She has spent over a decade unhappily working in a music store and finds herself struggling with her mental health. Not in heaven (dull) or hell (overdone) or purgatory (insert Lost joke), but in a library. 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.". Her cabinmate is Ingrid Skirbekk, a Professor of Geoscience, who is part of the International Polar Research Institute. Nora also seeks out the real Mrs. Elm at the care facility to resume their games of chess. Really, it's a therapist simulator, minus the couch. To be human was to continualy dumb down the world into an understandable story that keeps things simple. Nora sees scars on her arm that she realizes are self-inflicted. Nora thinks about being 14 and a swimming star, winning two races at the National Junior Swimming Championships, until she gave it up. Jason Sheehan knows stuff about food, video games, books and Starblazers. The interviewer, Marcello, also mentions that the media seems to give her a hard time and talks about her tumultuous career. To redeem, copy and paste the code during the checkout process. Joe also tells Nora that hes thinking about becoming a sound engineer in Hammersmith, and theres a cross-training gym nearby. Hugo explains that quantum superposition is what allows all these infinite lives to exist at once. Chapters 19 23 (Fish Tank, The Last Update That Nora Had Posted Before She Found Herself Between Life and Death, The Successful Life, Peppermint Tea, The Tree That Is Our Life). Toward the end of the novel, Nora visits what is clearly the best alternative life: the one in which she says yes to the coffee date with Ash, the cute surgeon who pops up in her root life and then again in others. Meanwhile, they talk about Noras her future and career plans. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. When she finds herself excited again about living, things calm down. Mrs. Elm (or something that resembles her) is here and serves as Nora's guide, explaining that the Library exists between life and death. 'The Midnight Library': A Tale of What Could Have Been We are experiencing technical difficulties. Certain that she now wants to live, Nora begs Mrs. Elm to help her get out. As a place, the Midnight Library isn't really a library (of course), but is instead a 101-level lecture in parallel universe theory, philosophy and quantum indeterminacy. REVIEWS: The Midnight Library. One, however, is different. Please try again later. Banerjee!) Hugo, she learns, sees a video store instead of a library and a beloved uncle instead of Mrs. Elm. Afterwards, Nadia is very happy to see her brother Joe and that they get along well. Nora finds herself surrounded by mist, and she discovers The Midnight Library, where infinite rows of books represent portals into different variations of her life. The Midnight Club crew expecting a Season 2 certainly clears up why Season 1 ended so abruptly and with so many questions left unanswered, but Flanagan is not a cruel man! Spoiler warning: these summaries contains spoilers. Our club will be discussing this soon. After the talk, Nora is transported back to the Midnight Library, having realized that the successful life is not one she wants either. Nora experienced it as a library because of the meaningful relationship she had with Mrs. Elm, her childhood school librarian. 2023 . Nora thinks about the career in glaciology shed considered but didnt end up pursuing after Mrs. Elms (joking) suggestion so many years ago. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. What details do you notice that show that this story is not taking place in the United States? She and Ash are happily married, they have a daughter named Molly and a dog named Plato, and Nora is a Cambridge professor writing on sabbatical. Nora ends up letting go of that life and returning to the Midnight Library as it is falling apart. The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order, Cook a Soul Food Holiday Meal With Rosie Mayes. 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. 5 Highlights from The Midnight Library - One of the Most - Medium Her situational grief and existing depression coalesce until she feels impossibly burdened by them, and she decides to take her own life. Directed by George Clooney and starring Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone . [1] It was abridged and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over ten episodes in December 2020. And there we have it: Noras root life, the one she so despised, had a purpose after all. The Bibliofile's review of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Mrs. Elm showed Nora the Book of Regrets when she first entered the library, and Nora was overwhelmed by it when she first looked in. Back at the Library, Mrs. Elm explains that basically even if Voltaire was an indoor cat, he wouldve died anyway from a heart condition. 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. As time passes, she finds herself feeling grateful for this life. In her present life, she wonders what might have . 