A Review of The Book that Provides Every Possible Life: The Midnight Library

“Between life and death there is a library,” said she. “And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a change 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 different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

The Midnight Library is one of the popular works by Matt Haig, a novelist and journalist from England.

By adopting the fantasy genre, this book tells the story of a woman in her 30s, who is facing various problems and failures. Her name is Nora Seed. With a mental condition that is getting worse with persistent problems, Nora decides to end her life, because she feels useless for herself and others.

Time slipped by. She stared into space. After the wine a realization hit her with total clarity. She wasn’t made for this life. Every move had been a mistake, every decision a disaster, every day retreat from who she’d imagined she’d be.

Swimmer. Musician. Philosopher. Spouse. Traveller. Glaciologist. Happy. Loved.

Nothing. (Page 20)

As if the world didn’t want her there either. However, what happened was that Nora instead woke up at the strange library in the middle of the night, called ‘The Midnight Library’. Which, each book has a chance of every possible life, that could be the life that Nora had regretted, or the life that Nora had wanted.

And here, I will tell you one by one about this book.

First. The character.

Nora Seed is described as a woman who is fragile, weak, and barely has any glimmer of hope in life. However, as the story progresses as she gets more and more new perspectives on every chance of life, Nora’s character slowly improves. And because this book is related to mental health topics as well, then it is appropriate that there are several descriptions that describe Nora’s mental state at various times which keep on going. Like this example, initially:

If I felt it was possible to stay, I would. But I don’t. And so I can’t. I make life worse for people. I have nothing to give. I’m sorry. Be kind to each other. Bye. (Page 22)

To this:

Yesterday I knew I had no future, and that it was impossible for me to accept my life as it is now. And yet today, that same messy life seems full of hope. Potential. The impossible, I suppose, happens via living.

Will my life be miraculously free from pain, despair, grief, heartbreak, hardship, loneliness, depression? No.

But do I want to live? Yes. Yes.

A thousand times, yes. (page 254–255)

The imagery is quite clearly explained through the existing descriptions. Although a little slow, Nora’s character development is quite cool and realistic in dealing with every situation. On several occasions, Nora seems bolder to express her thoughts and feelings. She is more courageous at acting, and wise at making decisions.

There are other characters who support the story, such as Mrs. Elm (the librarian at Midnight Library), Lizzy (Nora’s best friend), Joe (Nora’s brother), Ash (a friendly man who lives not far from Nora house), and so on.

Second. The plot.

From what I have read, the plot presented is a chronological plot. However, it is possible that there are several scenes that explain the flashback of Nora’s life from long before it all started. And well, the plot is quite slow, as Nora’s character develops itself.

Third. The content.

The content is quite heavy. Apart from the many scientific terms, there are also discussed few topics about multiple universes and parallel life (although it was not discussed in detail until the end). Especially for new readers when starting in the first few chapters of the story, they will be confused by various kinds of puzzles. Well, I’ll put it that way. Because every time we start reading something, we must first familiarize ourselves with the situation in the story, so that we can finally get into it.

However, in this case, I found it a little difficult and time-consuming to get used to. Because, until almost the beginning of the middle of the book, the reasons why Nora had given up so much on herself had not yet been explained. But, in the middle of the story, I started to feel related and connected to Nora’s character.

Fourth. What is interesting and what is not about the book.

To be honest, from the very beginning, the reason why I decided to read this book was because of the attractive cover from my point of view. The plain appearance in dark blue with a picture of a building silhouette in the middle, along with the large writing which is the title of this book, makes it look simple but conveys an elegant impression.

Besides that, with the theme raised by the author in such a complicated way, I really like how he describes the life of this Nora character. Moreover, most of the contents of this book are the paradigm and expressions of Nora’s feelings, but the author succeeded in making me as a reader immersed and felt how painful it was, mixed my emotional feelings, as if I was also depressed and living with such regrets (which hopefully don’t happen in my real life).

However, every advantage has a drawback. For me, I am still not satisfied with some parts that touch on parallel lives. Because the author didn’t explain it in more detail till the end of the story, which made me have to rack my brain sometimes (though in the end I still didn’t get it ✌️).

Fifth. The memorable part.

Well, let me tell you some quotes or scenes footage from the book that left the most impression in my memory.

“Don’t worry. Tissues are like lives. There are always more”. (page 31)

“So, you see? Sometimes regrets aren’t based on fact at all. Sometimes regrets are just…” She searched for the appropriate term and found it. “A load of bullshit.” (page 62)

“… And that sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. You can’t have one without the other.” (page 163)

“Loot at the chessboard we put back in place,” said Mrs. Elm, softly. “Look at how ordered and safe and peaceful it looks now, before a game starts. It’s a beautiful thing. But it is boring. It is dead. And yet the moment you make a move on that board, things change. Things begin to get more chaotic. And that chaotic builds with every single move you make.” (page 176)

Sixth. The conclusion.

Overall, I enjoyed this book well with no regrets. Because, even if you don’t like the existing content of the book, by reading it, you will get new things that will open your perspective further. Like it or not, it is the right and decision of each person in viewing and expressing. However, it is still a book, whose existence will always be remembered for anyone who gets the bond between the two.