Book Review of "THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY"

 BOOK- THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

AUTHOR- MATT HAIG

PAGES- 288

BLURB-

‘Between life and death there is a library,’ she said.

‘And within that library, the shelves go on for ever.

Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived.

To see how things would be if you had made other choices…

 

‘Would you have done anything different,

If you had the chance to undo your regrets?’

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK-

This is my first time reading a fictional story by Matt Haig. The cover of the book 'The Midnight Library' depicts a Library and a cat which is quite relatable to the story's plot. The cat probably is Voltaire, owned by Nora and the library is where she ends up after trying to end her life.

Nora who was thirty-five, was fired from her job right after Voltaire died the night before. She barely had money to pay her rent, lost her best friend, and was distant from her brother after she left the band Labyrinth. She felt like a loser. Living felt like a great task for her and she had no hope to stay alive. This void became much apparent after the loss of Volts, her cat. Her life felt hollow as she moved through it and so, she decided to end her life.

Nora took an overdose of antidepressants she was on and slowly the world goes blank.

When her eyes open, she looks up at her watch which shows 00:00:00 and she finds herself in the Midnight Library, a place between life and death. She hung in there and experienced the endless possibilities of her life.

“Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which on turn leads to further variations…”

The library had an infinite number of books and it existed because of Nora. Each book in the library was about Nora's life. Her regrets from her life were so deep that it was hard for her to get rid of. 

Mrs. Elm was the Librarian who helped Nora choose the books she wanted to live. Nora would take up the books she desired and disappear into the world of possibilities.

In one life, Nora was a successful musician, in one she was a good pet owner, in one she was a glaciologist, in one she was an Olympic medal winner, in one she had kids, in one she was married to Dan, in one she was married to Ash and it went on…

Dining in the most exquisite restaurants, indulging in every sensual pleasure, performing on stage for a crowd of twenty thousand, experiencing the thunderous applause of a cheering audience, travelling to the farthest corners of the Earth, achieving Olympic glory— all these accomplishments held no meaning without love. Reflecting on the core of her existence, the fundamental issue that had made Nora vulnerable was the absence of love. She was left alone, she had no one to talk to, no one to call her own, no one to go to. Even her brother did not desire her presence in that life.

But, Midnight Library gave her hope to remain alive. The library was designed in such a way that it undergoes a collapse whenever Nora loses hope, but when she rediscovers enthusiasm for life, a sense of calm is restored to her surroundings and the library becomes still again.

Nora realized that one could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality. As Thoreau(since she is a graduate in philosophy, she goes through most of his writings and in one life she was a writer and writes about Thoreau too) wrote, ‘it’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see’

In one life, Nora gave a TED talk where she expressed that- ‘If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it. And don’t give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Because most gossip is envy in disguise.’ This was probably the strongest version of Nora I’ve read in the book. Or else Nora in her actual root life was filled with the wrongs, the should-not(s) and the would-not(s) of life. She was so full of regrets that she barely wanted to live.

Soon, Nora realized that she hadn’t tried to end her life because she was miserable, but because she had managed to convince herself that there was no way out of the misery.

We tend to wish what would have happened if we did things differently? what would have happened if we could change the decisions? what would have happened if we took over the things we liked? what would have happened if the ones we loved, loved us back in the way we did? There are endless possibilities of things that could actually happen if we took different decisions and to live the endless possibilities, death isn’t the answer. The only way to experience the endless possibilities is to live.

So, in this book, what happened to Nora at the end? Did she stay in the Midnight Library? Was she dead? Was she alive? Was she still full of regrets?

These are the questions I would leave for you! And to get the answers, you've to read the book.

The book was truly captivating and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

 P.S.- I received this book as a gift and I am glad I got hold of it, or else the possibilities might be, I would never get to read this masterpiece :) 

Overall rating- 4.8/5