Have you ever wondered how your life would’ve turned up if you had made a different choice in life? How often have you pondered the possibility of going back to the past and changing an event that you regret a lot? How do you think your life would’ve panned out then?
This is all exactly what the book ‘The Midnight Library’ by Matt Haig is about. The protagonist of the story - Nora Seed attempts suicide when she realizes there is no reason for her to live. She then lands upon The Midnight Library, which is between life and death. Everyone’s lives could have ended up in an infinite number of ways due to the choices that they make. This is a library where every book that you pick gives you a chance to try another life that you could have lived. Nora tries on every possible life that she has missed. She chooses to marry her ex, explores the arctic as she pursues to become a glaciologist, becomes a mother, and whatnot, she becomes a rockstar celebrity in one of the books that she chose. After all failed attempts to redeem herself, she experiences a massive epiphany about life.
The book also discusses the likelihood of parallel universes where every alternative possibility happens simultaneously. It gets super interesting when I got to know that there is a legit quantum-physics theory about it - The Schrodinger's cat. The possibility that there could be numerous me-s doing numerous different stuff at the same time blew my mind. Matt has indeed produced a perfect blend of fantasy and inspiration. The Midnight Library being a fantasy fiction cum self-help book gives us the treat of both genres. It helps us envisage the fiction through our creativity and beams us into the spiritual crux of the story. In a fast-paced world like ours, we tend to sometimes (inevitably) fall into this loop of loneliness and regret even if we are surrounded by so many people. Yes, maybe we could have made better choices. But, everything in this world is been put in a place in a time for a reason. Life is a messy struggle. A beautiful messy struggle that we have to go through to explore ourselves. The only way to learn is to live. To be alive.
If you are a person who loves to read self-help books and find solace and motivation in them, then this book is definitely for you. I’m very sure that when you flip the last page of this book you’ll be left with a lighter heart and a beautiful smile. Here’s a favorite extract of mine from the book:
She started to write. Nora wanted to live. Mrs.Elm once said. Want is an interesting word. It means lack. So, she crossed that out and tried again. Nora decided to live. Nothing. She tried again. Nora was ready to live. Still nothing. ................................................................................................................................ Three simple words containing the power and potential of a multiverse. I AM ALIVE.
SONALI SIVARAJ
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