Fulcrum intelligence
Aug 1, 2022
"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 different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"
By now I'm sure everyone has heard of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and are familiar with the premise of the story: walking through lives where a certain regret wasn't made and ultimately choosing which life to live. I decided to try The Midnight Library merely because of the hype surrounding the book, and I was looking for something different than what I usually read. I wanted to enjoy the book, I really did, but I could not get into the story as much as I would have liked. The main pitfall for me was Haig's writing style and how the overall layout despite the stylistic choices made being a good fit for the story presented. Furthermore, I found Nora's revelations predictable and it was easy to tell where the story was going from the start. It's the typical cliché of there is always something for everyone, but it truly seemed like Nora had a lot of options to choose from since it appears as if she is talented in many things - something that is not universal for everyone. If the story focused on one regret or one possible career path that Nora was passionate about, then that could have made the story much better and allow audiences to connect with the character more.
However, the lessons Haig presents to readers is something that anyone can take away from this and apply to their own life, ultimately choosing to life regret free and live life to the fullest, which is always a great reminder every time and again. Fortunately, The Midnight Library is a short book and is easy to read in a sitting or two.
Final Thoughts: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is an interesting book that fuses the notion of parallel universes with Borges' Library of Babel concept, in other words the infinite library. I wouldn't read it again, but if you're looking for something new to try, maybe consider picking up The Midnight Library and see for yourself what all the craze is about.