the midnight library ending explained the midnight library ending explained

Tales From the Radiation Age is his latest book. Nora tries out a life with her ex, Dan, who she nearly married, only to discover that he would have gotten bored and cheated on her. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore (Sullivan) - Discussion Questions. They're in the episode titles but you'll recognize hitchhikers Poppy Corn and Freedom Jack . But while it's uncharted. The second is the date of As she is transported to Sydney, she senses she is in the water. Nora also tells Joe that she knows that he tried to go in after her the day she almost drowned when crossing the river, though Joe doesnt know how she knows it. Every decision in life leads to different results in life, and those possible lives are reflected in these infinite volumes. Later, we learn that Huge experienced it as a video store, with a cherished uncle instead of a librarian. The dialogue flows naturally and the characters come to life. When she inquires about Mrs. Elm, they inform her that Louise Elm died peacefully about three weeks ago. Shes at home, when Ash, an attractive surgeon and neighbor who shed once asked her out to coffee with, rings her doorbell. The chapters leading up to Nora's discovery of the midnight library each describe an hour preceding her decision to kill herself. Nora discovers that she is surprisingly content in this life, and she suspects this is the one shell want to stay in. Required fields are marked *. Photo by Ivo Rainha on Unsplash. Soon, Nora is jumping from possible life to possible life with ravenous abandon. Nora finds herself surrounded by mist, and she discovers The Midnight Library, where infinite rows of books represent portals into different variations of her life. Chapters 5 6 (How to Be a Black Hole, Antimatter). Because who, in their darkest moments or maybe just on a Tuesday hasn't wondered what life would be like if only Nora certainly has. THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY Characters By Chapter: EDITOR: Remy Hale CH: FIRST NAME: LAST NAME: DESCRIPTION: 1 : A Conversation About Rain : Nora: Seed: An Olympian, a rock star, a music teacher. As it nears midnight, Nora decides that its time for her to die. For a short while it seems appealing, but it soon becomes clear that the relationship has problems which Nora does not feel compelled to take on. Nora also start volunteering at the homeless shelter once a week, and she considers getting a dog. 8. The book is not one to be missed. Hugo tells her that his version of her Midnight Library is a video store filled with VHS movies. I'm a voracious reader. Mrs. Elm implies that these are a symptom of Noras health in her root life. But as soon as the Midnight Library took over, I was hooked. The audience looks uncomfortable, but she sees that Ravi is smiling at her. Her relationships are in shambles and her cat is dead. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. One of the reasons I love to read is because it quiets my mind. They are here to study climate change. Nora had offered inexpensive lessons and as Leos confidence in music grew, he improved in other areas as well and never get mixed up with worse stuff. There is tragedy, but it feels muted by the existence of infinite chances. Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. Antidepressants. And the magnitude of that is staggering, given that a life can be determined or redirected by a single event. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. As the library begins to disintegrate, signaling Noras waning existence, she must choose which life to commit to. In this gentle life, Nora works at an animal rescue center and is seeing a man named Dylan, who had been two years below her in secondary school, though they didnt know each other then. Noras manager appears to be a woman named Joanna. As many of you know a book with a library speaks to me. 3. Do you think its possible to reach fame and fortune in a single field and still maintain balance with other areas of your life? After the talk, Nora is transported back to the Midnight Library, having realized that the successful life is not one she wants either. Once thinks about how her family here (Molly, Ash, Plato, etc.) Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. When she finds herself excited again about living, things calm down. One tells the story of your life as . So she decides to die. Over the past year-and-a-half, as the coronavirus pandemic drop-kicked plans and routines somewhere far, far away, Ive had a recurring daydream about what would have been. Afterwards, Nora thinks about her parents, the disappointments and the crushed hopes in their lives. The Midnight Library study guide contains a biography of Matt Haig, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The Midnight Library Matt Haig 4.02 1,302,455 ratings141,780 reviews Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Fiction (2020) Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. I just needed a single book. 8. 1. Each life has its own advantages and disadvantages, and some feel better than others, but Nora inevitably finds herself returning to the library after each one. Nora thinks about Dan, a man who worked in PR but had a dream of running a pub in the countryside. Theres nothing wrong with the life, but theres a fakeness to it, and Nora lets that life go as well. And then Nora wakes up. 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. Chapter 53 Summary: "Lost in the Library". On her phone is a message from Dan saying hell be coming to Australia for work soon. In it, each book represents a portal into another variation of what her life could have been. Neil, her boss, is nice about it, but questions why shes still even working there since he thinks shes meant for bigger things. After she takes an overdose, Nora awakens to find herself facing a library surrounded by a heavy mist. I think about the people I would have met at restaurants that instead shut down, the slices of cake I would have ordered for dessert and the contemplative walks home. Joe is working as a sound engineer now. Nora located the book and finally writes I am alive, and the Library dissolves. The second date is today's In the book "Games at Twilight", what details do you notice that show this story is not taking place in the United States? The Midnight Club Ending Explained. 