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The main themes in The Midnight Library are choice and regret, philosophy and the meaning of life, and relationships and forgiveness. WebThe Midnight Library is told from a third-person limited point of view. Haig himself is an accomplished writer, and his books have been very successful in approaching the darker themes of mental illness, regret and death, often in unique ways. Why does Nora return to her old life at the end of the novel? 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. How does Nora change and grow over the course of The Midnight Library? Log in here. It can also be a character, or an act. WebThe Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Molly is Nora's daughter. Instead she finds herself wandering an enormous library, where the books without titles enable her to rewrite her own life story by undoing the decisions that have haunted her as regrets. In 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. Exploring the meaning of life in The Midnight Library Cooper, James ed. It made me realise how, over the last year, cut off from most of my usual activities and social interactions, my range of emotions has shrunk. Shes been an Olympian, a dog-walker, and a glassblower. This means that the novel can only rely on Nora Seed, and if she stagnates, then so does the reader. 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. 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. Maybe that's what all lives were though. An exquisite Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. 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. The physical 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. The final line suggests the remaining precariousness of her situation, as she is still just barely alive after ingesting this overdose of medication. . When Nora tries to kill herself, she ends up in a library with Mrs. Elm, the school librarian she knew in her childhood. And imagining there is just breeds more unhappiness in the life youre in., Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. . What is the main theme of The Midnight Library? She now has a chance to sample some of those possibilities. The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. The talented aspiring Olympic swimmer turned aspiring rock star now aspires only to stop living. In her real life, she often ruminates about their breakup. As a reviewer, my own lived experience with existential depression and suicidal ideation meant that I faced this book with a tightness in my chest. However, in both of these lives, she perceives things that are missing and comes to question the cost that came with their notoriety. Discuss the theme of childhood as presented in "Games at Twilight" by Anita Desai. She has a difficult relationship with her brother and feels generally detached from the world around her. Why are Ravi and Joe upset that Nora left the band? This suggests that the relative importance of any one of these individual lives is only incidental, and to live mired in universal regret is to ascribe an unnecessary degree of importance to the reality at hand. Bestselling author Matt Haig's new book The Midnight Library explores themes of sadness and regret; Therapist Catherine Sweeney reviews; Perhaps it takes a clever author with their own mental health issues to write such a heartfelt yet entertaining novel about depression.In Matt Haig's wonderful new book The Midnight Library we follow the After a particularly bad day, she decides that she no longer wants to keep living. Let's look at some examples of these. More books than SparkNotes. In the speech she gives in her champion-swimmer existence, Nora says that the outward appearance of her life does not really convey the struggles she has endured and that the very idea of a "successful" life is misleading. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. However, I foundthe depiction of antidepressants reductive: when Nora enters one of her favourite potential lives, she views the absence of antidepressants in the bathroom drawer as evidence of a happy life. He just makes the whole thing soeasy. The library allows Nora to reverse her regrets and pursue different iterations of her existence. WebThe Midnight Library Character List Nora Seed Nora Seed is the main character of the novel. "A Conversation About Rain" to "The Chessboard", "The Only Way to Learn Is to Live" to "System Error", Read the Study Guide for The Midnight Library. The Midnight Library Quotes Showing 1-30 of 1,208. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. I dont think polar bears look this chummy in real life. Symbolism is especially heavy in this story. Symbolism in literature was appeared in mid 19th century in France. This was not the life she imagined it to be. . Life isnt about being fine though it it? In each of them, she gradually gathers details about the life she is inhabiting from conversations and the physical feeling of her body. Matt Haig: The Midnight Library review - The Arts Desk Cooper, James ed. This final life, however, gave Nora hope that there is a world in which she can be happy. "Doing one thing differently is often the same as doing everything differently.". Cloud State University M.A. She later reappears as a Fine is the basis of a midlife unravelling. Going to go away and think about that. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. Endorse it. WebThe Midnight Library According to Mrs. Elm , the Midnight Library is the physical embodiment of a state between life and deathan in-between state. But once you sense that vastness, once something reveals it, hope emerges, whether you want it to or not, and it clings to you as stubbornly as lichen clings to rock.. 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. