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A review by wouterk
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
4.0
Between life and death you may find yourself in a library, with an infinite amount of possible lives you can sample. What if you've done things differently? You can crawl in your own skin, in another life. That is the premise that Haig gives us in this book, literally on the first page before the story begins.
I really flew through this book. It is well-written, fast-paced and thought-provoking. But it also invited me to reflect on regrets I might have, my view on the purpose of life and (mild spoilers but also trigger warning). I think it is a great book if you're in a good place. If you're not in a good place in your life I feel it might go two ways. On the one hand, it may really help reflect and get a more positive outlook on life. On the other hand, as many of the thoughts in this book can be dark, it may also hit quite hard.
What I really admire is that even though the book can make you think about all these things, it is by no means hard or heavy to read. Haig very intricately develops the concept of this sampling of lives and how different choices have different consequences for our own lives but also that of others. He works from a very powerful premise that knowing is not sufficient to experience and living a life is key. Each life becomes a puzzle to find out what has transpired and how our main character, Nora, got to this point. How did it affect her, how did it affect the people she knew in her root life?
I do have one minor gripe with the execution of the concept, which did not take from my enjoyment though. While Haig posits that you need to live a life to know that it fits you, Nora enters each life with her own memories of her root life and the library. To me that makes it impossible to actually live that life as you are not aware of the memories and experiences of the Nora up till the point where you entered the life you're currently visiting.
Another thing I really loved about the book was how it fleshed out all the characters, even in different lives, in so few pages. Nora's family, friends and acquaintances in each life, feel very recognizable and alive, even though they receive limited 'screen time'.
Finally, it is clear that Haig did not create this story lightly and did some research in thoughts about existence, life and its meaning. As Nora in her root life is a philosophy nut, we are frequently given quotes or explanations of different philosophers' takes. Also, special appreciation to the references to different great classical pieces and pop songs.
All in all, trying to summarize in one sentence, I'd say this is a more complex and less moral version of 'A christmas Carol' and definitely worth the read!
I really flew through this book. It is well-written, fast-paced and thought-provoking. But it also invited me to reflect on regrets I might have, my view on the purpose of life and (mild spoilers but also trigger warning)
Spoiler
suicideWhat I really admire is that even though the book can make you think about all these things, it is by no means hard or heavy to read. Haig very intricately develops the concept of this sampling of lives and how different choices have different consequences for our own lives but also that of others. He works from a very powerful premise that knowing is not sufficient to experience and living a life is key. Each life becomes a puzzle to find out what has transpired and how our main character, Nora, got to this point. How did it affect her, how did it affect the people she knew in her root life?
I do have one minor gripe with the execution of the concept, which did not take from my enjoyment though. While Haig posits that you need to live a life to know that it fits you, Nora enters each life with her own memories of her root life and the library. To me that makes it impossible to actually live that life as you are not aware of the memories and experiences of the Nora up till the point where you entered the life you're currently visiting.
Another thing I really loved about the book was how it fleshed out all the characters, even in different lives, in so few pages. Nora's family, friends and acquaintances in each life, feel very recognizable and alive, even though they receive limited 'screen time'.
Finally, it is clear that Haig did not create this story lightly and did some research in thoughts about existence, life and its meaning. As Nora in her root life is a philosophy nut, we are frequently given quotes or explanations of different philosophers' takes. Also, special appreciation to the references to different great classical pieces and pop songs.
All in all, trying to summarize in one sentence, I'd say this is a more complex and less moral version of 'A christmas Carol' and definitely worth the read!