Review: "Insomnia" by Stephen King

As much as it pains me to say it, I think I am reaching the absolute bottom of the barrel for Stephen King novels. I love the guy, and his best books are more than just popular fiction. They speak real human truths and come to represent the identity of America’s heart as we moved toward the millennium. Books like The Stand, The Dead Zone, It, and Salem’s Lot are classics not only of horror, but of late 20^th century fiction. But with a book like Insomnia, his usually entertaining self really does not shine. Here, it is taken over by someone who wants to be experimental, but who is to grounded in his simplicity which is not a bad thing, it is what makes King the master that he is. And this is by no means a terrible book, but it sure as hell is not It, the other Derry novel. The resident of that misleading and disorienting place that is the focus of Insomnia is one Ralph Roberts, a seventy-year-old man who just lost his wife to cancer. He begins to wake up at earlier times right after his wife died. This keeps happening to the point where he is only sleeping a few hours each night. He also begins to see a change in his friend Ed Deepneau, who becomes a raving lunatic and wife beater before Ralph’s eyes. Even more disturbing and confusing, He begins to see different color auras around people, and three short bald creatures that carry rusty scissors and scalpels. Ralph, along with his lady friend Lois, are thrust into another world, where they must become heroes that must indirectly save the world. The first 300 pages or so are really good, and probably some of the best non-supernatural work King has ever done. Also, throughout the novel, there are very direct cases where he brings up the abortion argument, but he does so in a unique and enlightening way. In the novel, there have been many violent protests about the Derry Women Care Hospital, where abortions are done, and about Susan Say, who will speak on behalf of it. King not only casts the pro-lifers in a dark spotlight, but also brings to trial the many figure heads of the pro-choice movement. The radical feminist Susan Day, who will speak at the Derry Civic Center, is someone who is just as selfish and megalomaniacal as the pro-lifers she is fighting against, and really does not care about the damage that occurs to the people who are caught in her crossfire. All it means is more publicity and another chapter in her memoir. I am sure this is the case with some, not all, of the pro-choice advocates, and it is a stance on the subject that I did not think of and really appreciate. Where this book really does the exact opposite of its title is really the last half, when we find out what the three bald creatures do, and what Ralph and Lois must do to save the world. It is really convoluted, too complex to explain here, and really tiring, which is a terrible thing to happen when you are reading a book. And again, the ending, while not like Christine, is a little too much of a downer for me. While a big stumbling episode in King’s very fruitful and abundant creative mind, It was not terrible, only average, and I think not very many people could finish it if they are not fans. For the real Derry novel, read It. It is his best besides The Stand, and also his scariest. 

Rating: 4/5