Matt Haig. Yet, with every flip of a page, they come closer and closer to burning their own book of regrets. That the prison wasn't the place, but the perspective., The thing that looks the most ordinary might end up being the thing that leads you to victory., Regrets dont leave. By the end of The Midnight Library though I was left feeling like an even keel doesnt really cut it. It's you, Nora. Yet Nora is not particularly tragic or heroic, so I found that I couldnt connect with her, which is a shame because there are no true secondary characters in the novel. In this way, Noras understanding of choice becomes somewhat more nuanced. Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday! She begins to reflect on the nature of success and she finds that even in her most glamorous or widely admired lives there is still disappointment and sadness. "The Midnight Library - Themes" eNotes Publishing Nora's cat's name is Voltaire, and this alludes to both the philosopher himself and his character Dr. Pangloss, who says that he lives in the best of all possible worlds. There is also a dog named Plato in the story, and indeed, Nora is searching for the ultimate reality. She imagined accepting it all, the way she accepted nature, the way she accepted a glacier or a puffin or the breach of a whale. Acceptance, posits Haig, is freedom, and this masterful novel is a more powerful guide to self-acceptance than any self-help book. Dan is Nora's ex-fianc. A connection between herself and the world. After a particularly bad day, she decides that she no longer wants to keep living. Why does Nora return to her old life at the end of the novel? Self-harm is discussed throughout the novel, with calmness and grace, as Haig describes the tell-tale scar lines that Nora notices on her body in some of the different lives that she enters. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. She is a woman in her thirties, who leads a life she finds lonely and disappointing. Indeed, Noras regrets constitute one of the major forces driving the novels narrative. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Throughout the novel, Nora contemplates the meaning of life in terms that are often influenced by major figures of Western philosophy. Remember how you felt after the polar bear. How did it make you feel? Though Noras perspective shifts incrementally with each new life she enters, this experience particularly contributes significantly to her reframing of what it means to lead a good life. Haig bases The Midnight Library around one central theme and a common human curiosity: what is the purpose of life? Between stacks of bookshelves again. The feeling she experiences is envy: she is jealous of the cat's complete absence of pain. Nora's inner landscape is artfully rendered on the page: She was afraid of motherhood.The fear of deeper depression. I felt my gut wrench as I read this sentence never before has a writer so perfectly captured my experience of the power of mental illness to haunt and destabilise, to instill a fear of further suffering. "And Nora smiled as she stared at all the pieces she still had left in play, thinking about her next move.". So necessary[Matt Haig is] the king of empathyJameela Jamil, actor and host ofI Weigh with Jameela Jamil, A beautiful fable, anIts a Wonderful Lifefor the modern age impossibly timely when we are all stuck in a world we wish could be different. Jodi Picoult, author ofMy Sisters Keeper, An absorbing but comfortable reada vision of limitless possibility, of new roads taken, of new lives lived, of a whole different world available to us somehow, somewhere, might beexactly whats wanted in these troubled and troubling times. TheNew York Times, When unemployed, loveless, depressed Nora Seeds cat dies, its the last straw. What is the atmosphere in the short story "Private Tuition by Mr Bose" by Anita Desai? Work hard at it. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. from Signum University. This seems initially surprising, especially given the fact that she seemed to find many seemingly good versions of her life, but the reason for this becomes quite clear in the last chapter. Embrace that you-ness. B.A. Im a voracious reader. When I started reading The Midnight Library I figured I knew exactly what was coming its a lesson in living life with no regrets, of not always wishing the grass was greener or imagining what your life might be like if only. The warped logic of severe depression is honestly and clearly expressed, as Haig describes the inescapable feeling brewing in the darkness when Nora sees Voltaire, her dead cat, lying on the road. He is depicted as pushing her to work hard and pressuring her to try to compete in the Olympics. She is described as loving and warm. WebThe Midnight Library is told from a third-person limited point of view. Aim to look and act and think like you. As you might expect, shes terrified properly beside herself with fear but this moment is also the first moment where she realises that she doesnt want to die, that life might be worth living after all. What she means is that often making a single small adjustment can permanently alter the course of a life. She eventually learns that her root life is the best one for her. This moment occurs at the end of Nora's first adventure in a parallel life. There may be bits you don't like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile., As Thoreau wrote, Its not what you look at that matters, its what you see., You dont have to understand life. Reader expectations are HUGELY important to the reading experience, I think. She tells Nora about how it exists as a space for her to see different versions of what her life could have been. WebThe Midnight Library Themes The Point of Life Is Life Itself One of the biggest issues with Noras root life is that Nora felt like she wasnt doing anything noteworthy. The Question and Answer section for The Midnight Library is a great Yet, the library can only intrigue one so much. How is the idea of success framed throughout the novel? WebIn the Midnight Library, Mrs. Elm says that she can't overlook minor decisions, because, in chess, every piece has the potential to radically change the course of a game, just like these choices can reshape a life. Mrs. Elm, p. 32 This quote is taken from early in the novel, as Mrs. Elm explains to Nora how lives are shaped by seemingly minor choices. After being able to see many different iterations of her life, and the impact her choices can have, she realizes there is still so much she can do to make her life better. In another she is a swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. However, on meeting Nora a complex but deeply likeable character I had faith that the book would be a compassionate illustration of an often stigmatised experience. Eventually, Nora finally slips into a life shed like to stay in. You dont need to be famous or rich or medal winning to lead a spectacular life. "Doing one thing differently is often the same as doing everything differently.". It was weird, to have your own body offer clues to a mystery. An exquisite from St. WebThe Midnight Library. The main themes in The Midnight Library are choice and