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Dolores Claiborne/Insomnia
Dolores Claiborne; Insomnia. 2 Vols.
Paperback
Published November 1, 1995
3 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,397 books889k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 22, 2013
Once again, I love how King changes formats on us. I decided to read this book because I had seen the movie a couple of years back. Being a lover of King, I knew I would have to read it eventually. But what I did noticed when I watch the movie, everything unfolded in front of me and it made it seem like it would be better as a book because it would have been so revealing and so open. And I was right! Though I knew what was going to happen, the writing described the process and everything that was going with Miss Claiborne.
The style of this book is written as if it were a recorded narrative, like she is telling the story. Which is what she is. So it just flows and flows. No chapter or page breaks. So putting this book down was hard, but you gotta do it once in a while! However, that also kept me wanting to read further and further to find out not necessarily what happened next, but why? (like I said, I knew what was going to happen due to the movie)
This style of writing and storytelling is great because it is written in her dialect and you really feel her personality in this narrative as well. Even better was the fact that I could hear Kathy Bates's voice as I read this. Kinda cool. Considering she rocked the role of Annie Wilkes in Misery and she's just awesome in general.
This book, like most of King's work is very descriptive in giving details. Since she was giving a statement to the police, Miss Claiborne had no problems telling them EVERYTHING. So this was pretty easy for King I'm sure because he loves being prolific!
The only drawback from this book was that some of the big descriptions got to be a bit much and at times I felt myself daydreaming. But luckily I was able to get back on track. This was a quick read and a good read. I feel that writing style and the psychological impact this has on the reader is why it should get more credit that this little gem does.
The style of this book is written as if it were a recorded narrative, like she is telling the story. Which is what she is. So it just flows and flows. No chapter or page breaks. So putting this book down was hard, but you gotta do it once in a while! However, that also kept me wanting to read further and further to find out not necessarily what happened next, but why? (like I said, I knew what was going to happen due to the movie)
This style of writing and storytelling is great because it is written in her dialect and you really feel her personality in this narrative as well. Even better was the fact that I could hear Kathy Bates's voice as I read this. Kinda cool. Considering she rocked the role of Annie Wilkes in Misery and she's just awesome in general.
This book, like most of King's work is very descriptive in giving details. Since she was giving a statement to the police, Miss Claiborne had no problems telling them EVERYTHING. So this was pretty easy for King I'm sure because he loves being prolific!
The only drawback from this book was that some of the big descriptions got to be a bit much and at times I felt myself daydreaming. But luckily I was able to get back on track. This was a quick read and a good read. I feel that writing style and the psychological impact this has on the reader is why it should get more credit that this little gem does.
August 29, 2022
Como la vida misma de miles de mujeres, sigo impactada
October 20, 2015
For me, King is a bit of a mix bag as an author. You will either receive something truly wonderful or you will hate the entire experience – somehow, he even manages those between stages.
For me, these fail to show off King at his best. Whilst Insomnia was an okay read, it was not as good as some of his other books. Whilst Dolores Claiborne was an interesting insight to King outside of horror, it was nothing overly special. Overall, these books aren’t all that mind blowing when compared to some of his other books.
For me, these fail to show off King at his best. Whilst Insomnia was an okay read, it was not as good as some of his other books. Whilst Dolores Claiborne was an interesting insight to King outside of horror, it was nothing overly special. Overall, these books aren’t all that mind blowing when compared to some of his other books.
July 11, 2012
Stephen King really knows how to make his readers turn page after page, without being able to put the book down. This book is written as a long monologue by Dolores Clairborne, without a single break. I lost a few hours of sleep reading this book because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. It all wraps up very nicely and you can't help but root for Dolores Clairborne. What a character!
February 6, 2012
Read this this weekend. I am tired of Mr. King killing off the charaters I like.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews