I loved it - 5
It was good - 4
Average - 3
Only so-so - 2
I didnt like it - 1
Never Read
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.
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.
Heng Dai
I gave it a 3. I was feeling generous.
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
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.
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.
Heng Dai
I gave it a 5.
I love Insomnia, not as much for the DT connections as for the story itself.
4
I love approximately the first seven eighths, but the last (when all the fuss starts) bores me to death
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
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.
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.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
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.
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.
Margaret Emmie Mackey Catoe, you are, have been, and always will be my soulmate, and I love you.
Con todo mi corazon, por todo de mis dias. And I always will, in this life and into the next.
August 2, 1947 - September 24, 2010
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.
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.
I'm going to give this book another 4 , and wish I could stretch it to a 5
but I am unable to.
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
5 - and a high 5 at that.
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.
I'm always amazed at how opinion differs so much on this one.
I absolutely love it. 5.
I'm a lover too 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.
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.
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!