The Midnight Library by Matt Haig ended up being a preachy, fictionalized self-help book that I didn't ask for and that wouldn't have helped anyway. "The Midnight Library," best-selling British author Matt Haig's latest book, tells the story of a woman in her thirties who, after suffering an overwhelming attack of hopelessness and despair,. Not in heaven (dull) or hell (overdone) or purgatory (insert Lost joke), but in a library. Transported back to the library, Nora tries on a few different lives. The Midnight Library Matt Haig 4.02 1,302,455 ratings141,780 reviews Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Fiction (2020) Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Both men blame her for dropping out right when they had a chance at a major record deal. High quality The Midnight Library-inspired gifts and merchandise. Harper's Bazaar (UK) "British author Matt Haig is beloved in his home country, and he's a champion of mental health, which makes him a great person to follow on . Shed ended up part-way through and not knowing which way to go in order to survive. With the help of Hugo Lefvre, a man she meets who is also jumping from life to life, Nora comes to understand the Midnight Library as a convenient trick of the brain. Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Despite him being perfectly nice, Nora wasnt too enamoured with this life and she bids it farewell. While thematically tackling death and coming to terms with the inevitable, the. Nora thinks about being 14 and a swimming star, winning two races at the National Junior Swimming Championships, until she gave it up. 1. The Silent Patient ends with a major twist. Nora is smart and a star swimmer, and Mrs. Elm says that Nora she could be anything she wants to be. The Midnight Library is different for each person who enters it. Love Island's David on who is playing a game. Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. Instead, Nora feels like a fraud because she hasnt earned this life. Theres a guy, Ewan, that he has recently met there, and Nora enthusiastically encourages Joe to ask Ewan out. But her brother would no longer be part of that band. And there we have it: Noras root life, the one she so despised, had a purpose after all. Online, she learns that she is a 2-time Olympian, having won a gold and two silver medals before retiring at 28. The one-paragraph version of this is: Nora Seed is unhappy in her life, tries to kill herself and finds herself at The Midnight Library, where she is able to try out different versions of her life. Antidepressants. Over a game of chess, the two muse about what it means to live a good life. As the night goes on, she notices how much Dan drinks and when they get into an argument, she learns that Dan has been unfaithful. Really, it's a therapist simulator, minus the couch. The book weaves elements of science fiction and fantasy with philosophical contemplations on human mortality, happiness, and personal choice. The Midnight Club crew expecting a Season 2 certainly clears up why Season 1 ended so abruptly and with so many questions left unanswered, but Flanagan is not a cruel man! Last Updated on July 8, 2021, by eNotes Editorial. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a 2020 novel about a woman on the threshold between life and death who visits parallel versions of her life. Before long, things in Noras life start to turn around. She and her brother have become estranged to such an extent that he avoids her when he visits Bedford. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Share this: Twitter Facebook Loading. And then Nora wakes up. Nora Seed is not happy with her life and so after her cat, Voltaire, dies and she loses her job, she kills herself. the midnight library ending explained, books like the midnight library, the midnight library . Toward the end of the novel, Nora visits what is clearly the best alternative life: the one in which she says yes to the coffee date with Ash, the cute surgeon who pops up in her root life and then again in others. Mrs. Elm also adds that Nora gave Voltaire the best year of its life, and that Nora wasnt a bad cat owner. Soon, Nora is jumping from possible life to possible life with ravenous abandon. But in Mike Flanagan's adaptation, the tales they tell are actually from other Christopher Pike stories. A simplicity to the narrative that has to be taken as a choice on Haig's part, not an accident. Nora ends up trying out a multitude of lives and careers, ranging from becoming a single mom to running a winery or being an aid worker, but nothing sticks. "In chess, as in life, possibility is the basis of everything.". It's about Nora, a young woman who decides she isn't cut out for life. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Nora also tells Joe that she knows that he tried to go in after her the day she almost drowned when crossing the river, though Joe doesnt know how she knows it. Nora explores a series of these other possible realities, returning to the library each time she feels dissatisfied. What do you think your Midnight Library would be? There is one book that is different from the rest. The Real Meaning Of The Midnight Club's Ending & Story. The next day, nine hours before Nora decides to die, Nora is late for work. As they talk, Nora apologies for breaking up the band, and Joe apologies for things hes done as well. For those readers who. In the depths of her wallowing, she comes across the Midnight Library. Mrs. Elm showed Nora the Book of Regrets when she first entered the library, and Nora was overwhelmed by it when she first looked in. [1] It was abridged and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over ten episodes in December 2020. This recap of the Netflix series The Midnight Club season 1, episode 10, "Midnight," the ending explained, contains spoilers. Ed. The NY Times. When Nora is back in her original, she stumbles outside for help (post-overdoing) and soon wakes