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A review by ojtheviking
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
5.0
4.5 rounded up.
Sometimes you pick up a book, thinking it'll be a neat little read, and then its profoundness catches you by surprise. This was one such book for me. It's a beautifully written little novel that speaks volumes about how to find your place in the universe.
Within relatively few pages, this book is able to explore so much about the notion of being alive beyond simply existing. Dreams, ambitions, fears, successes, failures, social pressure, and that dreadful curse of encouragement hanging over so many of us: “You can be anything you want,” which often ends up secretly meaning “You have to be SOMETHING.” Life can be beautiful, but it can be horribly overwhelming, and so I understand Nora's mindset at the beginning of the story.
There are similarities in this story to things we have seen before – It's a Wonderful Life, or even A Christmas Carol, perhaps with a little bit of The Twilight Zone in the mix, and I even remember this show called Nightmare Cafe starring Robert Englund that was essentially a show about such topics as second chances, revisiting unfinished business, and so on – but it's very possible to tell a familiar story in a unique way, and I feel like Matt Haig has succeeded in doing so.
The idea of this limbo library with the books literally representing possible chapters in Nora's life is an idea that's easy to follow, and as such, it's a great tool for a concept like this. I also like the implication that this place in between realities is only a library for Nora while it could be different things for other people. Obviously, for us bookworms, the library scenario sounds perfect!
If you ask me about tone, I'd say the story is for the most part very light (albeit with very heavy implications on occasion), and certainly wholesome. The overall message is blatantly life-affirming. Maybe it's the cynic in me who's curious about what the reading experience would be if it was a bit more ambiguous toward the end. But then again, we have enough cynicism and pain in this world; it's important to remember the reasons to keep one's chin up as well.
A beautiful little book, and one of my favorite reads this year.
Sometimes you pick up a book, thinking it'll be a neat little read, and then its profoundness catches you by surprise. This was one such book for me. It's a beautifully written little novel that speaks volumes about how to find your place in the universe.
Within relatively few pages, this book is able to explore so much about the notion of being alive beyond simply existing. Dreams, ambitions, fears, successes, failures, social pressure, and that dreadful curse of encouragement hanging over so many of us: “You can be anything you want,” which often ends up secretly meaning “You have to be SOMETHING.” Life can be beautiful, but it can be horribly overwhelming, and so I understand Nora's mindset at the beginning of the story.
There are similarities in this story to things we have seen before – It's a Wonderful Life, or even A Christmas Carol, perhaps with a little bit of The Twilight Zone in the mix, and I even remember this show called Nightmare Cafe starring Robert Englund that was essentially a show about such topics as second chances, revisiting unfinished business, and so on – but it's very possible to tell a familiar story in a unique way, and I feel like Matt Haig has succeeded in doing so.
The idea of this limbo library with the books literally representing possible chapters in Nora's life is an idea that's easy to follow, and as such, it's a great tool for a concept like this. I also like the implication that this place in between realities is only a library for Nora while it could be different things for other people. Obviously, for us bookworms, the library scenario sounds perfect!
If you ask me about tone, I'd say the story is for the most part very light (albeit with very heavy implications on occasion), and certainly wholesome. The overall message is blatantly life-affirming. Maybe it's the cynic in me who's curious about what the reading experience would be if it was a bit more ambiguous toward the end. But then again, we have enough cynicism and pain in this world; it's important to remember the reasons to keep one's chin up as well.
A beautiful little book, and one of my favorite reads this year.