This feels somewhat at odds with a lot of the things we are taught about the pursuit of happiness. And it became astoundingly clear to her, finally, in that moment: This quote occurs in the moment Nora is nearly attacked by a polar bear. While Nora sees many different versions of her life throughout the book, the story ends with her back in Bedford. When the story begins, Nora is figuratively buried under the weight of her regrets. She decides to overdose on pills,but does not meet the oblivion she was hoping for. I cant describe how much his work means to me. The Midnight Library Quotes Showing 1-30 of 1,208. When she survives her suicide attempt, she awakens with a sense of peace in her life that has previously eluded her. Yet, with every flip of a page, they come closer and closer to burning their own book of regrets. 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. This Study Guide consists of approximately 50 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and Consequently, the reader is able to focus all their attention on Nora and her sorrows. The novel alludes to Henry David Thoreau, too, whose writings guide Nora to understand the difference between loneliness and solitude. He also purchases a Simon and Garfunkel guitar songbook from her at the music store. By the end of The Midnight Library though I was left feeling like an even keel doesnt really cut it. 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. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In some lives shes been a mother and in others she raises no one besides her tabby cat, Voltaire. She now has a chance to sample some of those possibilities. Endorse it. The novels simple yet fantastical premise renders Noras story a modern day parable, exploring regret, pain and the richness of the ordinary in life. Nora blinked, and when she opened her eyes both she and Mrs Elm were standing in a different part of the library. While the Curl up in a window seat or InThe Midnight Library, Matt Haigs enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. She takes a bottle, hoping to die, but wakes up at midnight in a massive library. In a parallel life, they are happily married. That idea of a root life is one of the central metaphors of the story. In feeling so overcome with terror, she also realizes that she wants to continue living. [1] It was abridged and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over ten episodes in December 2020. Leave a comment and let me know. The chessboard works as a symbol in the novel of possibility. One of the pivotal moments in the book happens when, in one of her parallel lives, Nora is confronted by a polar bear. Where she is in her life now, she finally realizes, is the result of having done the best she could with the emotional resources she had available. She is a professor of philosophy and has a daughter. GradeSaver, 29 December 2022 Web. Darling. In The Midnight Library, thirty-five-year-old Nora finds out from a handsome young surgeon, Ash, that her beloved cat has been killed. . The dialogue flows naturally and the characters come to 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. Last Updated on July 8, 2021, by eNotes Editorial. Molly is Nora's daughter. Maybe that's what all lives were though. from Signum University. date the date you are citing the material. This means that by the time you reach the middle of the story, the plot starts getting repetitive, and the development of the character stalls. Indeed, Noras regrets constitute one of the major forces driving the novels narrative. It became in itself a kind of connection. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? 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". The novels simple yet fantastical premise renders Noras story a modern day parable, exploring regret, pain and the richness of the ordinary in life. date the date you are citing the material. Overall Rating: 3/5 Reviewed by: Haris Arman Thong ReadNUS Team Member This moment comes immediately after Nora escapes the library with the Book of Regrets. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. Her parents who both had their own insecurities, had encouraged that idea. She is portrayed as a thoughtful and sympathetic person, often thinking about the emotions of the people around her. We know well by now I think that life isnt about being blissfully happy all the time, but often this is replaced with the idea of the pursuit of contentment a low key level of satisfaction that comes from appreciating small things in life, managing our own expectations and generally trying to keep on an EVEN KEEL. All you need to do is find a way to keep moving forward. Cooper, James ed. Nora thought Ash is a surgeon and Nora's neighbor who informs her that her cat has died. Melendez, John. This quote describes the continual strangeness that Nora experiences as she moves through these different lives. The author of Reasons to Stay Alive, Notes on a Nervous Planet, and How to Stop Time, in his latest novel The Midnight Library, Matt Haig charts her story, from the hours before she attempts to kill herself, to the days she spends hopping between infinite possible lives on a time-travelling adventure. You have more to offer. English novelist and author of The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, has written several fiction and non-fiction books. She is despondently lonely and thinks that she no longer has a purpose. WebThe library is a symbol of possibilities and choices. Each life that Nora samples represents potential, yet none of them satisfy Nora. Easy to wish we'd worked harder, loved better, handled our finances more astutely, been more popular, stayed in the band, gone to Australia, said yes to the coffee or done more bloody yoga. She explains how dissatisfied she is to the world in one final Facebook post before attempting suicide. How does LIFE make you feel? 