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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Recently I read a Bookstagrammer say they will be more discerning when it comes to book recommendations. And while the idea of examining the source seems obvious, I admit it’s easy to overlook when a book is ubiquitous in your feed. One such book for me is The Midnight Library*. Matt Haig’s novel has been stalking me in my online life. It is there when I open Instagram, Libby, Goodreads, and – well, you get the idea. But I resisted. Because even though I didn’t realize it, I was exercising discernment. Just because Instagram accounts I follow have read and rated The Midnight Library highly, I wasn’t going to fall for that again. The hype train has burned me before, and I want no more of it. But then I read the blurb. And I thought, well, I’ll try the first chapter – or two, or three.
Synopsis
Nora’s been having a hard go at life. The past few years have been one agonizingly harrowing tragic experience after another. But she’s managed to stay afloat, albeit somewhat despondently. But that changes as Nora faces the results of her disheartened life. Nora once had interests and excelled at school, sport, and music. One day magnifies her inability to live up to her potential in any area and tips the scales towards desperate measures. And then, somewhere in the time and space between life and death, Nora finds herself in a library filled with an inexhaustible collection of books. Each one a passageway into a parallel life, a parallel Nora has been living.
Review
Mirthful melancholia is how I would describe The Midnight Library. The book deals with topics that may be triggering for some, namely suicide and depression. I understand if one or both causes you to opt-out of reading the book. My personal experience was one that appreciated how Haig writes about depression and his overall message regarding suicide.
As Nora travels, she begins to refer to her own life as her root life. In her root life, she had the potential to live life as an academic, an athlete, or a musician. Of course, she did none of those things. And now, from the midnight library, Nora experiences potential.
And through all Nora’s lives, Haig explains, that living up to one’s full potential and depression are not mutually exclusive possibilities. Of course, the book only tells the story of one individual’s experience with depression. But Haig includes all the hallmarks without making it feel like you’re reading an excerpt from the DSM.
Rating 5/5
For once, I’m pleased with a heavily recommended book. Nora’s library is really a metaphor for getting through an existential crisis. Remember I said it’s mirthful melancholia. The writing has humor. Fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind should give this book a try.
Oh, and a special shout to Carey Mulligan for bringing Nora to life with her narration*.
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