But I really feel for the poor LW who cannot get any sleep. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture -- it's horrible! It completely messes with the mind and body. I know because I have always had periods in my life where I have not been able to sleep well -- don't ask me why. It's always one thing or the other.

I used to just fantasize that somehow I would be granted a wish and that wish would be to not NEED to ever sleep. (The second would be one of those Beam-me-up-Scotty things so I could just be somewhere instantly.)

Maybe that points to a lack of ability to relax or something on my part. So lately in the last year I have been making a huge effort to sleep like a "normal" person. It's been the biggest challenge -- people ask what I'm up to and I have to tell them about the sleep project and I know it's ridiculous and boring to care about sleep at all. God, I think it's as boring as talking about being regular -- I think I am really getting old. But I am trying everything including sleep meds.

But anyway, I think that courts favor tenants over landlords and you could probably fix this up if you had to, but I would definitely leave and look for a place where you can sleep. It may be worth consulting an attorney over, though, because an attorney may be able to just send a letter to your landlord and it may not be worth the hassle to him to contest you breaking the lease and moving.

In general I would say you should talk to the guy yourself first, but LW is so upset that I would not pussy-foot around like that. Just do what you have to and go.

The first time I wrote this same answer in a short version someone called it absurd so I thought I'd better explain.

Google this: exploding head syndrome. I live in a peaceful house and still occasionally hear crashing noises when I fall asleep and wake in the night(it's gotten better with age). Not to say that it's not your landlord, it's just something to consider since you say it happens right before you fall asleep.

A few people have mentioned "quiet enjoyment" as a term in leases. It does not in fact mean that you are entitled to quiet -- in this context it means without you use of the apartment being disturbed or interrupted, i.e., that the landlord cannot for example trespass on the property, put other persons or livestock on the property or effectively deprive you of the use of the property.

Noise is not necessarily a breach of the "quiet enjoyment" provision of the lease unless it is so unreasonable as to effectively deprive you of the use of the premises. That said, if you had explained to the landlord that you were concerned about noise, that it would make the place unusable (and you can prove this) and he promised silence, then you could argue a violation of the covenant.

Once when I was nine months pregnant I fell asleep on the couch and I woke up because my son (in my womb) yelled so loud it woke me up. I guess that explains that. Wow, that has mystified me for 25 years.

I can remember years ago my middle brother and cousin were hanging out at the town pier. An old man who lived across the street came out and, in typically profiling style, decided they were up to no good. He referred to them as "monkeys."

Well, that was the last night he ever had any peace and quiet for the rest of the summer. Thereafter the boys would wait for darkness to set in and then run back and forth past his house imitating the noises monkeys and gorillas make. Few imaginations are as fertile as that of the adolescent male.

Of the Princess and the Pea.

When I was nine, we lived in an old house in a very hot town. No air conditioning. Parents provided box fans for the windows. We kept bowls of ice cubes next to our beds. The fans saved our lives, by God. But, TO THIS DAY, I cannot sleep without a fan on.

Noisemakers are crap. You need one of those basic box fans from Ace. The highest setting is probably too high. I love the highest setting, but to you, it will sound like a plane preparing for takeoff. For you? Medium is perfect.

Noise is inevitable. I live in a situation where the other people living around me are pretty considerate. We're fairly aware of each other, but things do happen. Fans can massively decrease the chances of those crashes interrupting your night. If you've never slept with a fan before, it will probably be weird right off the bat, but after that? BLISS. I'm telling you. I'm always amazed that nobody else I know does this. It seems like the most obvious thing in the world.

However... camping and travel will be somewhat complicated by your newfound fan love. Earplugs do a pretty good imitation, though, especially if you hum a little bit as you're dropping off.

Have you tried the wax earplugs, by the way? You say you can still hear your landlord through earplugs, but I've always found the wax to be pretty damned effective. But maybe they're in there too far? Yoiks. Anyway. TRY A FAN. It's the best white noise in all the world.

and he is an a-hole. Arrive home after my SECOND job at 11pm, walk in the door and he starts banging on the ceiling.

Playing scrabble on the floor with my friends on a Friday night at 9pm and he starts banging on the ceiling.

Arrive home with my sister, both of us exhausted and getting ready for bed with a minimum amount of chatter, and he shouts up the air shaft and then goes down to the basement and turns off my power (along with several other neighbors who apparently "annoyed" him).

I complained to the landlord. He finally moved out to the suburbs.

Personally, I've gone and knocked on doors after midnight on a weeknight when I could no longer stand the thudding music shaking my bed for the 3rd time that week.

Some people have unreasonable expectations of their neighbors. I try to be reasonable, but sometimes you've gotta talk to them.

Sounds like the LW is the problem to me.