I’m glad to see some listened to the book. The author’s narration is priceless. It is really hard for me to say what my opinion of the book would be had I not listened to it. Regarding Kamala, I loved that she evoked from me every range of emotion. I wanted to hug her and slap her, at the same time. Mostly, she broke my heart. To love so deeply but to not have the tools or freedom to express it is very sad.
For once I finished the book on time AND I’m here with a computer, so can participate in the “discussion!”
I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed the book – though there were times I wanted to grab some of the characters by the shoulders and shake them awake! Which segues into the question about the title of the book. Many of the main characters were, indeed, sleepwalking their way through life for most of the book. Amina seems to “wake up,” but what about Kamala? I’m not sure what I envision her future to be. And I also wonder about Sunil – yes he was a sleepwalker, but was he really asleep when he set the fire at the Salem house? (I see that’s another discussion question in Mary’s list.) He was SO angry at Thomas for not coming back to India to live.
I can see how listening to the book would have been a rewarding experience, as it was mostly dialogue. (I never listen to books, though. I just don’t absorb things aurally very well.) Reading the book, it seemed awfully dialogue-heavy, though the dialogue was interspersed with descriptive similes that were usually enjoyably vivid but occasionally forced.
Kamala was a great character! It would have been fun to hear MIra Jacob saying her lines, many of which were quite amusing.
I loved the part of the book that was set in India and wished that more of it had been. The grandmother was a fascinating character whom it would have been great to know more about.
I thought the relationship with Jaime was too good to be true and the successful exhibit of Amina’s off-beat wedding photos was too good to be true also. And Dimple’s engagement seemed a little pat. (I suspect that a young person’s unexpectedly falling for a family-sanctioned “suitable match” who was reviled as a child is pretty standard in stories about Indian-Americans. It certainly something that occurred in The Namesake!)
I have a question about the image of the dead grandmother appearing in the photograph. Was it really there? If so, it was the only magical realism element in the whole book. Everything else that was ghostly had a psychological explanation.
My least favorite part of the book was Amina’s relationship with Jaime, including their strange trespassing romp.
@NJTheatreMom, Jacob’s reading of Kamala was exceptional. I can still here her saying “Amina, Amina…” My husband and I have been saying it out of the blue to each other. 
Like @Mary13 said in her post, the audio sticks with you. Jacob’s telling of the story brings it to life. I agree with @cartera45, my opinion may have been different if hadn’t listened to the audio version. It was that good.
I’m not sure about the image of the grandmother in the picture. It does seem a little more supernatural and not able to be explained away by illness or depression. Having Amina’s teacher be the person to first spot the grandmother in the photo makes it real.
I didn’t mind Amina’s relationship with Jamie, but I agree the trespassing romp was strange. They met each other again at a time that worked for both of them. I do wonder if they had any kind of relationship in high school past freshman year. We don’t really know if they spoke to each other or just ignored each other.
I have thought of Kamala’s take on “When Harry Met Sally” several times and I laugh every time.
Oops, when I left earlier I thought @ignatius’ post was a link. I think the book is hopeful, at least for some of the characters. Thomas and Kamala find love again at the end. This makes a much better memory for Kamala than what her life had previously been. Thomas spoke to Akhil. That made him happy. I wish he had also paid more attention to Amina, but he needed to talk to Akhil (even if he wasn’t real) to allow himself to die in peace. Amina is finally starting live her life at the end of the book. There is a lot of sadness in the book, but there is also a lot of hope.
^^^ Thomas needed to talk to Akhil … and Ammachy and Sunil and Divya and Itty. He has reparations to make.
The trespassing romp does not serve much purpose. I think though that Jaime serves to link Amina to Albuquerque as does the loss of her job in Seattle and the start of one in Albuquerque, along with Dimple moving on to marriage and motherhood. Jacob keeps building a case for Amina to stay in Albuquerque.
I’m less sure about Dimple and her purpose. I guess she links Amina from Albuquerque to Seattle to home again. I can’t agree with some of her actions though - the snooping through Amina’s apartment and disregarding Amina “clear” request to leave her photographs out of the exhibit: “Look, you asked. I am saying no. Clear?”