in a hospital. It's the outlier of the " Flanagan-verse, " both youth-focused and semi-anthologized. Back at home, Nora thanks Mr. Banerjee for his help, and seeing his lovely garden Nora is able to appreciate the beauty of it. She explains to Mrs. Elm that she no longer feels anything when experiencing different versions of her life. What details do you notice that show that this story is not taking place in the United States? When Nora gives her talk, instead of speaking about the pursuit of success, she talks about what shes learned from the Midnight Library she says that success is a delusion, and she talks philosophically about the different paths life can take. The new Mike Flanagan series dropped many bombs in its final episode. Comment on the use of imagery in "Games at Twilight.". Joe also tells her that he happened to run into Ravi, who he hasnt seen in 10 years in this life, and he invited Ravi to Noras talk. This time, Nora explores the life she might have had if she had accepted a long-ago coffee invitation from Ash, the kind acquaintance from Bedford who found her cat in the road. what sucks a measure of the color and life from 'The Midnight Library' is that Nora, as a character, doesn't really want anything. She now covers swimming for the BBC. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. Is Ravis experience After a suicide attempt, Nora Seed finds herself in a magical library at midnight. Nora ends up letting go of that life and returning to the Midnight Library as it is falling apart. When one actually appears, the prospect of her dying makes Nora acknowledge her desire to live. His guide is his Uncle Philippe. The library offers her the chance to reflect on her life and her regrets and to try different lives, lives where she'd made different choices. Nora experiences a number of alternate lives in which she achieves a great deal of success in one area of her life at the expense of all the rest, be it in music, swimming, or polar exploration. As she writes, I AM ALIVE, she awakes on her own mattress and vomits. Mrs. Elm summons an appropriate book, and Nora is then transported into a life where she had doggedly pursued her swimming career. The Midnight Library was my introduction to Matt Haig and I thoroughly enjoy his writing. But here's the problem. But while it's uncharted. Eventually, however, Nora starts feeling like shes losing track of who she really is and she wants a life that she can settle down in. Joe also doesnt drink and Nora doesnt consume caffeine. While shes in the Midnight Library, Mrs. Elm tells her, shes preserved from death; this is an opportunity to decide how and if she wants to live. What if she had never given up swimming, the sport her father was desperate for her to continue? But its easier to buy when you recognize that all those other outcomes would have come with their own problems. Haig lives by that here. Mrs. Elm tells Nora that almost all of the books on the library's seemingly infinite shelves represent lives that Nora could have lived if she had made different choices. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Its the regret that makes us shrivel and wither and feel like our own and other peoples worst enemy.. Overdose. Her personal relationships, too, have suffered. Hed be dead of an overdose. He has recognized her acting strangely, and he admits that he, too, has been slipping in and out of his possible lives. Noras dad did not have a heart attack in this life because he ended up on a health kick as Nora was training for the Olympics. This was a helpful synopsis. Instead, Nora decides she wants to try a gentle life next, one about working with animals. It felt right. I'm a voracious reader. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. While this is a charming book that reminds us not to get bogged down in regret - and to know every life has positive meaning whether you realize it at the time or not I am left disappointed in the writingit was predictable, and I wanted more depth to the quantum mechanical theories and philosophical theories which were only touched upon at the While the outcome is predictable, the forays into philosophy are relatable and offer good jumping off points whether to general philosophical ideas or to personal introspection. The Midnight Library is a fantasy novel by Matt Haig, published on 13 August 2020 by Canongate Books. It turns out, I didnt need a midnight library to shift my own perspective. But as soon as the Midnight Library took over, I was hooked. On Instagram, she has 11.3 million followers. Instead, Nora asks to see a life where shed pursued glaciology, which her parents had discouraged. 1. In this new life, hes at the care home he had so passionately resisted. Everyones life could have gone an infinite number of ways, and each book in the library contains the story of that life. This is a streamlined novel; no side plots, no broad cast of characters, no twists of fantasy for the sheer joy of it. She left her former fianc, Dan, just before their wedding. A place of regret and possibility. But, plot twist, each is about a life that could have been, had one made. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or find something interesting to read. With that, shes transported into the life of an Arctic Researcher. 8. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. She can't imagine a day that is better with her in it. Mrs. Elm: The librarian. When she is released from the hospital, Nora visits the real Mrs. Elm in a care facility. Chapters 1 4 (The Man at the Door, String Theory, To Live Is to Suffer, Doors). Over the past year-and-a-half, as the coronavirus pandemic drop-kicked plans and routines somewhere far, far away, Ive had a recurring daydream about what would have been. Netflix canceled The Midnight Club (co-created with Leah Fong) after season 1, so that tantalizing cliffhanger concerning a certain doctor won't be resolved -- well, you might have thought so,. The chapters leading up to Nora's discovery of the midnight library each describe an hour preceding her decision to kill herself. Back at the Library, Nora admits that the alternate reality had been different than shed imagined. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. Nora thinks about the career in glaciology shed considered but didnt end up pursuing after Mrs. Elms (joking) suggestion so many years ago. Does it take a lifetime or a just few seconds? What would've happened if she'd married her fiance rather than walking out two days before the wedding? After some convincing, Nora agrees to try on an alternate life. Living has become nothing but a chore. The writer/director gave . Nora scares it off with noise, as instructed. Matt Haig is the number one bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive, Notes on a Nervous Planet and six highly acclaimed novels for adults, including How to Stop Time, The Humans and The Radleys. Izzy has also responded back to her text and shes actually planning on moving back to the UK soon. On her way home, she spots Leo the boy she gave piano lessons to in her root life, calming his penchant for trouble in police custody. Enough of a theoretical portion of an infinity that she feels as though she has seen them all by the time we're closing on the final pages. 2023 . In that life, Nora has patched up her relationship with Joe, and he is happily married. It was very easy going compared to some of these classics weve read. Shes greeted by her school librarian, Mrs. Elm, who was always kind to her. Nora thinks that this may be the best version of her life. Haig presents all of this as a straight line. Voltaire wasnt hit by a car. He had an affair with Nadia and left Noras mother. Nineteen years later, Nora is now a 35-year-old woman who is unhappy in her life. Mrs. Elm tells Nora how to exit, by finding the book representing her original life, and the Midnight Library dissolves. Theres nothing wrong with the life, but theres a fakeness to it, and Nora lets that life go as well. The Midnight Library. Nora is sad and confused. That is a simplification. The various things wrong with Nora's life emerge quite quickly. The Midnight library is an easy read, the chapters are short, the margins wide and the story simple. She was the only difference between the two Mr. Banerjees, but what was that difference? an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking The Midnight Library Trigger Warning: suicide, attempted suicide, death, depression, cancer. The reason Nora ended up back at the Midnight Library is because she wanted to live (in her original life). A woman named Nadia calls, and Nora is shocked to learn that her dad is alive. Mrs. Elm reminds Nora of a time when shed done a dangerous swim across a river to try to impress Joe and other people at a party. Nora plays chess with Mrs. Elm, the librarian. Everything changes because of Anya's . 2. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. Inside the library itself, Mrs. Elm's job is to present everything to Nora very clearly and to lay out the stakes very directly. And again, yes, they're presented that plainly. And her music student, Leo, ended up falling in with a bad crowd instead of discovering his aptitude for piano. Our teacher made us read this, now writing an essay about the book and this is quite helpful for summarising all the key events of the book so thanks. Then, Mrs. Elm talks to Nora about what success means to her, and Nora realizes that she doesnt know. Few fantasies are more enduring than the idea that there might be a second chance at a life already lived, some sort of magical reset in which mistakes can be . Harper Avenue, 2020. She also comes across Ravi, her brother Joes best friend. Suicide, she decides, is the only way to escape the misery of a life full of regrets. Finally, Nora recalls how Ash had once asked her out and tries a life where she'd accepted that date. It was the ending that this broken character of Nora Seed needed and I am in awe of how Haig transformed a predictable ending into one that was naturally the part of her journey with The Midnight Library. Wallowing in self-pity, she downs a bottle of wine and posts a rambling message on social media. This moment occurs at the end of Nora's first adventure in a parallel life. Also, in the original life, she and Joe had been there for her mother before her death. They are here to study climate change. If she had become a glaciologist? Photo by Ivo Rainha on Unsplash. Through social media, Nora sees that Izzy is still alive in this life, though its possible they never ended up meeting, and Dan is married to a spin instructor named Gina Lord. Its all lost to the ether. [2] Should I have just asked? When Nora loses hope, the library starts to collapse. 7. In the dining hall, there are about 17 other people. Mrs. Elm says that Nora has become lost because she's still trying to live for other people. Kevin (Igby Rigney) finally decided to end his serial killer story. In this novel, Haig addresses weighty topics through a main character, Nora Seed, who attempts suicide and must explore what it means to live while in the gray area between life and death. Shes dissatisfied with her life. . The two were close: Nora would often play chess with Mrs. Elm during breaks, and Mrs. Elm was the one who informed Nora of her fathers unexpected death in the middle of one school day. In the original life, Doreen had looked into lessons because Leo liked music and had started getting in with a bad crowd. The book follows Nora, a dejected 35 year old who, after overdosing, finds herself transported to a library. 6. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight . She finds herself in an upscale hotel room, feeling very healthy. She works on patching things up with her brother, starts soliciting more students for music lessons in order to make a living and starts volunteering weekly at a homeless shelter.