2.5 stars

[b:The Midnight Library|52578297|The Midnight Library|Matt Haig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602190253l/52578297.SY75.jpg|74043794] is one of those books that sets out to achieve something and loses the plot midway, becoming overly pedantic in the process.

The book begins with Nora Seed, a young woman, on the brink of making a terrible choice. Having been ousted from her job, found out that her beloved cat has been run over, that her estranged brother has visited the town she lives in without having reached out to her, and that her friendships have withered away, she resolves that life has become to heavy, too unbearable to even pretend to plod along. She leaves a note to whoever will find it, and puts out a vaguely ominous post on Facebook. She overdoses on antidepressants and...

...wakes up in a library. The Midnight Library, to be precise. An ephemeral place poised at the juncture of life and death, very bardo-esque. The library is immense in its scope, with endless shelves of books, all in varying shades of green. She is greeted by what appears to be Mrs. Elm, a figure from her childhood who she felt close to, and who was present at a crucial juncture in Nora's life. Haig delves into the concept of multiverses and quantum indeterminacy, and explores the idea that every time we make a choice, a separate reality is created for what would have been the potential or possible outcomes of that choice. Each book is a representation of a life that Nora could have lived, if she had made different choices.

"Every life contains many millions of decisions," says Mrs. Elm.

"Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations. These books are portals to all the lives you could be living."

While in this Library, Nora is Schrödinger's cat, neither alive nor dead, and yet both. Mrs. Elm explains that she can explore these other options of could-have-beens, if she so wishes, and coaxes Nora to get to the root of why she currently feels this way. The book takes us on a journey of different Noras, each having branched off further and further in her past, as she took decisions (some key, some not-so-key) which altered the course of her life. We are introduced to happily-married-Nora, glaciologist-Nora, and rock star-Nora, among others. Along the way, she meets another person like herself, a 'slider' who slips between these different possibilities, and reveals that he infinitely prefers this to choosing a fixed reality, therefore exposing Nora to the possibility that the Midnight Library itself is a destination, a half-life or a halfway-house, as it were.

Nora spends what seems like an inordinate amount of time in the library, 'trying on' various realities, to see which one fits best. According to Mrs. Elm, she can continue to live on in any reality she desires, if she is happy there, but if she isn't, she will inevitably be pulled back to the Midnight Library...

...eventually Nora finds a life that suits her, one that she is happy to be living. No prizes for guessing which one it is.

Over the course of the book, the text increasingly becomes dogmatic, and attempts to explain 'good life choices' through Nora. Additionally, the book deals with mental health issues in a very linear fashion, not really exploring the intricacies of what it means to be depressed, or suicidal. As a character, Nora is not nearly complex or relatable enough for the reader to be invested in the book in any way.

Overall, an interesting concept (even if not the most original) which could have been approached with far more nuance.


"Relativity" by M.C.Escher