I like Kamala - my favorite character in the book. (Jacob likes her best also. Now to find the interview in which she says so.)
Caraid: Oops, I thought I had posted (in post #18) the link. Here it is: http://mirandabw.com/mirajacob/
I was curious about the characters being Syrian Indian Christians and suspected that must be Mira Jacob’s background. And indeed it was: http://www.mashupamericans.com/relationships/mira-jacob-arranged-marriage-jewish-laws-beauty-loss/
I agree with this. I loved some of the similes—the ones that made sense in context, such as Bala’s excited disbelief about Dimple’s engagement:
Or the description of the Salem house:
Others, though, I found peculiar, such as “a collection of takeout boxes slumped together like old men in bad weather”…or…”she remembered their first kiss, how strange and eager they had both been, like two mutes trying to describe a freak storm.”
(Sorry, I can’t quote page numbers—my Kindle version doesn’t have them for some reason.)
By the end of the novel, I was hyper-aware of all the similes. Not that I didn’t enjoy the colorful comparisons–both good and bad–but I think there may have been too many.
I don’t think there was any relationship–mostly due to Amina’s difficulty in coping with Akhil’s death:
Me too. Near the beginning of the book, there was a particularly bad one that I think involved eyelashes, but I forgot to make a note about it.
I hope he was asleep; otherwise, he’s guilty of mass murder. Even if he was asleep, that doesn’t completely absolve him, does it? If you do terrible things when you are sleepwalking, does that release you from responsibility? Can we excuse Sunil using some variant of the Ambien defense? http://www.thefix.com/content/ambien-zombies-murder-and-other-disturbing-behavior?page=all
Sunil’s sleepwalking seemed so extreme to me that I wondered how realistic it was. In fact, his behavior is possible, but not terribly common: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/day-in-day-out/201212/sleepwalking-killers-and-what-they-tell-us-about-sleep
Given that Sunil’s episodes of sleepwalking tend to be so destructive, I would think the family might have sought help. I wonder how Divya could ever have had a decent night’s sleep, for fear of what her husband might do next.
For a family of doctors there seemed to be a huge reluctance for anyone to actually consult with one!
Good morning. I’m here, after hosting our college party yesterday. Whew! I was tempted to take a peek at the discussion, but refrained for the sake of being a prepared hostess. But, speaking of entertaining, some of my favorite parts of this book were the descriptions of the meals. I love Indian food with its infinite array of exotic spice mixtures, the levels of heat, and the tasty breads. The family gatherings over the lengthily, lovingly prepared meals rang true. I wanted to join them–not for the drama usually associated with each gathering–but for a taste of the food!
I wish I had listened to this book, because I do enjoy audio-books. I took this book on a beach trip, most of which was spent with an ailing parent; but maybe because of my own setting, or perhaps the content of the book itself, it didn’t feel AT ALL l like a beach read. As NJTM said, there was so much dialogue, and for me, at least, what was being said combined with my own scenery left me in a dark mood after reading, each day. I found the grandmother Ammachy’s treatment of her family shockingly selfish, heartless; Thomas’s refusal to address his son’s sleeping disorder, until it was too late, was incredibly sad (I thought perhaps Akhil had a brain tumor!); the consequences of Sunil’s sleepwalking, not only in the immediate deaths of the family in the compound, but the effect on Thomas’s family, horrendous; Akhil’s death and the self sacrifice of Amina’s parents to the couch, just depressing. I don’t say this because I didn’t like the book, just the mood it left me in!
PlantMom: Same thing here. We’ve had some disruptions in family life the last month or so and I found myself growing sad as I read each evening before I went to sleep. I needed to grab something lighter - less fraught with dysfunction - to even out my reading. Like you said: “I don’t say this because I didn’t like the book, just the mood it left me in!” Exactly!
I think Sunil sets the fire while sleepwalking, but an underlying desire to burn the house down already exists.