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. I was both intrigued and uneasy about the use of a fantastical library to explore something as real and horrific as suicidal depression. Once the lava slows and cools, it solidifies and then breaks down over time to become soil - rich, fertile soil. The closest secondary character, Mrs Elm, is witty, but feels more like a transient character without much power to accelerate the events in the novel. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Aim to look and act and think like you. You alone, can climb the stairs of the strange, old Victorian mansion and be somewhat welcomed by your Hosts, Miranda Merrick & Mr. You cant have one without the other. When Nora meets him, she finds him to be less interesting and intelligent than she envisioned. 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. . Not affiliated with Harvard College. From as far back as she could remember, she'd had the sense that she wasn't enough. Then she wakes up in a mysterious library filled with books of other lives she might have led and an invitation from the librarian, Mrs. Elm, to enter their pages. The Question and Answer section for The Midnight Library is a great 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.. Most heartbreakingly, after choosing to go for a coffee with her kind neighbour instead of turning down his offer, Nora meets the seven-year-old daughter they could have had together. Then, she is fired from her job of twelve years. . eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Ultimately, she is able to extend this grace and forgiveness to herself, too. Acres of disappointment and monotony and hurts and rivalries but with flashes of wonder and beauty. Maybe even the most seemingly perfectly intense or worthwhile lives ultimately felt the same. She has a difficult relationship with her brother and feels generally detached from the world around her. D) It indicates that the book will end when Nora dies. Already a member? Melendez, John. Cloud State University M.A. C) It reveals to readers something that Nora likely does not know. Mrs. Elm is the librarian from Nora's elementary school days. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. The Midnight Library study guide contains a biography of Matt Haig, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Not affiliated with Harvard College. In a few instances, Nora chooses lives that are radically different from her root life. Acres of disappointment and monotony and hurts and rivalries but with flashes of wonder and beauty. Throughout the novel, readers cant help but question their past decisions, both major and minor, along with Nora. But in her life as a competitive swimmer, he is alive. Standing, This ability, she discovers, is double-edged: in one alternate life, she doesnt let anxiety undermine a record deal before she, her brother, and their friend Ravi sign with a major label. Nora had always had a problem accepting herself. In Matt Haigs The Midnight Library, Nora is a woman in her thirties who feels as if her life has been full of regrets and sadness, and her future looks dismal. Like Nora, Hugo is a fellow traveler through his alternative lives. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. It is about a young woman named Nora Seed, who lives a monotonous, ordinary life and feels Matt Haig fills his novel The Midnight Library with many literary devices, especially symbolism, metaphor, and allusion. In this library, Nora Seed finds endless books which contain different versions of the life she could have lived. 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. Due to the Treaty of As a consequence of her self-critical thoughts, Nora overdoses and is surprised to find herself in the library, where the time on her watch is stuck at midnight. They itch for ever., It was interesting, she mused to herself, how life sometimes simply gave you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it., She realised that you could be as honest as possible in life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality., Maybe that's what all lives were, though. . This description lays out the mechanics of this otherworldly setting, framing Nora's subsequent adventures in the rest of the novel. Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?. The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. Before the midnight library, she never took the time to evaluate what she really wants or In this storyline, she owns a pub with her husband Dan. The lessons than Nora learns from her other lives feel less about letting go of regrets, and more about embracing the whole wide range of emotions of which human beings are capable. And don't give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. There are lives where you make different choices. Endless stacks of books tower over Nora as she walks up-and-down the isles of The Midnight Library. This acts as an easy analog for Noras circumstances: each of these lives exists as truly and completely as the others, even those that directly contradict others. GradeSaver, 29 December 2022 Web. WebThe closest secondary character, Mrs Elm, is witty, but feels more like a transient character without much power to accelerate the events in the novel. Matt Haigs thought-provoking, uplifting new book,The Midnight Librarydiscusses just that, exploring our relationship with regret and what really makes a perfect life. Harpers Bazaar (UK), British author Matt Haig is beloved in his home country, and hes a champion of mental health, which makes him a great person to follow on Twitter. It also shows her that her choices often have surprising outcomes. 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. We don't have to hear every piece of music in the world to understand music. The main themes in The Midnight Library are choice and regret, philosophy and the meaning of life, and relationships and forgiveness. More opportunities to have. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. My views may probably be a little surprising for some, given that this book is an award-winner and has a rating of more than 4 out of 5 on various review websites.