Insomnia

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Eli Wallach

A number-one national best seller

Since his wife died, Ralph Roberts has been having trouble sleeping. Each night he wakes up a bit earlier until he's barely sleeping at all. During his late-night walks, he observes some strange things going on in Derry, Maine. He sees colored ribbons streaming from people's heads, two strange little men wandering around town after dark, and more. He begins to suspect that these visions are something more than hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep.

There's a definite mean streak running through this small New England city; underneath its ordinary surface awesome and terrifying forces are at work. The dying has been going on in Derry for a long, long time. Now Ralph is part of it...and lack of sleep is the least of his worries.

Returning to the same Maine town where It took place, a town that has haunted Stephen King for decades, Insomnia blends King's trademark bone-chilling realism with supernatural terror to create yet another masterpiece of suspense.

©1994 Stephen King (P)1994 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A yarn so packed with suspense, romance, literary reference, fascinating miscellaneous knowledge, and heart that only Stephen King could have written it. Marvelous - that is, full of marvels." ( Booklist)

Slow paced, contemplative King

I've read a good 2/3 of King's books. This one fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. The characters are good as always, though the women are a flat and uninteresting as usual. The plot ramps up slowly but is otherwise typical of so many of King's books. The tone and structure of this book could best be compared to 11/22/63 - though the depth and polish of 11/22/63 aren't there.
If you're new to Stephen King, i'd suggest that you read Salem's Lot, The Stand, or It first. If you have read It and the Dark Tower, this book will be much more meaningful. This book mentions the DT more explicitly than any other of his non-DT series books. It provides a bit of back story not included anywhere else.
One of the other reviewers noted the somewhat poor quality of the production. I agree; it's not good. I believe that it is an old recording (probably from the mid-90s) that Audible has just acquired a license for. The occasional music is a bit annoying and is definitely too loud but it doesn't overly detract from the book. In fact, I had more of a problem with the narrator for the first 1/3 of the book; I found him hard to follow. However, he grew on me, and I quite liked him by the end.
So, if you're looking for a more contemplative Stephen King book, this one is for you.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS - READ THE PHYSICAL COPY

First I just wanted to start off by agreeing with all of the other reviews in that the sound effects truly ruin the listening experience of this novel. I really enjoyed the narrator - at first I wasn't into it but as it went on it got better and I wish I could give him a 5 star review and give the editing/producing a 0 star review (I gave the perfomance 2 stars because I just couldn't give Eli Wallach one star). The sound effects (I wouldn't even consider it music) are so incredibly loud (RIP headphone users), not relevent to the story, and drown out the narration. I've listened to other books with sound effects and haven't really been annoyed with them in the past, but now I wish I had listened to these other reviews. It is so bad that I wish I would've gotten the physical copy and just read that instead. This audiobook is a waste of your credit/money.

With that being said, I am a huge Stephen King fan and just now listening to Insomnia for the first time. Just like a lot of his other works, it takes a minute to really pick up and wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought the story itself was okay, but I definitely don't think it is his best work. I have the Dark Tower series on my list to listen to next and this seems to be the prequel of that story. I think that this book is definitely worth a read (not a listen) at least once, but I think once is enough. I don't see myself revisiting this one.

music

I did not like the accompanying music at all. It was too loud at times, creepy, so shrill that it hurt my ears, and the tones made me cringe. I had to turn it down most times.

Hated the music between chapters

The music played between chapters was much louder than the reading and really awful, I guess it’s supposed to add to the suspence of the story but it really made it worse in my opinion. I recommend trying to find some other reading off this book. The story is good and I recommend it, especially for readers of the Dark Tower.

Great narrator great story terrible backtracks

I love everything about this story it's one of my absolute favorites from King so far. but whoever decides what music to put in where and how loud needs to be fired. some of it added to the story and gave me the chills and the creeps. some of it made me take my headphones out so I didn't have to listen to it anymore.

Great but...

It was a great book but the instrumental music was a little annoying during the reading.

the music was hard to overcome...

I dont see what the ambient music added to the story, it would be better without it. otherwise it was a fantastic story.

Music Ruins The Story

Why is the music just inserted in random places? As a person with hearing problems and tinnitus I have to play audio loud and when this crazy sounding wave music comes out of nowhere it hurts my ears and it is so loud it drowns out the narrator. This book needs to be re-recorded without the chappy music. I rarely do reviews but felt I should tell other reader my experience. I am still considering asking for a refund!

Audio at chapters end ruin listening experience.

The narrator was decent enough, but the choices made by whoever did the recording ruin the entire experience.
From the deafening guitar solo bridges to what sounded like ball bearings rhythmically being clacked together. The audio at the start and end of every chapter have to be some of the worst choices I've ever heard for an audio book. It sounds like Stephen King came up with this during his drug and alcohol fueled years. This title needs a re-recording badly.

Well woven story

Love Stephen King and how he weaves his stories together all across his body of work.

The music in the audio book is horrible. It is very loud and occasionally obscures the spoken words. This story is highly enjoyable but the jarring music takes away from the richness of the storytelling.