‘The Midnight Library’ it is quite the stimulating sci-fi/self-help book I have ever read. The story follows Nora, a thirty-something woman who’s lost all hope in life and attempts suicide but ends up being stuck at the Midnight Library, a place between life and death.
“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything differently, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
The library holds all the possible lives she could have lived, one where she becomes a lead singer of a rock band or one where she could have been a glaciologist, or one where she helps shelter dogs. Nora’s quest for the perfect life continues as she masquerades through all her “might-have” lives, learning how even the smallest decisions could have changed her root life. The book resonates with Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol a lot, brushing through the past, present and future lives of Nora’s would-have-beens.
I am sure anyone who reads this book would start pondering about their own life choices, I sure did. What would have happened if I decided to continue teaching? What if I pursued classical dance? Or what would have happened if I went for engineering? More than the sci-fi elements, this book showcases all the what-ifs of our life choices, in an entertaining way. From a mental health perspective, I have no say how this book can or cannot help. Yes, some pages do get s little draggy, but you still root for Nora to find her perfect peaceful life. The language and flow are plain and simple, you might even feel like you are watching a movie, hoovering out of different stories one by one.
I was a little skeptical about all the good reviews Matt Haig’s #themidnightlibrary received until I came across therapist Catherine Sweeney’s review of the same (check https://welldoing.org/article/matt-haig-midnight-library-therapist-reviews to read it). Read it, and judge for yourselves.
Some of the quotes I like-
“A person was like a city. You couldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don’t like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile.”
“The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. Once the lava slows and cools, it solidifies and then breaks down over time to become soil-rich, fertile soil.”
“If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of yourself.”
YES I WRITE HERE 
Leave a comment