The House of Sleep

by Jonathan Coe

Book Overview

Winner of the Writers' Guild Best Fiction Award in England and the Prix M dicis in France Like a surreal and highly caffeinated version of The Big Chill, Jonathan Coe's new novel follows four students who knew each other in college in the eighties. Sarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events. Robert has his life changed forever by the misunderstandings that arise from her condition. Terry spends his wakeful nights...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375700889
• ISBN13: 9780375700880
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

won't put you to sleep...

This is the second novel by this young Brit, and if this book is any indication, he should be writing intelligent, thoughtful, humorous novels for some time. It's my intention to pick up his first novel (once I have time to read it, that is). "The House of Sleep" is a novel about dreams and obsessions, about sleeping and waking and how vital they are. The book has an interesting style, it is about four students who knew each other (some well, some just as passing acquaintences) in college, who all wind up coming back to the old house that served as student housing 12 years ago which is now a sleep-disorder clinic. The chapters switch off, the odd-numbered ones take place in the present and the even-numbered ones take place in the past - or is it the other way around? At any rate, I felt this might get confusing but it was quite naturally done. The problems of narcolepsy, and of a man who hasn't slept for the better part of 12 years, plus two other men with strange obsessions, don't sound like they would be part of a very funny novel, but parts of this book were so funny I was practically crying. The chapter about the "business success seminar" was utterly hilarious. The characters were likeable, for the most part, and well drawnand well-realized whether you found them likeable or not. The lyrical writing, the use of similar and repetitive language, and the many-layered plot contrived to form a compelling and enjoyable novel. And even though I saw the ending coming from about the middle of the book, its impact was not lessened. The coda, in the form of three brief appendices, was absolutely breathtaking. Highly recommended!

House of Sleep

The House of Sleep is with little doubt the most painstakingly constructed, carefully orchestrated work of fiction I've read. Similar efforts at formulaic writing are usually clever at best, or a mockery of themselves at worst, but Jonathan Coe has pulled off such a design with ingenuity and to great effect. On its surface, the story is not too striking, hence the reason I was not at first interested by reviews and comments. A group of students, each bearing a heavy burden of intriguing personality quirks and neuroses, meet while living in the same dormitory house, to find that twelve years later, their lives are still intricately related. Beautiful and fragile Sarah, a narcoleptic, has dreams so vivid that she (and by persuasion, sometimes others) mistake them for reality. Robert, a tortured individual who desparately loves her, can never seem to be the right person for her at the right moment. Terry, their friend, spends half his life in search of a lost Italian film, for which there's no evidence aside from a single photograph, to which references appear at odd times in others' dreams. Other characters include Ruby, the groundskeepers' daughter who has discovered that "people never lie when talking in their sleep," and Gregory, Sarah's first lover, who harbors an unnatural obsession with watching Sarah sleep. The cunning presentation of the novel, however, consists of its being told in two times at once, the early 80s and the mid 90s, but both in a chronological fashion, such that experiences in the past which trigger occurrences in the present and present revelations about past events occur in quick succession. Carefully placed epiphanies mark each chapter like milestones on the way through the plot of the book. The author also makes very adept use of varied narrative technique, including letters, transcripts, journal articles, along with characters' verbose descriptions of events, dreams, and memories, to add variety and strength to the writing. At the end of the novel, a collage of a poem (tidbits of which were scattered throughout the novel, as its author constructed it in his head), a letter, and a transcript provide a far more powerful depiction of denoument events than any narration alone could accomplish. The book is at times haunting, hypnotic, viciously humorous, and unceasingly disturbing, and forgiving a slightly melodramatic turn of events at its climax, serves as an extraordinary work of fiction.

The House of Sleep

I think this book by Jonathon Coe is utterly fabulous. The book is extremely well written because it always made me want to turn the next page and move onto the next chapter. Overall, I feel this book to be more dramatic than comedic. However, when I read the article with the messed up footnotes I could not stop laughing!The novel is about a group of college students at Ashdown. They all know one another, and all seem to be friends with one another. They have problems and conflicts with each other which causes them to lose contact with one another. However, more than a decade later they all seem to meet again at Ashdown, which has become a sleep clinic. All of the characters seem to be interwoven with each other through other characters. Who knew that Sarah would meet someone who knew her beloved Veronica, and have the copy of their sacred book? Where exactly did Robert run off to, or did he even go anywhere? I never expected Sarah's former analysist to be the one to cause such emotion in Dr. Dudden, the doctor in charcge of the clinic. I must say that I love this book. I like how everything came together. The characters are so memorable that if I had to put down the book and come back later I would still remember everyone. If a character like Ruby showed up again 150 pages later, I would remember her and not think, "Who is Ruby?" I guess you can call me a sentimental freak, but the only part of this book that I really did not care for was all the rabbits, dogs, and rats in the basement. I never did like reading that part. Everything about this novel is excellent, and I think you should read it.

A Witty and Sophisticated Masterpiece of Satire

I just finished reading this book and find myself quite simply having to write something about it. An absolutely superlative exercise in plot manipulation, it succeeds at almost every twist and turn, at times eliciting laughter, at others shock, sadness and finally, true romantic empathy in the least likely of ways. At the core of this novel is the connection between the 'real' and the 'imaginary' and the interplay between these different levels of consciousness through the passage of time. This novel is certainly reminiscent of Nabokov, and I would even venture to say Proust, in style and wit. Readers of Nabokov will also discern a certain similarity in the approach to multilayered realities, the world of dreams, and the ultimate joke unfolding as the narrative progesses-- Ada, being the closest novel I can think of. All this AND and extemely entertaining read! I recommend this book most enthusiastically, the only proviso being that it might induce insomnia on the part of the reader due to its highly addictive qualities ...

As refreshing as a good night's sleep

This is the first book I have read by this author and I found it quite wonderful. Multi-layered and intricate, movingly effortlessly between decades, male and female, dreams and reality, hope and loss, scathing satire and compassion for human frailty. And it is very funny! I was left with an appreciation for the intelligence that had woven this piece and eager to read more of this author's work.