Insomnia
Published: 15, September 1994
Author: Stephen King
Genre: American, Classic, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Media Tie-In, Supernatural, Thriller
Check out the review of this book here:
Summary
The narrative takes place in the fictitious town of Derry, Maine. Ralph Roberts, a retired pilot, runs across his old friend Ed Deepneau at the local airstrip. Ed is belligerent and obscenely yelling at a motorist he believes of surreptitiously delivering baby tissue from abortions.
Some months later, Ralph (now a widower) runs across Ed's wife Helen, who has been severely battered by her husband after signing a pro-choice petition. Helen abandons Ed and seeks refuge at a women's shelter months later.
Ralph develops sleep maintenance insomnia, waking sooner and earlier each night until he can only sleep for an hour at a time.
Ralph begins to see things that are invisible and intangible to others as his sleeplessness worsens: multicolored manifestations of life-force encircling individuals (auras) and small white-coated entities he refers to as "little bald physicians" based on their looks.
He gradually realizes that these are not hallucinations, but true events occurring on a distinct dimension of reality. He knows Ed Deepneau sees the same things he does. Lois Chasse, Ralph's friend, discloses to him that she, too, has just begun to see auras that she can understand.
Ralph and Lois come upon two bald physicians, Clotho and Lachesis, who act with dignity and release people from life when it is "their time" to go.
Atropos, the third bald doctor, is a crazy rogue who appears to pleasure in interrupting and prematurely destroying lives.
Ralph and Lois discover that existence is mostly dominated by "The Purpose" and "The Random," opposing forces or entities rather than foes.
Ed Deepneau is one of a few extremely rare beings who are not allocated to either force and so has the ability to drastically alter existence.
The "Crimson King," a shape-shifting higher-dimensional evil that feeds on fear and anguish and desires chaos to rule over, is revealed to Ralph and Lois.
Atropos has been dispatched by the Crimson King to control Deepneau as part of a scheme to disrupt the whole order of the cosmos.
Clotho and Lachesis, agents of the Purpose, induced Ralph and Lois sleeplessness in order to assist them observe, gain, and even entering other planes of reality in order to fight Atropos.
These levels are described by the benign bald physicians as "skyscraper beams," and Ralph gets a vision of The Dark Tower, a symbol of the multiverse.
Susan Day, a well-known and controversial pro-choice campaigner, is scheduled to speak at the Derry Civic Center.
Lois and Ralph see that the structure is covered in a gloomy aura, indicating a bleak future.
The Crimson King has been inciting Ed's thoughts against abortion, transforming him into a violent and paranoid zealot. Ed plans to launch a kamikaze assault on the civic center during Susan Day's speech, killing her and everyone inside with a tiny plane laden with C-4 explosives.
Lois and Ralph are furious about being used by foreign powers, but they determine they must stop the onslaught.
Ed Deepneau's supporters set fire to the shelter where Helen has been sleeping since leaving him. Ralph and Lois save the inhabitants before going in search of Atropos.
Ralph defeats the evil entity by getting a commitment from Atropos not to meddle with him and Lois, knowing that the tiny bald physicians are bound by their pledges.
Once free, Atropos torments Ralph with a vision of a vehicle accident in the near future that would take Helen's little daughter Natalie Deepneau's life. Her death will be in punishment for Atropos's inability to intervene with Ralph.
Ralph informs the kindly bald physicians that he will not stop Ed Deepneau unless they allow him to subsequently save Natalie Deepneau, pledging his own life in exchange for hers.
A higher-level creature appears briefly, inspiring awe in Clotho and Lachesis as it states that Ralph's requirements are acceptable. He and Lois discover that "virtually all of reality has halted to observe the events unfolding," since the success or failure of Ed's attack has the potential to influence the whole universe.
The true target of the Crimson King is not the speaker, Susan Day, as they had imagined, but a boy from the local shelter who will be in the audience: Patrick Danville, a young artist prophesied to one day play an important role in preserving The Dark Tower (and thus the multiverse) and aiding in the defeat of the Crimson King.
The Crimson King has frequently attempted to end the life of a "messiah," but this is now achievable in Derry, a location of confluence.
Ralph confronts Ed Deepneau on board his jet as he takes off. The Crimson King appears to stop him from interfering with Ed's goal. Ralph is successful in getting the plane to crash some distance away from the center, and he survives by changing to a higher level of reality before impact.
Ralph and Lois fall in love and marry after returning to his appropriate position and reality, eventually forgetting their adventures with the tiny bald physicians.
Ralph begins to have sleeplessness again in an epilogue set several years later. He begins to see auras again and recalls his experience and the vow to trade his life for Natalie Deepneau's.
He arrives just in time to see the automobile in his vision emerge and swerve toward Natalie. Ralph pushes Natalie to safety but loses his life in the process. He dies calmly with Lois at his side, while Clotho and Lachesis keep an eye on him.
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords
Bald Doctors, Character Development, Crimson King, Derry Maine, Eli Wallach, Kings Best, Little Bald, Main Characters, Ralph And Lois, Ralph Roberts, Tower Series
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