Troy

The sound is very tinny, and makes the speakers in my car rattle like the blown speaker on an AM radio. Worse than that, there is an overabundance of noise and music that I believe is intended to create drama and suspense at key points in the story. The noise sounds like the hum of the engine from the cabin an old propeller airline plane. The music ranges from a Twilight Zone-like theme to garbled acid-rock guitar solos. It builds to a dramatic crescendo that actually drowns out the reading of the actual book. There were several points where I had to strain, rewind and ultimately just accept the fact that I was going to miss several pieces of dialogue because it was obliterated by this noise and music. This nonsense is badly done and totally unnecessary. Any halway decent book does not need a musical score and sound effects to tell me when to "be tense! Something scary is happening!" or "pay attention! This a key plot point!"

Aside from these issues, the story is well read by Eli Wallach. It's just a shame that he is overshadowed by noise.

The story itself is bloated and tedious. About 1/3 of this novel is meaningless dialogue and descriptive monologues that do nothing to serve the story. It almost seems as though the author had no idea where to take the story next, and yet continued to write, and write, and write...

I had heard that there are ties to The Dark Tower series within Insomnia, which is my main interest in this book. So far, (about halway through)it seems the connection is pretty thin.

No. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I used the 2x speed just to get to the end faster.

YES. He has many other fine books, like I Am Legend. This was hopefully just an anomaly.

The narration was fine, but couldn't save this dull, dull tale, which had no point whatsoever.

Nope.

Would be great to fall asleep to...zzzzz....

Yes to Stephen King - I could not sit through another narration by Lorna Raver.

Ms. Raver has a very aristocratic voice, which does not suit this story at all. It seemed like a voice more suited to a victorian tale, or something from the Civil War era. Very dry and dull. Not suited for a suspenseful tale about

Quite possibly the best reading of any audiobook I have experienced so far! It's a long story - but Steven Weber brings it to life like no other narrator. He is fully committed to the roles of the characters - of which there are many. He doesn't just read the book, he give the characters a dimension so realistic, you half expect to meet them in person someday.

I read this book when it was first released, and decided to rediscover it mainly due to it's connection to The Dark Tower. (which I am also re-discovering through audio.)
The story was not very memorable when I read it on paper, but William Hurt's reading has completely brought it into a new perspective for me. I am absolutely enjoying the hell out of this audio book! It is coming to life in a way that the printed version never did for me. Perhaps it's partially because I'm several years older, but I think it's mainly due to the emotion, the vitality and the CONVICTION with which the story is being read. It captures the weariness of Ted Brautigan, the desperate selfishness of Liz Garfield, and the wonder of life as seen from Bobby's eyes. Fantastic.
I hope that many more of Stephen King's books can be adapted to audio with Mr. Hurt at the Microphone.