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A review by ohsoreads
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
5.0
“For want of a better word, it is in-between. It is not life. It is not death. It is not the real world in conventional sense. But nor is it a dream. It isn’t one thing or another. It is, in short, the Midnight Library.”
Meet Nora Seed, someone who claims she isn’t a great cat owner, who threw away old dreams & constantly feel lost like this present life isn’t made for her. One after another loss hits her & that’s when she felt it was the end. The clock strikes at Midnight & she finds herself in a library — The Midnight Library. Mrs Elm, her old chess partner & librarian, greets her & shows her to all the books of life that she could have lived. Nora was reluctant but jumped from book after book to ease the regrets that she had bottled up. She then enters an unexpected version of her life that made her want to live again.
“While the Midnight Library stands, Nora, you will be preserved from death. Now, you have to decide how you want to live.”
I’m more than happy to say it here & now that this has officially entered my must-read list. It’s so powerful, touching & empowering. I found myself tearing up whilst reading because I see myself in the different scenes. These are things, statements, thoughts that came across my mind too — way before I even started reading this book. This book is a great one for all who experience existential crisis, who are anxious for their next paths/stage in life. I thoroughly enjoyed the theme of ‘stuck in a limbo’; between life and death, not dead but not alive either because it opened up the opportunity to explore alternate universes.
Following Nora’s journey to finding the right life for herself has made me think about mine too. I share similar thoughts as Nora did, I understand where she was coming from & even when she felt like her root life was not worthy to be lived anymore. There’s a reason for every moment missed; the one who got away, the opportunity that could’ve been yours, the trip of a lifetime etc. What is missed doesn’t equate to an end of a life but a mere chapter. Or in reference to the story, we close one book to open another — to keep swimming, moving forward.
Here on lies some excerpts that I liked:
“It takes no effort to miss the friends we didn’t make and the work we didn’t do and the people we didn’t marry and the children we didn’t have. It is not difficult to see yourself through the lens of other people, and to wish you were all the different kaleidoscopic versions of you they wanted you to be. It is easy to regret, and keep regretting, as infinitum, until our time runs out.”
“Will my life be miraculously free from pain, despair, grief, heartbreak, hardship, loneliness, depression? No.
But do I want to live?
Yes. YES.
A thousand times, yes.”
Meet Nora Seed, someone who claims she isn’t a great cat owner, who threw away old dreams & constantly feel lost like this present life isn’t made for her. One after another loss hits her & that’s when she felt it was the end. The clock strikes at Midnight & she finds herself in a library — The Midnight Library. Mrs Elm, her old chess partner & librarian, greets her & shows her to all the books of life that she could have lived. Nora was reluctant but jumped from book after book to ease the regrets that she had bottled up. She then enters an unexpected version of her life that made her want to live again.
“While the Midnight Library stands, Nora, you will be preserved from death. Now, you have to decide how you want to live.”
I’m more than happy to say it here & now that this has officially entered my must-read list. It’s so powerful, touching & empowering. I found myself tearing up whilst reading because I see myself in the different scenes. These are things, statements, thoughts that came across my mind too — way before I even started reading this book. This book is a great one for all who experience existential crisis, who are anxious for their next paths/stage in life. I thoroughly enjoyed the theme of ‘stuck in a limbo’; between life and death, not dead but not alive either because it opened up the opportunity to explore alternate universes.
Following Nora’s journey to finding the right life for herself has made me think about mine too. I share similar thoughts as Nora did, I understand where she was coming from & even when she felt like her root life was not worthy to be lived anymore. There’s a reason for every moment missed; the one who got away, the opportunity that could’ve been yours, the trip of a lifetime etc. What is missed doesn’t equate to an end of a life but a mere chapter. Or in reference to the story, we close one book to open another — to keep swimming, moving forward.
Here on lies some excerpts that I liked:
“It takes no effort to miss the friends we didn’t make and the work we didn’t do and the people we didn’t marry and the children we didn’t have. It is not difficult to see yourself through the lens of other people, and to wish you were all the different kaleidoscopic versions of you they wanted you to be. It is easy to regret, and keep regretting, as infinitum, until our time runs out.”
“Will my life be miraculously free from pain, despair, grief, heartbreak, hardship, loneliness, depression? No.
But do I want to live?
Yes. YES.
A thousand times, yes.”