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. More opportunities to have. Symbolism is especially heavy in this story. Nora, who is treated like a mistake in need of correction by her mother, seeks comfort and kindness from Ms Elm, after finding out her father has died. Aim to be the truest version of you. Aim to be you. Nora had always had a problem accepting herself. Like Nora, Hugo is a fellow traveler through his alternative lives. You are giving up at the worst possible moment. 1,304,772 ratings, 4.02 average rating, 141,977 reviews. She is a woman in her thirties, who leads a life she finds lonely and disappointing. The chessboard works as a symbol in the novel of possibility. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. It is like stage fright only worse, for Nora can never really get off the stage of her own life. The basic premise is that a woman called Nora decides to kill herself, and before she dies she finds herself in the Midnight Library. 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. She loves this life and finds herself feeling both content and fulfilled, working on a book about Thoreau and spending time with her daughter. This whole place exists because of you. However, as this moment reveals, she comes to find that this life too has its shortcomings. A compelling novel that will resonate with readers. Booklist(starred review), Charming[Matt Haig] will reward readers who take this book off the shelf. Publishers Weekly, "An uplifting, poignant novel about regret, hope and second chances" David Nicholls, "Amazing and utterly beautiful, The Midnight Library is everything you'd expect from the genius storyteller who is Matt Haig" Joanna Cannon, "Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom's best tales". Elm is the librarian from Nora's elementary school days. She explains how dissatisfied she is to the world in one final Facebook post before attempting suicide. By the end of The Midnight Library though I was left feeling like an even keel doesnt really cut it. One square after another. How does LIFE make you feel? In my head, Im thinking of libraries with grand architecture and hallways full of hidden secrets and rare books. Book Club Discussion Questions for 'The Midnight Library If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Acres of disappointment and monotony and hurts and rivalries but with flashes of wonder and beauty. The main theme of the novel is possibility. This quote is taken from early in the novel, as Mrs. Elm explains to Nora how lives are shaped by seemingly minor choices. You get no sense of the length of those longitudes and latitudes. These relationship changes are often the best indicator of a given lifes suitabilityin lives where she is still close to Joe and Izzy, in particular, she feels a sense of relief that a universal wrong has been righted. The excess of fame emphasizes his substance abuse problems to the point of fatality. Endorse it. WebThat is not to say that The Midnight Library is a miss. I wanted to be angry about something, to feel excited, hurt, happy. "This is the best life. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. I found the title of The Midnight Library to be particularly intriguing. Whats more, you dont have to come face to face with a polar bear to feel them theyre in you right now, in this life, just waiting to be felt. Work hard at it. Its no coincidence that this strong emotion triggers such a powerful feeling in her, but Im just not sure Ive given this enough thought lately. Mired in this repeating pattern, regret becomes the predominant emotion in Noras life. What can be a theme statement for the story "Games at Twilight"? Eventually facing disappointment with every regret she expunges, Nora returns to the library confused. One cement-grey book, however, is different from the rest. "The Midnight Library Quotes and Analysis". WebThe library is a symbol of possibilities and choices. Aim to look and act and think like you. 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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 this way, Noras understanding of choice becomes somewhat more nuanced. 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. A connection between herself and the world. And don't give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Midnight Library Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday! Dan is Nora's ex-fianc. In Permafrost, one of the chapters outlining Noras life on the research vessel in Svalbard, Nora finds herself musing on the fragility of life after a near-death encounter with a polar bear: Maybe even the most seemingly perfectly intense or worthwhile lives ultimately felt the same. Overall Rating: 3/5 Reviewed by: Haris Arman Thong ReadNUS Team Member He is described as being somewhat aloof and cold as a result of his continual journey through parallel timelines. It became in itself a kind of connection. Her parents who both had their own insecurities, had encouraged that idea. I want thrilling and terrifying. Embrace that you-ness. I want more than fine. In this way, the novel highlights how her life always had a hidden potential for change. This is the best life. You can't give up, Nora. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. We just have to close our eyes and savour the taste of the drink in front of us and listen to the song as it plays. Choice and regret: The novel Izzy is Nora's best friend. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely., You see, doing one thing differently is very often the same as doing everything differently., And even if you were a pawn - maybe we all are - then you should remember that a pawn is the most magical piece of all. 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. Not affiliated with Harvard College. She is described as a sweet and happy child. She is caught in an inevitable cycle: Nora suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, and her mental health often leads her to lose momentum.