Insomnia--Bracket 7 Runner-Up

[Aaron]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/510/medium/Insomnia_trade_face.jpg
Insomnia
Viking, 1994


Bracket #7

Voting for this Book is Closed

Final Average Score:
4.065217391

Bracket Runner-Up!
Insomnia will advance to Round 2

[mae]

Absolutely loved this one. Only the third King novel I'd read, and the longest book by far, and I was totally engrossed. As the slow reader that I am I still finished this in about a week.

[Aaron]

I gave this one a two. Probably the only book of King's that read and liked less than this was Christine It was literally a chore to get through it, and the whole Crimson King/Catfish King shit seemed really...I don't know--lame?

Meh. It is also one of King's plot-driven novels, and I think that is why it was so tough for me. King flourishes in the richness of his characters, but here the characters were very much secondary to the things that were happening to them, and I can't dig that.

[Daghain]

I gave it a 3. I was feeling generous.

[mae]

Wow I had a totally opposite reaction to this one, Aaron. But I agree with you on Christine, which is one of my least liked ones.

[Aaron]

This is one of those books that you either really love, or really hate. I was being nice giving it a 2, because it is DT-related, which was at least a little bit of a payoff for me at the end. But on the whole, I hated this book. I would never even consider reading it again.

[jayson]

I gave it a 5.

I love Insomnia, not as much for the DT connections as for the story itself.

[Jean]

4
I love approximately the first seven eighths, but the last (when all the fuss starts) bores me to death

[John_and_Yoko]

I gave it a 5--probably should be 4.5, but I rounded up.

It's my third favorite work by Stephen King, and my second favorite non-DT volume. :D

It didn't give me "post-novel depression" like The Dark Tower and IT did, but it connects to both and I found it enjoyable on its own terms. :D

[Girlystevedave]

A 2....this was the only SK book I forced myself to finish.

[Heather19]

1 Sorry guys, I hated it. I really struggled to finish reading it the first time, and have no plans whatsoever to attempt to read it again.

[John_and_Yoko]

I wonder why so many people didn't like this one (and am now glad I gave it a 5 since that's the score most people have given it).

Maybe it's because I like order and so was well attuned to a plot-driven novel, but I went into it expecting NOT to like it and ended up enjoying it. It became my favorite non-DT novel until it was superseded by IT.

At any rate, this is the one non-DT novel of his I can think of where you couldn't eliminate the DT elements in an adaptation if you tried--or maybe you could, but it'd suffer. Not really the case with "Low Men In Yellow Coats" or even Black House, but it is the case here.

[Sam]

I loved this book, but I think it could have been better served with some hefty editing. If the book had been about 200 pages lighter, it would have been a better, tighter story and a much easier read. The pacing is very slow (appropriate given the main character is elderly) but that makes it difficult to hold your attention. It's a shame too since this story really is crucial to the tale of The Dark Tower. I gave it a 4 because of that.

[mae]

Wow, this one's really divisive, huh? I found the slow pacing very entrancing, personally. And I read this without any foreknowledge of The Dark Tower at all. One of my personal Top 5 of all of King's work. It'll be a shame if this doesn't make it out of the bracket.

[Bangoskank19]

I loved everything about this book except for the length. I usually don't have a problem with that, as I adored The Stand, but this one stretched me out a little too much. Regardless, I still think it deserved the 4.

[alinda]

I'm going to give this book another 4 , and wish I could stretch it to a 5
but I am unable to.

[The Lady of Shadows]

5 - and a high 5 at that.

[obscurejude]

5 for me. Unlike Aaron, I thought it was very character driven while at the same time having a strong sense of plot. It reminds me of IT in this regard. I wish more of his books were as plot driven as Insomnia.

We're all entitled to our opinions.

Like Jayson, Insomnia is great for me apart from the DT connections. I'll take it a step farther and say despite them and certainly not because of them.

[ManOfWesternesse]

I'm always amazed at how opinion differs so much on this one.
I absolutely love it. 5.

[Darkthoughts]

I'm a lover too :D A huuuuge 5, this book is amazing!

I loved the pace, which I felt reflected the changes the main characters underwent. At the time of reading aswell, for the first time, I also found it really refreshing to have senior citizens as the heroes of the story...finding them as main characters is quite rare in itself.

[ManOfWesternesse]

.... I also found it really refreshing to have senior citizens as the heroes of the story...finding them as main characters is quite rare in itself.
YES! Absolutely.
That was one of the great triumphs of this book.
Ralph in particular was a real hero and a very 'real' character. One of my favourite King characters of all time.

[jayson]

I agree with both points Lisa made, especially regarding the pacing. I know a lot of people find the pacing to be a problem, but I think King did a great job of using the pacing to give the readers a sense of the changes Ralph was experiencing.

[Wuducynn]

I gave it a 5.

I love Insomnia, not as much for the DT connections as for the story itself.

Same here. For both the story and the DT connections. It's one of my favorite books.

[Randall Flagg]

I gave it a 3. I was feeling generous.
Precisely how I felt. I think I might have given it a two had I not seen King in person do a reading from it.

[Jean]

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_shocked.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_shocked.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear_shocked.gif

[mae]

I don't understand. Really. This book epitomizes for me the essence of King's style. It's not at all a plot novel. Instead you get really invested in the character, at least the main character. Ralph is an amazingly well-written character, which is why I nominated him for the Best Protagonist award. And I read the entire novel in a single breath, basically. I couldn't stop. The beginning part was fascinating enough, just how eloquent and interesting it was. But then when the auras appeared and the bald doctors and everything else... Whoa, my mind was blown. And like I said before, at that time I didn't even know about The Dark Tower, so those references flew over my head (though I did get the Pet Semetary reference). I cringe when people call this book "the cure for insomnia"... Just boggles my mind.

Not ridiculing anyone's opinion, mind you, just stream of thought sort of post. I know Jean agrees :)

[Tiffany]

Loved it. Gave it a 5. I had to really slog through the beginning but once I got past some of the slow parts, I couldn't put it down.