4. She is playing chess with the school librarian, Mrs. Elm, when she gets the news about her father's death. Afterwards, feeling impulsive knowing that any decision is just one iteration of her life, she kisses Hugo and they sleep together. (She overdoses. Nora had offered inexpensive lessons and as Leos confidence in music grew, he improved in other areas as well and never get mixed up with worse stuff. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. High quality The Midnight Library-inspired gifts and merchandise. Mike Flanagan's new series The Midnight Club . Instead, Nora asks to see a life where shed pursued glaciology, which her parents had discouraged. Soon, Nora is jumping from possible life to possible life with ravenous abandon. Nora realizes that her regret over this relationship ending is misplaced and returns to the Midnight library. As the library begins to disintegrate, signaling Noras waning existence, she must choose which life to commit to. He takes what could've been (what has been in so many other books) a dark or sad or curvy or weird spin through the logical and philosophical possibilities of regret crossed with multiverse theory and straightens it out. The Midnight Library. When presented with a chance to review The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, narrated by Carey Mulligan, I grabbed my earbuds and dove in. The Midnight Library. When Doreen calls, Nora apologizes profusely about missing Leos lesson, but Doreen is just letting her know that Leo wants to continue his lessons. She explains that Nora can stay as long as she likes in each life, but she warns Nora that if she loses the will to carry on while she is between lives, then Nora will truly die with finality. Shes dissatisfied with her life. What would've happened if she'd stuck with competitive swimming, been a better cat owner, been nicer to her parents, followed her best friend to Australia or become a glaciologist? He has recognized her acting strangely, and he admits that he, too, has been slipping in and out of his possible lives. The Midnight Library is the place where Nora gets to find out. In the library, Nora learns that the life she gave her cat was one of the best he could have experienced. She now covers swimming for the BBC. Nora thinks of their dashed hopes and considers that it was their unfulfilled expectation to achieve in the first place as opposed to the lack of achievement that caused their unhappiness. Immortality, Sadness And Drinking With Shakespeare In 'How To Stop Time'. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. Depression is a terrible illness, heaven knows; but I doubt whether any sufferer has ever experienced such an elaborate and fantastical treatment for it as the . Inside the library, Nora is met by a familiar face: Mrs. Elm, her school librarian from childhood. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Shed still be there, but her friend would have died in a car accident. 8. Start earning points for buying books! Mrs. Elm explains that her desire to live out her original life is causing the destruction. At home, Nora sees Voltaires empty bowl and takes two anti-depressants. As the Library continues to burn, Mrs. Elm tells Nora that theres a way that she can escape. It is the regret itself. They have to be intense, with complex story lines and big words to truly be a great book. When one actually appears, the prospect of her dying makes Nora acknowledge her desire to live. The novel focuses on Nora Seed, a thirty-five year old woman from Bedford, England. Hed be dead of an overdose. From there, Nora tests out a multitude of lives as a concert pianist, having a teenage son, as a travel vlogger, as a cat-sitter, as an aid worker and even coming across Hugo again. Full. Do you think the role books played in the Midnight Library is similar to the role they play in your own life? She is wracked with regret. The book weaves elements of science fiction and fantasy with philosophical contemplations on human mortality, happiness, and personal choice.. . Do you think its understandable that she would have given these things up? The second is the date of eNotes Editorial. As she recovers in the hospital, Nora reflects on her ordeal and begins to feel grateful for the life she still has. The synopsis 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. As Nora continues her Arctic adventure, Hugo approaches her. Kirkus. What if she had never given up swimming, the sport her father was desperate for her to continue? 7. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Dehydrated, delirious, trembling and in pain, she stumbles outside and asks Mr. Banerjee to call an ambulance before collapsing. Matt Haigs magical novel The Midnight Library is a tonic to anyone who tumbles down this rabbit hole of what-if thinking. He has no idea who Nora is and has never taken music lessons. "In chess, as in life, possibility is the basis of everything.". Certain that she now wants to live, Nora begs Mrs. Elm to help her get out. Next, Nora is transported into a life where she moved to Australia with Izzy, but finds out Izzy would have died in a car accident. She was an aspiring glaciologist and a highly-rated competitive swimmer in her youth, as well as an accomplished musician in her twenties, but she allowed fear and anxiety to prevent any of these pursuits from coming to fruition. Nora is frustrated and unhappy when she sees Mrs. Elm again, and she wants to give up. She starts with one of her biggest regretsa life where she didnt call off her wedding with Danand soon finds herself in a country pub. I usually read three books at once and treat Goodreads . To redeem, copy and paste the code during the checkout process. As many of you know a book with a library speaks to me. