The Midnight Library: The Multi-million Copy Bestseller

Well, I think it is safe to say I am in awe of Matt Haig. Simply awe of him. I absolutely love the way this man writes. After having read “The Comfort Book” I was so excited to read this book and it not only met my expectations but surpassed them. Big time! There is something to be said for the way Matt understands human emotions. He expresses them in such a profound manner that you feel ēach and every one of them. I am sure each and everyone of us in our life, at one point or another must have questioned ourselves - what if I had made a different choice? What if I had taken a different path? Where would I be? And that is what The Midnight Library is all about - regrets, what ifs, dreams, passions and so much more. This book is about Nora who is completely heartbroken, feels like a total failure, regrets the choices made in her life, feels unloved and hence decides to end her life. However she does not die but ends up in Midnight library which is a place between life and death. The library contains all books or rather possibilities of the life she could have lived if she had made different choices. Here she has a chance to undo any of her regrets and to get a chance to see if she could have been in a better place. If you are looking for a fantasy book as in witches and sorcerers, dragons and fairies then this is not the book for you. If you are looking for action or drama or magical powers then this is not the book for you. This book is deeply philosophical. It is a story that uses the fantasy of the endless library to reinforce in a simple yet powerful way that we can choose choices and not outcomes. We cannot change our past but the future is not yet lived and hence it can be written in any way we choose to. This book is hopeful. It is moving. It is real. It is beautiful.

Between life and death there is a library... Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices...'. Well, that's what any good story or good book does to the readers. I connect with the premise instantly. A girl on the brink of ending her life full of misery and regret finds a solution in Midnight Library. It enables her like magic realism to undo every regret by going back to life and getting back to root life again like Time travel. By the time I finished the one third of the book, it made me feel that under the garb of fantasy fiction, I was carried away by run on the mill self help book, a genre I simply shied away! But as I keep on reading, there are many interesting lines to underline or note down as take away here. But then there are moments where the entire narrative feels like done and dusted to my reading journey! Matt Haig picked something from everyday life and painted the gallery of the human condition with sympathy in its light and dark shades. There are moments where I feel connected to its protagonist Nora Seed and her Book of Regrets. Music, literature, philosophy (loads of Henry David Thoreau 'Walden'), Geography and Cat, everything intertwined in a casual languid manner of narration that drifts and floats the readers like those Murakami books. However narration slightly lagging halfway and lapses into the trite and obvious where death of one or other character is almost recurring trait! I read some rave reviews about the book but ended up having mixed feelings for the book, though don't feel it's a wasted attempt!

Awesome book must read

This book left me in quiet wonder about what it truly takes to live a life, rather than just understand the meaning of it. The Midnight Library is a beautifully written time-travel story with a hard-hitting, deeply human message at its core. It makes you pause and ask uncomfortable questions: No matter how many regrets we try to leave behind, would changing them really change our happiness? Every choice we make opens up a hundred different possibilities, each capable of altering the course of our lives in ways we can’t predict. What stayed with me most is the reminder that every single day gives us opportunities to redefine how we live. Not by chasing a perfect life, but by accepting the imperfect one we already have. Thought-provoking, emotional, and quietly powerful—this book doesn’t just tell a story, it lingers with you long after the last page.

Livro extraordinário e de uma imaginação incrível! Um excelente presente para de Natal ou de aniversário para alguém inteligente Recomendo!

I find myself lately reading what I think are very good books. From the pleasant to the thought provoking to the fun to the serious and enlightening to the masterful to the beautiful to the despairing and tragic. This I tell you is a read that yet again I cannot properly articulate into language on the fundamental essence of its themes and context. To put simply, it is quite something that I totally did not expect in many ways, although I expected in some. But as I read and discovered, it is truly remarkable. So here is what I will write with my utmost ability in describing something so accessibly written and simply said, yet so profound and significant. What comes to mind when I recall back as I turned from page to page is a question - “What Does It Mean To Be Human?”. It is apparent to me that I am yet again, reminded that what seems to be the things we want aren’t necessarily so and the things we truly need or want have been many a times right in front of us I suppose. When I look up at the stars at night, I am acutely aware how insignificant and meaningless we all are individually. How abysmal most of our efforts are in trying to live up to Human made concepts of what is considered to be an appropriate life and how one should behave. What I have learned from this is that there is no appropriate way, there is of course being a decent human being and how we can treat each other better. But there is NO absolute way of living. There is just living and figuring it out as we go along. The Midnight Library would definitely be one of my cherished books for this time around, as it solicits perspectives, drives hard the extremes of what is possible, and forces one to contemplate infinity and the singularity of all things. For some reason, I feel hope because I feel I have a better understanding of what being present in your current situation entails. This perhaps is cliche and cringy to say, but it’s the truth. I believe we all know this, but we tend to need reminders every now and then. After all, our perfection as individuals and on the whole; Humanity, is that our perfection lies within the imperfections, the Chaos of Life. I conclude my personal review with this; with another idea or perhaps a stipulation: everyone has their own direction of life and their own codes of philosophy to live by, yet the as we slowly step towards the vast and endless unknown, it is the potential of the indeterminate future that allows us to discover new things, try different things, and grow and break and grow and break again. I believe that is what we call progress. If you cannot tell from my bias, this book is definitely worth the time to read and consider and contemplate. I am in a situation right now where I am hesitant on certain moves and of future prospects, but this has provided some much needed clarity. Not bad Haig. You indeed did your job.

Eu simplesmente amei o livro!!! O inglês é bem fácil de ser compreendido e a história é bem fluída. Eu gostei da personagem principal e também em vários momentos me vi no lugar dela. Chorei em algumas partes porquê o autor consegue transmitir os medos dela de maneira que chega a doer, o que tornou a experiência de leitura muito única. Foi meu primeiro livro deste autor e espero ler outros.

Great book. Bought the hardcover edition. The dust jacket is plastic-like but not glossy. The paper is good.

I don't think I can do this book/review enough justice but I'm going to give it my best shot... If there is one book I would urge you and shout at you to buy it would be this on. Go do it. Treat yourself You will not regret it. I promise. This is going straight into my top twenty of the year reads. I've awarded it five stars and I'd award more if I could! How do I start? I must admit it's not what I expected at all. But I feel it was just what I needed right now honestly. This book is going to be huge. This book for me was amazing, outstanding, life changing, powerful and thought provoking. Honestly have you ever felt so low you wanted to die? Then this book is for you. It will change your whole perspective on life. It has for me. It's taught me A LOT of life lessons and how I see my life. I actually have fallen in love with this book and I don't say that lightly. I don't want to ruin this for anyone but if you could view every possible outcome of your life would you? Would you ever be happy? Just wow. It's taught me to open my eyes, appreciate what I have not what I want. Life is life. Life is beautiful. I loved it all. I devoured it in a day. Beautifully told. An easy read for me done in a day but one I felt I NEEDED to read right at this moment in my life. Now this is my review others may feel differently about this book and some may hate it. But I cant explain how much I loved, enjoyed and needed this book. One I can always go back too when I'm feeling low. Uplifting. So thank you Matt. Absolutely brilliant. Grateful. It's really made me think and I miss it already. Perfection.