Book Review - The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
Nora Seed
Nora Seed doesn't want to be on the planet anymore. She feels she has nothing to live for, she doesn't have any strong relationships, no job and is without hope. The one creature she was close to, her cat Voltaire, has just died. She's had enough and takes an overdose.
There is a sense early on in the book of ‘there but for the grace of god go I’. We are all only a couple of missteps or a streak of bad luck from being plunged into some desperate times. The only thing in life that is predictable is unpredictability; we never know what is coming from us around the corner.
That's how ‘the midnight library’ starts. What happens next, with Nora lying in between life and death, is that she is introduced to a midnight library, containing all the possibilities of other lives, and the opportunity to live them, A room of parallel universes, so to speak. What if she had kept up swimming, playing music, started a relationship, moved to Australia - hundreds of crossroads where different choices were made.
I thought it interesting that Nora lived in Bedford, as it did remind me of 'It's a wonderful life' where Jimmy Stewart's character lived in Bedford falls. Indeed, we do get to see some of the effects on the lives of other people if Nora hadn't been around to influence them.
‘It’s a wonderful life’
The other way ‘The midnight library’ reminded of Capra's classic, is that it contains such a positive message. Simply, that life is for living, that we can be masters of our own destiny, that we contain multitudes. We can only live this life, not the one others want us to live or those that we regret not living. That's the jist of it anyway.
I should probably include a few trigger warnings here - death and suicide, thoughts of self harm, mental illness, death of animals. So if those are things that could upset you, this one is best avoided. But I would say that I feel he handles these themes well and with compassion.
The Midnight Library Summary
I said earlier in the review that we never know what trouble is coming from around the corner; on the other hand, one of the things that has kept me going in life is precisely that we don’t know what’s around the corner. Whether that is opportunities, new people coming into our lives - good things can happen too and there is always hope. There is always hope.
It could be really trite, but Matt Haig I think mostly avoids this. There's no plot as such or strong recurring characters in ‘The Midnight Library’, and there are times when I am not sure what Nora wants - but then again, as Mrs Elm says, to want something signifies a lack of. But I did enjoy it, it's an interesting idea and it contains such a warm message of hope and possibility that it's hard not to get swept along by it.
Book review - The midnight library - Matt Haig
304 pages, Hardcover
Sepember 29, 2020 by Viking
Other Reviews from Bloggers I have enjoyed:
James over at Whatwereading said:
"Matt Haig has made a name for himself as one of the best in the business when it comes to reads that get us questioning what life means to us, but The Midnight Library is arguably his finest work yet. It never strays too far away from its central message, but what really stood out to us was how lasting its impact was - it's a powerful book that will undoubtedly stay with you long after you've put it down."
The midnight library book club questions
Which of Nora’s alternative lives were your favourites?
What are the main reasons for Nora feeling stuck in her life?
One of the most important relationships in the book was between Nora and Mrs Elm. Why?
What do you think your own midnight library would be, and who would be your guide?
What were the realisations that allowed Nora to move on with her own life?
What were the main points that you took from the book, and did it make you reflect on your own life?
The book mentions ‘the importance of small things’. Can you look back at your own life and see the importance of this?
What did you think of the ending, and did you find it a satisfying conclusion?