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. This story is part of a series for people who have already read the book and want to think more deeply about the plot and ending. Instead, here, her mother had started drinking a lot after their father left and shed hid her sickness from Nora and Joe. Living has become nothing but a chore. 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 . By Danni Turner. When Nora is back in her original, she stumbles outside for help (post-overdoing) and soon wakes in a hospital. Through these alternate realities, she learns that the paths she'd regretted giving up weren't what she'd thought they would be. Still, she wonders what would have happened if shed stuck with it. What had she done? As Mrs. Elm reminds her: Never underestimate the big importance of small things., Now that youve read The Last Thing He Told Me, lets talk about the ending. "The Midnight Library," best-selling British author Matt Haig's latest book, tells the story of a woman in her thirties who, after suffering an overwhelming attack of hopelessness and despair,. date the date you are citing the material. Nora is then transported into a life essentially exactly the same as her original life. The Midnight Club Ending Explained - screenrant.com The Real Meaning Of The Midnight Club's Ending & Story. The Midnight Library is a 2020 work of fiction by the New York Times bestselling British author Matt Haig. As the night goes on, she notices how much Dan drinks and when they get into an argument, she learns that Dan has been unfaithful. If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ($2, $3, or $5) or joining the Patreon! The Midnight Library opens with a teenaged Nora Seed, who is smart and a talented swimmer. Overwhelmed by regret, Mrs. Elm instructs Nora to close the book. A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. Even days later, when my mind darted to the would-have, should-have, could-haves, I was able to redirect. Nora is bright and talented, but she hasnt managed to turn her gifts into a fulfilling career. What if she had never given up swimming, the sport her father was desperate for her to continue? This moment occurs at the end of Nora's first adventure in a parallel life. Then, Mrs. Elm talks to Nora about what success means to her, and Nora realizes that she doesnt know. Are there any parts of your life that you feel could not be improved by living it differently. Over the past year-and-a-half, as the coronavirus pandemic drop-kicked plans and routines somewhere far, far away, Ive had a recurring daydream about what would have been. Finally, Nora recalls how Ash had once asked her out and tries a life where she'd accepted that date. But in Mike Flanagan's adaptation, the tales they tell are actually from other Christopher Pike stories. Nora's life hasn't quite turned out the way she expected, and a series of events lead to suicide. In her mind, Nora marvels that Dan would be bored of her and cheating in one life, but practically obsessed with her in another. In her e-mails, she finds an address for herself. After some convincing, Nora agrees to try on an alternate life. Everything changes because of Anya's . If Noras band had signed with a recording label, we learn, she would have made it big really big. Nora is sad and confused. It is the regret itself. Next, Nora asks Mrs. Elm to take her to a life where her mother is still alive. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Chapters 60 63 (No Longer Here, An Incident With the Police, A New Way of Seeing, The Flowers Have Water). When Nora tests out becoming an Artic researcher, she meets a man Hugo Lefvre, who is also jumping between his alternate realities and has been doing so for a long time. Voltaire wasnt hit by a car. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations. Joe also doesnt drink and Nora doesnt consume caffeine. As she is transported to Sydney, she senses she is in the water. Every move had been a mistake, every decision a disaster, every day a retreat from who she'd imagined she'd be. She thinks about the plants she helped water for him when he was in surgery. In this novel, Haig addresses weighty topics through a main character, Nora Seed, who attempts suicide and must explore what it means to live while in the gray area between life and death. She now covers swimming for the BBC. The Midnight Library study guide contains a biography of Matt Haig, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. When Nora next returns to the library, it is dark. Nora sees that her neighbor, whom she used to help out, ended up having to move to a care facility. Mrs. Elm responds that sometimes the only way to learn is to live. High quality The Midnight Library-inspired gifts and merchandise. The author of the bestselling books Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet has once again blessed us with an empowering novel. But, plot twist, each is about a life that could have been, had one made. Where, for an hour, a day or a month, she gets to dip into and sample lives where she made different choices, with the ultimate goal. As she passes by her elderly neighbor, Mr. Banerjee, he informs her of the good news that he no longer needs her to pick up his medicine, but it makes Nora feel superfluous as a person.