Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library …
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
The journey is straightforward and well driven, you have to just relax into it and be carried along the clear path and enjoy the sights that are clearly visible along the way, well marked and labeled.
While it was easy to read and well written, it severely didn't live up to the hype. Came across as "depression can be cured by just realizing the life you're living is the best one" as if just deciding not to be depressed is a thing one can do.
Most of this was really good, but it became tedious to me about half-way through. Too many Thoreau references (almost as if the author cribbed as many quotable quotes from some website into the book). The ending was fantastic, though, and redeemed this from being a 3-star read.
It's a good book. The ending was predictable, but that doesn't make it less wholesome or the message of the book less pure. An uplifting insight into the nature of regrets, potential, and the importance of perspective on any situation.
I found this book is dull to read. But there are some interesting ideas. One of them is that why Nora entered this library. Who is given the chance to visit this library?
The key idea of the book is that you have made so many mistakes in your life and you want a chance to reverse them, in the hope of having a better life. Everybody makes mistakes; Our lives are made of a series of mistakes and the lessons we have learned from. The mistakes are our signature. More importantly, not a single mistake in our lives is isolated. We can always find the “roots” of a mistake from many mistakes we have made before. So correcting one mistake means changing a series of mistakes and therefore our identity. Who will want to eliminate his/her existence completely? Only the people do …
Who can get into this Midnight Library?
I found this book is dull to read. But there are some interesting ideas. One of them is that why Nora entered this library. Who is given the chance to visit this library?
The key idea of the book is that you have made so many mistakes in your life and you want a chance to reverse them, in the hope of having a better life. Everybody makes mistakes; Our lives are made of a series of mistakes and the lessons we have learned from. The mistakes are our signature. More importantly, not a single mistake in our lives is isolated. We can always find the “roots” of a mistake from many mistakes we have made before. So correcting one mistake means changing a series of mistakes and therefore our identity. Who will want to eliminate his/her existence completely? Only the people do not want to live. So only the people who are trying to suicide have the chance to enter the Midnight Library. There is no admittance to those who even only love themselves a little.
We do not need the Book of Regrets. What we should carry is the Book of Lessons We have learned from Our Lives. Love ourselves, look forward, and do our best.
Après avoir découvert Matt Haig avec deux livres de non-fiction, j'avais envie de le connaître sous une autre facette, celle de romancier. J'ai alors choisi son dernier roman, paru en 2020 : The Midnight Library.
Ce roman nous propose de suivre l'aventure pseudo-fantastique de Nora Reed, une trentenaire anglaise souffrant de dépression, alors qu'elle semble avoir perdu toute envie de vivre. Au seuil de la vie et de la mort, elle découvre une incroyable bibliothèque géante où chaque livre lui donne accès à une de ses vies possibles, si elle avait fait un jour un choix différent.
Continuer la natation pour faire plaisir à son père et espérer concourir aux Jeux Olympiques ? Suivre le rêve de son frère de devenir une rock-star dans le groupe de musique qu'ils avaient formé ensemble ? Devenir une scientifique en mission sur les glaciers arctiques ? Poursuivre ses études en philosophie ? Ouvrir …
Après avoir découvert Matt Haig avec deux livres de non-fiction, j'avais envie de le connaître sous une autre facette, celle de romancier. J'ai alors choisi son dernier roman, paru en 2020 : The Midnight Library.
Ce roman nous propose de suivre l'aventure pseudo-fantastique de Nora Reed, une trentenaire anglaise souffrant de dépression, alors qu'elle semble avoir perdu toute envie de vivre. Au seuil de la vie et de la mort, elle découvre une incroyable bibliothèque géante où chaque livre lui donne accès à une de ses vies possibles, si elle avait fait un jour un choix différent.
Continuer la natation pour faire plaisir à son père et espérer concourir aux Jeux Olympiques ? Suivre le rêve de son frère de devenir une rock-star dans le groupe de musique qu'ils avaient formé ensemble ? Devenir une scientifique en mission sur les glaciers arctiques ? Poursuivre ses études en philosophie ? Ouvrir un pub avec son ex-fiancé qu'elle a quitté juste avant le mariage ? Terminer le roman qu'elle avait abandonné ? Accepter l'invitation de son voisin à prendre un café ?
Autant de choix et de vies que Nora regrette, alors qu'elle se sent abandonnée, inutile, coincée dans une vie qui ne lui convient pas : son frère ne lui parle plus, sa meilleure amie est partie en Australie, son patron vient de la virer, et son chat Voltaire vient de mourir.
Dans cette librairie fantastique, Nora explore les vies qui auraient pu être la sienne, et apprend à mettre de côté ses regrets.
The Midnight Library est un livre touchant et joliment écrit. Il n'y a pas d'énorme surprise dans le récit, on sent assez vite où l'auteur veut nous emmener, mais c'est efficace et élégant. On n'échappe à quelques leçons ou clichés que l'on croirait sorties d'un livre de développement personnel quelconque (“il ne faut pas essayer de comprendre la vie, il faut la vivre”), mais cela reste très minoritaire dans un texte réussi.
Je suis donc plutôt convaincu par les talents de romancier de Matt Haig, que je continuerai à suivre avec intérêt. J'ai d'ailleurs un autre de ses romans qui m'attend sur ma liseuse et qui pourrait bien être ma prochaine lecture.