truly unreadable and never should’ve been published, it shouldn’t get only 1 star. 2 stars is for those books which just aren’t a good fit for me and had too many issues to overlook (not often used by me either, and overused by other readers in my opinion… sometimes there’s no accounting for personal taste!
Insomnia by Stephen King was chosen with my buddy Medhat as our buddy read this month. We both like horror and Stephen King, and after tossing a few options in a hat, we wound up on this one. It ultimately falls between 2 and 3 stars, but because the writing is decent, I went with 3 stars for reasons I’ll explain below. That said, I honestly had one of the most difficult times I’ve ever had digesting a book.
For one thing, it was twice as long as it needed to be. At ~900 pages, this book clearly contained so much filler, it’ll fall apart from being too loose one day. There was significant repetition (not in a good way) and awful horrible topics. I blame myself for that last piece. I hadn’t read the summary to know what it was about: religion, abortion, science-fiction alien visits, and a nose dive into just plain crazy. I thought it would be an insomniac’s descent into crazy without the non-sense stuff leading the race. Personally, I don’t want to read about abortion and religion, especially when a plot is supposed to be the sleep-deprived man or woman we all find ourselves at one point or another.
I avoid conflict and dislike when a book takes such a vulgar and vivid stance on something I disagree with. That said… I acknowledge I am an fault for choosing to read this book and pushed my rating to the higher side to accommodate that screw up. For another thing, OMG! I’m a smart guy, and I can deal with some vagueness in a story but the frequency of the aura discussion drove me bonkers. I had no connection and was lost too often. I think it was just a bad fit as I love some of his other books.
On the flip side, the writing is strong and the characters are very well described. Some leap off the pages. Other sit perfectly in the backdrop where they are intended to be. Had this been cut by 50% and the POV been less dramatic, it would’ve done better in my opinion. So… if you like political arguments, some of the nastiest language I’ve seen in a book for truly no reason (honestly, OVERKILL beyond belief)… I’m all for dozen of 4-letter words and sexual name-calling when it’s 1 character and intended to show the personality… but here, it was just dropped in for the sake of it in the weirdest of spots. I took a shower when I finished the book.
Oh… sometimes things don’t work out. I recognize the strength in this book. I liked several parts. It just wasn’t a good fit for me, so I wouldn’t recommend it for most regular readers. It’s nothing like It, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, etc. Sorry!
I loved this book, I couldn’t put it down. Ralph Roberts was interesting, multidimensional, and likeable. The little doctors were interesting, frightening, and thought provoking. I felt real anxiety about not being able to sleep and that that must feel like. Stephen King has a way of writing what his characters are going through that makes you feel what they feel. I love that this book, like many of King’s other books, have ties to each other. I highly recommend this book!
This is one of those rare books that you don’t want to end. Even if you don’t like Stephen King’s usual genre, the man is a genius writer.
Just an amazing book. Read it years ago and the images still
Come to
Mind.
This one was a cure for insomnia…so much better King to read out there.
Another great story
One of my favorites by Stephen king. The characters are well developed, and believable. The use of non- traditional protagonists adds a level of interest to the story
exciting!
its the best book I have ever read!
Someplace in this too-long book is a very good one that’s half as long.
Unfortunately, this book could easily be around 300 pages shorter. The storyline moves at a snail’s pace, however, I do applaud the ending, which was brilliantly executed. The tie-ins to the Dark Tower series were clever and reminded me why Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. But be prepared for a lengthy, slow-going read with this one.
Its a long story but Its a book I couldn t
Put down . I read the entire book when I was pregnant then I read “It”. I love his style if how he gets you in the characters.
He gets you going .I love his books . I’m trying to collect as many even if I dont read them never know when I will have alot of time to read them. I find having time to read alone I get more out of it.
While the writing was good, the story was not. This was written during the period when King was trying too hard to fit every book into his “grand opus”. I think around this time he claimed that every work he had ever done somehow fit into the Dark Tower epic. Then he wrote a bunch of books that were obviously linked to prove his point. None of them were great stories, but his writing is always solid.
One of Stephen King’s best!
Stayed up all night to finish it.
Another great book by Stephen King! you will not be disappointed in reading this book. as always the ending is unpredictable
My name is in this book!
An interesting read. Definitely worth the time it takes to get through the almost 800 page book
One of his best.