Gregory is Sarah's first lover, later a psychiatrist in charge of the sleep clinic, and finally a man gone mad who decides to self-experiment. Dr. Cleo Madison is a sleep psychologist whose true identity is a surprise. In this novel, reality appears more surrealistic than most dreams. Commentary Sleep is portrayed as a paradox. On the one hand, it is described as a disease, even a plague, that shortens life by a third.
Sleepers are powerless as they lie unconscious and helpless.
Those who cannot sleep, want to. Those who are perpetually falling asleep strive to stay awake. Sleep is seen by some as a weakness, but by others as a reward. In The House of Sleep, everyone is somehow connected. The novel depicts not only how sleep changes us but also questions what is real and what is only a dream.