My youngest daughter had a couple of sleepwalking incidents - she thinks - possibly medicine related. The first time she awoke with carpet burns on her knees and scratches from the chicken wire (for her sculpture class) in a corner of her bedroom. She swears she didn’t have either when she went to sleep. The second time she woke with two different socks on her feet. Freaky rather than serious … but still.
I was wondering if Sunil had an undiagnosed brain tumor like Thomas’.
I know a few doctors. They do this in real life, too. I thought Thomas’ reaction to his cancer was a true reaction. It seemed personal and real to me.
Greetings all. I I intended to finish Sleepwalking, on 5 hour plane flight to colorado (visiting in laws) but left the book in luggage, I’m reading, reading , reading, as I adjust to high altitude. Not reading comments, yet, carry on 
So nicely put! Despite all the family dysfunction, I took some comfort in the fact that Akhil and Amina knew they were deeply loved. And for all their problems, Thomas and Kamala knew what they meant to each other. It’s a shame that their periods of reconciliation were too brief and always prompted by crisis (the Salem fire, Thomas’ tumor), but isn’t that often the way?
I loved Thomas and empathized with Amina’s sense of powerlessness as she watched his decline (part of my own past “scenery,” as PlantMom put it). In the link that ignatius posted (#27), Mira Jacob says:
One of the lines that moved me most was actually at the end of the Acknowledgments: “My father, Philip Jacob. I still see you everywhere.”
I was amused by Jacob’s comments to her mother and brother: “Also, thanks to both of you in advance for not smacking anyone who makes the regrettable mistake of thinking either of you are Kamala or Akhil. (And sorry about that.)”
While I enjoyed reading this book, it often left me unsettled. I am a first generation American, and while my folks weren’t as accomplished as the Eapens nor were they from India (they were from
Eastern Europe) I found the many similarities between the Eapens and my parents eerie, especially commonalities in how the Eapens interacted with their kids. It made me think that there must be some universal behaviors common among the diverse ethnic groups immigrating to the U.S.
One is, surely, a strong, opionated, and dominating mother who sacrifices for her kids, pushes them to their limits, and is never really satisfied with their accomplishments. Kamala was not my favorite character. Clearly, she loves her children, but at the same time she drove them away with her constant meddling–maybe it would be called helicopter parenting today. I would bet that if Akhil had lived, he would not have stayed in New Mexico.
Another part of the story that struck home for me was the affinity among immigrants from the same place to spend time together celebrating their traditions and food and to support/help one another in this country. I loved the whole crowd of faux aunties and uncles in the book who are always there, especially how they rallied when they learned of Thomas’ diagnosis. My Dad was really active in social groups from not only his country of origin, but from the island where he was born! As a kid, I didn’t understand the draw, but as an adult I get it–there’s an attraction to being among people with whom you have shared experiences. You don’t have to explain yourself and you can be comfortable.
Also, that Thomas sought out the young Indian doctor when he finally went to get treatment for his visions was so familiar to me. My folks sought out doctors and dentists with the same ethnic background as ours–as if they were somehow “better”. Plus, in our case it was not that easy to find these professionals since there weren’t that many. To this day, I’m convinced my childhood dentist was a quack!
Don’t mean to bore people with my immigrant family anecdotes–anyway, I enjoyed the book and didn’t mind that it was dialogue heavy. I don’t have my book with me–I tagged along on H’s business trip to San Francisco, but there was one passage that I thought was so well written that I marked it–something I never do when I’m lost in a story. When I get back, I’ll post it, just to see what you all think.
I felt many emotions while reading this book, but I didn’t have a dark mood when it ended. When I finished I mentioned to my husband that I thought I should feel sad, and actually felt a little guilty that I didn’t. It sort of seemed like a happy ending for Amina. She was finally moving forward. I had that “hopeful” feeling that Jacob mentioned.
Thank you for sharing your perspective, @Bromfield2. I did get a sense that the author was sharing personal experiences. Even though she says Kamala is not based on her real mother, I bet she knew people with those personality traits. It just seemed too familiar.
There were many things in the book that felt familiar to me.