Insomnia in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 22, 2011 Steve rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-and-dark-fiction

I saw somewhere that Insomnia is considered by some to be one of King's "problem" books. I'm not sure what's meant by that tag, though for me the "problem" eventually would become that I didn't think of the book as a horror novel. It started out strongly, with a likable 70 year old everyman, Ralph Roberts, adjusting to life without his beloved wife. King's focus on aging and loneliness is as good as anything I've read by him. And deftly slipped in, a hint of the supernatural and coming doom, as I saw somewhere that Insomnia is considered by some to be one of King's "problem" books. I'm not sure what's meant by that tag, though for me the "problem" eventually would become that I didn't think of the book as a horror novel. It started out strongly, with a likable 70 year old everyman, Ralph Roberts, adjusting to life without his beloved wife. King's focus on aging and loneliness is as good as anything I've read by him. And deftly slipped in, a hint of the supernatural and coming doom, as Roberts witnesses a friend's confrontation and near fight on a road.

Roberts' adjustment comes with an unwanted companion, a bad case of insomnia. Paralleling the insomnia is the growing controversy in Derry (King's favorite town) over a famous abortion rights advocate coming to speak at the local abortion clinic. I dreaded this part, largely because of King's earlier political tirade in Tommyknockers (a really bad novel that had me swearing off of King for years). To my surprise, King handled this divisive issue very well. The issue was part of the story, not a soapbox for the author to shout from (and King can be very shrill). But other novelistic breakdowns were coming. About a third of the way in, a warning sign came when Roberts starts looking for a pair of binoculars in the hall closet. Roberts has seen something sinister across the street, and wants a closer look. King clearly wants to ratchet things up in a Rear Window kind of way, but the result is instead a two page passage of over description that stands as a prime of example of King's writerly sins (in fairness, two pages is not that bad with King, I've read much worse). Soon to follow are the endless repetitions ("West Side Gardeners," "Hey, hey, Susan Dey," a recurring Panama hat, etc.) that have always struck me as padding rather than tension building writing.

In addition, fantastical plot elements start to multiply, crowding the story with a grab bag of new meaning(s). Roberts starts seeing auras around people, little bald doctors (not scary) in the night, he can fire little blue balls from his finger tips, read people's thoughts, etc. There's also a Dark Tower tie in that strikes me as more manufactured than organic. (The King "Mythos" is not to be confused with Horror's greater Mythos.) There are a number of cool scenes in the book, but if you've read King, you've probably encountered similar scenes in earlier books. He's cannibalizing himself here, again. Oh, and things blow up in the end, but not without a super sappy closing that would make Spielberg blush.

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Jul 29, 2009 Suvi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, 1970-1999, _north-america, _book-shelf, horror, mythology

Sometimes opinions about books can be fickle due to circumstances, mood, or something else. Usually, my re-read ratings go up rather than down, but I read Insomnia back in 2009 and apparently liked it full 4-stars worth. Why? Eh, who knows.

My edition had over 600 pages, and although more King is generally a good thing, cutting 100-200 pages from this would have done wonders. The effects of insomnia are effective, the hallucinations particularly jarring, and the characters are interesting and wel ...more

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