regret, philosophy and the meaning of life, and relationships and forgiveness. The library is a symbol of possibilities and choices. Moments later, Nora wakes up in a personalized limbo replicating the library that once comforted her on her worst days, and with Mrs. Elm now appearing as her spirit guide. However, as this moment reveals, she comes to find that this life too has its shortcomings. B) It foreshadows Noras tragic death. His books are YA, but theyre not advertised as YA. Assuming the errors were somehow removed from the book, do you think you would have felt differently about the book had it been sold to you as a YA title? Throughout the novel, readers cant help but question their past decisions, both major and minor, along with Nora. Haigs novel suggests that the purpose of life is to live. Curl up in a window seat or In this life, she did not break off their engagement and they went through with his plan to buy a bar. Due to the Treaty of Matt Haig: The Midnight Library review - an uplifting modern parable |, Finding The Way Back review - alcoholism on the rebound, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld: The Discomfort of Evening review - lovelessness, loneliness, bodies and their limits, Sema Kaygusuz: Every Fire You Tend review an education in grief, Karl Ove Knausgaard: So Much Longing in So Little Space review smiles more than screams, Will Harris: Brother Poem review - writing the poems that could have been, Disbelief - 100 Russian Anti-War Poems (ed. Love and laughter and fear and pain are universal currencies. She is attempting to tell her that, as her adventures have revealed, her life still contains so many hidden possibilities. Containing every regret Nora has had in her 35 years of life, this book allows Nora to pinpoint choices in her life she wishes to undo and guide her towards a life in which she did the exact opposite. 2. This moment comes after Nora has traveled through a few different lives. One of the pivotal moments in the book happens when, in one of her parallel lives, Nora is confronted by a polar bear. 70 episodes. The novel alludes to Henry David Thoreau, too, whose writings guide Nora to understand the difference between loneliness and solitude. The second date is today's WebThe midnight library is magical, for a start, the library has a limitless number of books, and these books are far from ordinary, Haig sprinkles gold dust in each book, offering Nora She quickly learns that they are not very happy in this life, as he is continually dismissive of the things she says and seems distant. In The Midnight Library, thirty-five-year-old Nora finds out from a handsome young surgeon, Ash, that her beloved cat has been killed. Discuss the theme of childhood as presented in "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai. In these depictions, the image of a chessboard is used to illustrate the idea that life is full of variable outcomes. She later reappears as a younger version of herself in the Midnight Library, where she assists Nora in traveling to her various unlived lives. What does the first potential life reveal? . We dont know how she will spend it or who she will spend it with. The basic premise is that a woman called Nora decides to kill herself, and before she dies she finds herself in the Midnight Library. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Mrs. Elm is her guide, a figure of authority but also of companionship and wisdom. Endorse it. One square after another. Nora Seed is the main character of the novel. Accessed 4 Mar. This is the last line of the novel. Nora had always had a problem accepting herself. You might not be uplifted by Nora Seed, but the book deals with some dark themes in a quirky and sensitive manner, and for that, I would suggest you keep it in your reading list, albeit closer to the bottom than the top. If you follow me on Instagram stories, youll know that I accidentally stayed in bed until lunchtime one day this week reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It is dead. As Nora watches the lives of those around her change shape in accordance with the fluctuating circumstances of reality, she comes to realize that the motivations of those around her are as genuine and complex as her own. As the main character, Nora Seed, traverses through her different life possibilities, the library becomes the main place where she returns to reflect upon the paths she could have chosen. Nora returns to her old life because she has a renewed sense of possibility. . This is the best life. In another, shes a glaciologist. The Last Family in England: First Few Pages, The Last Family in England: Deleted Chapters, The Last Family in England: Deleted Chapters 1, The Last Family in England: Deleted Chapters 2, The Last Family in England: Deleted Chapters 3, The Last family in England: Deleted Pages 4, The Last Family in England: Deleted Pages 5, The Last Family in England: Authors Commentary, The Possession of Mr Cave: First Few Pages. The Midnight Library study guide contains a biography of Matt Haig, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. And with all the knowledge she gained from jumping to and from the many lives she could have potentially lived, Nora is determined to make her current reality one she would check out from The Midnight Library., About Annenberg Media Would any of these other lives truly be better? And This would not have been a problem had there been more to the main character. In this excerpt, Mrs. Elm explains how the Midnight Library works and the purpose that it serves. WebThe library is a symbol of possibilities and choices. When she loses momentum, she then finds herself stuck in situations that foster situational depression. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. But in her life as a competitive swimmer, he is alive. But it is boring. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime. To be the world, witnessing itself. These, and additional, sad occurrences leave Nora feeling unneeded in the world. The chessboard works as a symbol in the novel of possibility. She discovers that all the dreams she thought she lost out on were really other peoples dreams. Ed. This is the book of regrets. However, she quickly discovers that their marriage is deeply troubled, as he drinks too much and is unfaithful to her. It reveals how exploring these unlived lives has opened her up to the idea that she can make a change in her daily life. A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author ofReasons to Stay AliveandHow To Stop Time. Ultimately, with the help of Hugo Lefvre, Nora comes to believe that the Midnight Library is a philosophical construct by which her brain can make sense of the presence of parallel universes. A pawn is a queen-in-waiting. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?". Darling. The library described in the book turned out to be different from what I had imagined, although it was intriguing all the same. There are lives where you make different choices. And don't give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. My word of the year this year is SELF, and I dont feel like I can be my best self if Im only experiencing a limited range of feelings.