Author: Matt Haig
Publisher: Viking
Publication Year: 2020
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 288
The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
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Nora Seed had many regrets in her life. She regretted that she didn’t train
hard enough at swimming. She regretted that she didn’t sign the music contract
and be a full-time musician. She also regretted that she didn’t marry her ex.
Looking at her life, she felt like a failure. She felt that she never follows
through. One day she decided to end it all. However, she found herself
stranded in a place which seemed like a library. There, she met Mrs. Elm, a
librarian whom she knew back when she’s a lot younger. In the library, the
clock never goes past 12:00 am. The library itself contains books which hold
the story of her life had she made another choices in her current life. It is
through this library that Nora tried to answer the what-if question of her
life.
First of all, trigger warning for suicide and self-harm for this book. Though
this book doesn’t explicitly describe the action itself, there are part in
this book that could be triggering. Second of all, I’m aware that this book is
beloved in the online book community. I mean, it’s everywhere. Yet, I still
could manage to avoid spoilers. I didn’t even know what this book is about
before reading it. I was a bit surprised to find what this book really is
about because honestly, I was in a place in my life where I could totally
relate to Nora.
I’m sure that everyone has regrets in their life. If you’ve made peace with
that, then good for you. Most people don’t, even to the point that they find
their life is meaningless which is the case with Nora. As what Mrs. Elm said
in the book, ‘Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.’, Nora had the
chance to experience many possibilities of her lives which could happen had
she made different choices. One by one she saw her what-if questions answered.
Reading this book, made me thinking that we get so hung-up in those what-if
scenarios because we never really know the outcome. For example, in the book
Nora had a regret of not becoming a swimming athlete and compete in the
Olympic. In her root life, she always beat herself up for that choice because
she didn’t know exactly if the outcome would be better than her current life.
All that she knew was that she didn’t feel content with her current life and
any life might be better than her current life. Through the library, she
actually gets to experience her life as an Olympic winner swimming athlete.
Was that life better? Not exactly. That’s how she learned and made peace with
her choices and regrets.
If only we have the ability to explore our life choices just like Nora; but we
don’t. If anything, what I could learn from this book is that everyone has
their purpose in life. It doesn’t have to be grand because what look small to
us might actually have big impact to other people. It’s humane to feel lost
sometimes and if we do, if we feel that we couldn’t handle it, we look for our
own Mrs. Elm.
For some people, this book could be a bit preachy. Personally, Nora’s story
has moved me in a way that I didn’t predict. I can see why this book is so
beloved. The only thing that bother me is when there’s another character who
sort of introduced the idea of quantum physic into the story. It took me out
of it for a while. Other than that, I enjoyed reading this book. I like the
idea and theme discussed in this book and I like the hopeful tone in the end.
Overall, I recommend the Midnight Library to read.
‘Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?’
‘You don't have to understand life. You just have to live it’
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