THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410270412
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY GREGORY N. KROLCZYK
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
INSOMNIA
STEPHEN KING
Viking. 787 pp. $27.95.
RALPH ROBERTS IS engaged in a battle with insomnia and losing badly. Every night he sleeps less and less, and soon, he is sure, he won't sleep at all. Why remains a mystery. It could be his age (70), distress from the recent death of his wife or the upcoming abortion protest that is turning friends into foes and tearing his hometown of Derry, Maine, asunder. It could be any of these things. But somehow, he knows it's none.
While not knowing the cause of his premature waking is bothersome to Ralph, its effects on his well-being are even worse. Ralph's pharmacist terms the condition ``heightened sensory awareness,'' comparing it to an LSD trip without the chemicals. Ralph thinks of it more as a trip into a hell where everyone is coated in colors, like some insane Kirlian photograph. And these aren't just meaningless colors. These auras act as indicators for everything from attitude to health to length of life. It's all quickly becoming too much for Ralph to absorb, too much to know, and still stay sane.
But as Ralph is soon to discover, his sanity is going to have to handle a whole lot more. For something is about to upset the delicate balance between the forces of Purpose and Random, and Ralph is going to need all the heightened awareness he can get to stop it from happening.
I've been reading Stephen King since the publication of Carrie some 20 years ago, and during this time I have always thought of King as a novelist. Only now do I realize that I was wrong. In retrospect, it's obvious that King doesn't structure his story so it makes a ``good novel''; instead he simply tells his tale. He isn't a novelist, he's a storyteller.
For example, as a novel, Insomnia has several major shortcomings, the first of which is its pacing. Thanks to King's tendency to prate, Insomnia doesn't really get going until about 400 pages in, and even then there are a lot of digressions.
Next is King's heavy reliance on ``talking head'' characters and flashbacks to explain away quickly and conveniently aspects of the plot that ideally should be shown, not told. King seems constantly to be saying: ``Oh, by the way, did I mention. . . ''; for the storyteller this technique is fine, but for the novelist it makes the writing seem poorly planned.
Finally, there's the story itself. King draws on everything from the Bible to Greek mythology to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to produce a fantasy tale of extraworldly proportions. Unfortunately, under the scrutiny allowed by the written word, parts of the tale seem a little ridiculous. In fact, the imagery King concocts at one supposedly dramatic (but ultimately unsatisfying) point in the climax is so ludicrous it's hard not to laugh aloud. But again, this is not a problem if you approach the tale with the suspension of disbelief and wide-eyed wonder that's generally afforded a tale told on the fly.
One thing that is a problem regardless of which criteria you use is Ralph Roberts. Simply, he doesn't act his age. This man of 70 runs down hills and jumps into fights, talks like a teen and even knows the words to Jefferson Airplane's song ``White Rabbit.'' Exacerbating this problem is the fact that many of the supporting characters are over 65, and act like it. The contrast not only makes Ralph even less believable, but it ruins the effectiveness of one major plot twist.
In all, if you approach Insomnia (and indeed most of King's works) as a fun tale told by a man with a vivid imagination and a lot of time on his hands, you're in for a good (not great) time. But if you're looking for a well-crafted novel, you'd best look elsewhere. MEMO: Gregory N. Krolczyk is a writer who lives in Kill Devil Hills. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Stephen King
by CNB