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Mrs. Elm recalls the games of chess that she used to play with Nora and how shed give up if she lost a few key pieces like her queen and whatnot, acting like the game was over and that her pawns and such were useless. When Nora loses hope, the library starts to collapse. She thinks about how she loves them and forgives them for the ways theyve disappointed her. Chapters 44 50 (Love and Pain, Equidistance, Someone Elses Dream, The Gentle Life, Why Want Another Universe If This One Has Dogs?, Dinner with Dylan, Last Chance Saloon). Everyones life could have gone an infinite number of ways, and each book in the library contains the story of that life. His guide is his Uncle Philippe. Her best friend, Izzy, has moved to Australia, and the two struggle to keep in touch. Every decision in life leads to different results in life, and those possible lives are reflected in these infinite volumes. by Matt Haig. Meanwhile, Noras father, Geoffs, life had taught him the lesson that life was meant to screw you over. In the days that follow, after shes released from the hospital, Nora mends her relationship with her brother and her best friend, and makes plans shes excited about. 3. And the magnitude of that is staggering, given that a life can be determined or redirected by a single event. Nora thinks about being 14 and a swimming star, winning two races at the National Junior Swimming Championships, until she gave it up. 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. Nora realizes that her parents not loving her properly as a child likely had more to do with unhappiness in their own marriage. The Midnight Club ending, explained. Afterwards, Nadia is very happy to see her brother Joe and that they get along well. After being checked-in on by the doctors, Nora deletes the post shed written on social media before overdosing and replaces it with a hopeful post on what shes learned. She also tries a life where Volts was kept indoors to prevent it from being hit by a car, but learns the cat actually died of a health condition. But as soon as the Midnight Library took over, I was hooked. Wallowing in self-pity, she downs a bottle of wine and posts a rambling message on social media. Angela Hauptis a freelance writer and editor. One tells the story of your life as . Nora finds a video of herself, talking confidently about the pursuit of success. 1. Nora wonders if hell ask her out again, but instead Ash tells her that her cat, Voltaire (Volts), has been hit by a car. Then, Marcello brings up that Joe overdosed two years ago. 8. Matt Haig's The Midnight Library tells the story of 35 year old Nora Seed, following the night she takes an overdose. What if she had married her fiance, Dan, instead of calling off the wedding two days beforehand? The story, then, forms solely around the lives she passes briefly through, the choices and their consequences. Also, in this reality, Nora is still close with Izzy, which makes her happy. 5. Finally, Nora recalls how Ash had once asked her out and tries a life where she'd accepted that date. Next, Nora asks to experience fame, and she is transported to a life where her band Labyrinth had made it big. Different packaging; same us. This library is crammed full of books containing parallel lives she could have lived. On one especially unfortunate day, Nora is fired from both her regular and her side jobs, and her cat is found dead in the road. She begs, pleads, shouts at the universe to keep her alive. Nora tries a life where she stayed in her band and became a famous rock star, but she learns that becoming famous lead to Joe dying from substance abuse. Great Picture Books To Capture the Spirit of St. Patricks Day, The Romance Books Kristine Swartz Is Loving Right Now, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews, Gripping Novels for Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid. She's lost her job, her best friend, her brother. The Real Meaning Of The Midnight Club's Ending & Story. A simplicity to the narrative that has to be taken as a choice on Haig's part, not an accident. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. The Midnight Library opens with a teenaged Nora Seed, who is smart and a talented swimmer. Later, we learn that Hugo experienced it as a video store, with a cherished uncle instead of a librarian. Meanwhile, String Theory has closed down, as was the case in the Dylan reality as well. The dialogue flows naturally and the characters come to life. This finale explores the truth behind Brightcliffe's troubled history via flashbacks, while in the present, there are emotional goodbyes and the Midnight Club members bring a . Matt Haig's thought-provoking, uplifting new book, The Midnight Library discusses just that, exploring our relationship with regret and what really makes a perfect life.". Perhaps endless. It turns out, I didnt need a midnight library to shift my own perspective. Do you think its possible to reach fame and fortune in a single field and still maintain balance with other areas of your life? Even days later, when my mind darted to the would-have, should-have, could-haves, I was able to redirect. Not all of the parallel, or perpendicular, lives Nora tries on are so meaningful: In one, she argues with people on Twitter all day. Thats what Haig so beautifully demonstrates. Mrs. Elm says that Nora has become lost because she's still trying to live for other people. Your email address will not be published. It resembles one he used to go to. It turns out she would have made it to the Olympics, and her dad would still be alive (in her root life, he died young). In a last-ditch effort to save the world, The Midnight Suns decide they'll interrupt Lilith's ritual and destroy the Darkhold with the God Killer, cueing the team to suit up and head into battle . This recap of the Netflix series The Midnight Club season 1, episode 10, "Midnight," the ending explained, contains spoilers. 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. But its easier to buy when you recognize that all those other outcomes would have come with their own problems.