About this title: Poor Ralph Roberts has insomnia. In fact he's only sleeping a few minutes at a time. Then he begins to see some very odd things. Is he hallucinating? Is he having nightmares? Or are his visions real? In Derry, the New England town where King's massive novel "It" was set, one never knows for sure...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Books
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780670855032ISBN:0670855030
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 832 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Books
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780670855032ISBN:0670855030
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 832 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Books
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780670855032ISBN:0670855030
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 832 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780451184962ISBN:0451184963
Description: shelfwear along edges; spine cocked and reader creased; front cover creased; corners on front and back cover lightly curled; pages yellowing due to age; good reading copy. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 663 p. Contains: Illustrations read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780451184962ISBN:0451184963
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Some edge and corner wear. Previous owner's name scribbled out inside. Tanned pages. Corner creases on front cover. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 663 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780451184962ISBN:0451184963
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Some edge and corner wear. Tight binding. Heavy corner creases on cover. Tanning pages. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 663 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780451184962ISBN:0451184963
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Some edge and corner wear. Light edge wear. Tanned pages. Tight binding. Creases on cover of book. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 663 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"This book is a long one but actually quite good. When I first picked it up I'll admit that I was a little turned off by a seventy year old male protagonist because I assumed I wouldn't be able "to relate," but I was wrong. Ralph Roberts story of slowly falling into the grasp of insomnia after the death of his wife was actually sort of terrifying and intriguing. The first 500 pages moves slowly, but the speed is actually a wonderful device (as long as you are a reader who can persevere) because the reader actually gets a very real sense of the insomnia without actually experiencing it. I felt tired and sort of hollow just as Ralph described feeling. I didn't see bright auras or meet any "tiny doctors" so hopefully I'm not crazy. The story weaves in current day issues (even though it was written in the early 90s): domestic violence and abortion rights and I appreciated that but thought that those topics were never really resolved. In fact, the only reason I am giving this novel three stars instead of four is because there are so many loose ends in the book (and this is not in a series). Ralph's journey touches on many things--life, death, the afterlife, karma, Fortune's Wheel, love, loss, etc. but NONE of these is ever truly vetted and the reader is left feeling a little lost and letdown after nearly 900 pages. Luckily I've read at least the first Gunslinger book or I wouldn't have any concept of who "Roland" and the "Crimson King" are and INSOMNIA would have been even less satisfying. In the end I am happy that I read this one because I did appreciate the character of Ralph Roberts and as usual, I enjoyed Stephen King's writing. But it did leave me wondering if Stephen King is just so brilliant and immersed in his own fantastical world that he assumes we all "get it" and he doesn't even have to bother to trim it out."
"I don't think this is honestly a "two-star" book. I wish I could give it two-and-a-half, because it's certainly not badly written, and it contains some great sections, but overall, I don't think I can quite recommend it.
One of Stephen King's most frequent criticisms is his wordiness, the length of his books, full of detail, subplots, and tangents. Normally, I disagree with his criticism; indeed, some of his longest books, with all of their wild subplots and wealth of characters, are among his best. But I would say that this book (along with "The Tommyknockers") deserves the criticism of being a bit longwinded.
The beginning is engaging enough, and the ending damned good, but in the 650 pages between, I found my interest waning, then picking up, and shortly thereafter waning again.
The story concerns an elderly man having extreme difficulty sleeping, following the death of his wife. When he's at the point that he's getting a mere one or two hours' rest each night, he begins seeing things: strange, colorful auras surrounding the folks in town, and short, scissor-wielding doctors no one else can see. The premise is explored at great (and sometimes exhausting) detail, and, as with most King stories, leads to a much bigger picture than that originally suggested.
I do wish I enjoyed this book a bit more, particularly as it has strong connections to the "Dark Tower" series, one of King's greatest achievements."
"One of King's best. I was entrapped from beginning to end in this tale of aging, fantasy, romance and horror. Ralph Roberts is one of the "Derry Old Crocks", a group of elderly folks from Derry, Maine who get together in a park by the Derry Airport, play chess and muse about life. Roberts has been having trouble sleeping since his wife died; every day he seems to lose a little more and the more he loses, the stranger the world around him gets. First of all is the unexpected psychotic streak in his friend Ed Deepneau; then it's the colors and the strange people he starts to see. Eventually the book becomes a tale of Roberts' selfless heroism in the face of forces we cannot even begin to fathom. (spoiler alert) I read this upon recommendation from King himself - in the final Dark Tower book his characters talk about Insomnia as a "keystone" book, and while reading you'll find out why. (end spoilers) Stephen King can be masterful when he wants to be (and when the song of the Turtle calls to him strongest) and this holds up with his best work - culling together so many themes, being a human story on so many levels and facing the subject of aging and death head-on while also being a gripping fantasy/adventure. At the end King seems to lose his grip a bit, and some of the payoffs don't reward as expected, but overall when you finally finish this book, you won't be able to sleep the same."
"Insomnia has been my favorite book for the last 10 or so years. A very big book for my age at the time, it only took me about a week to read. Being a slow reader, that is a major thing to say. Since reading this, sometimes from dusk till dawn, I have re-read it about six times, and bought the audio book for my car. I still have a copy of the book, a big white one with red letters, tucked away somewhere. I cannot read it anymore due to my allergies, since taking it from apartment to apartment has...decreased it's lifespan some.
This book is a good read for anyone. Apart from some peoples ideas that King only writes horrors (like my mother), this book was a fantasy, and an amazing one I will remember till the day I die. I wish I could give it more stars."
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