9. Online, Nora learns that Izzy died a month after they arrived in Australia. Start earning points for buying books! Nora also seeks out the real Mrs. Elm at the care facility to resume their games of chess. The Library dissolves as Nora decides to live. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations. Haig lives by that here. We tend to romanticize other variations of our lives we would have no cares in the world, if only we had done this and that differently. Mrs. Elm tells Nora how to exit, by finding the book representing her original life, and the Midnight Library dissolves. Nora heads there and sees that she has a flatmate named Jojo, a quirky conspiracy theorist, that she doesnt recognize. This is the correct order to apply your skincare. Do you think that wanting to be the best at something can inhibit us from enjoying it? She thinks about the plants she helped water for him when he was in surgery. As she comes to see the value she had in her original life, Nora senses her grip on this reality is fading, even as she reminds herself how great this reality is. But what sucks a measure of the color and life from The Midnight Library is that Nora, as a character, doesn't really want anything. However, Mrs. Elm says thats not a possibility since in every life her mother would have been dead by now. Nora then tries becoming an Olympic swimming, only to find out she is depressed in that life, too. Matt Haig's latest book, 'The Midnight Library,' discusses the potential lives every human can experience depending on the choices they make in the present. It's the outlier of the " Flanagan-verse, " both youth-focused and semi-anthologized. The Midnight Library opens with a teenaged Nora Seed, who is smart and a talented swimmer. Noras dad did not have a heart attack in this life because he ended up on a health kick as Nora was training for the Olympics. This story is part of a series for people who have already read the book and want to think more deeply about the plot and ending. Nora then gets a call from Doreen, who is irritated. The book weaves elements of science fiction and fantasy with philosophical contemplations on human mortality, happiness, and personal choice. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or find something interesting to read. She also runs to Ravi, who she was once in a band with along with her brother Joe. Nora scares it off with noise, as instructed. Later, she awakes in the hospital. The Library is falling apart, but Nora needs to find the book that represents her original life and write that story. She starts with one of her biggest regretsa life where she didnt call off her wedding with Danand soon finds herself in a country pub. She works on patching things up with her brother, starts soliciting more students for music lessons in order to make a living and starts volunteering weekly at a homeless shelter. Eventually, Nora is heartbroken to appear in the Midnight Library yet again. Directed by George Clooney and starring Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone . As she comes to understand her loved ones better, she comes to forgive them more easily for their transgressions and the complications of their relationships. As she passes by her elderly neighbor, Mr. Banerjee, he informs her of the good news that he no longer needs her to pick up his medicine, but it makes Nora feel superfluous as a person. Nineteen years later, Nora is now a 35-year-old woman who is unhappy in her life. In her life before she finds herself in the Midnight Library, Nora gave up many of the pursuits that brought her joy because she didnt feel like she could be the best at them. A simplicity to the narrative that has to be taken as a choice on Haig's part, not an accident. Finally, Nora finds Mrs. Elm at the retirement home where she offers to play chess with her. Sometimes the elements of a really great book, but sometimes the elements of a non memorable one. In the world of the Midnight Library, the books take on the role of portals into alternate realities. . Nora thinks about being 14 and a swimming star, winning two races at the National Junior Swimming Championships, until she gave it up. In this life, she never ended up teaching him piano. Instead, Joe got a job he dislikes in IT, and Ravi still plays small gigs but is broke. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. However, she remembers that Mrs. Elm had told her that once she settled into a life she wanted that shed eventually forget the library, but that doesnt seem to be happening. She is overwhelmed by her happiness but also plagued by the notion that this life is not hersit belongs to some other version of Nora, and she has taken it from her. What would've happened if she'd stuck with competitive swimming, been a better cat owner, been nicer to her parents, followed her best friend to Australia or become a glaciologist? 1. Your email address will not be published. Its 19 years before Nora Seed will someday decide to commit suicide. Online, she learns that she is a 2-time Olympian, having won a gold and two silver medals before retiring at 28. On a few occasions, the library experiences system issues that complicate Noras transfers in and out of lives. What do you think your Midnight Library would be? He has recognized her acting strangely, and he admits that he, too, has been slipping in and out of his possible lives. Nora is sad and confused. T-shirts, posters, stickers, home decor, and more, designed and sold by independent artists around the world. Over the course of the book, Nora lives a whole spectrum of lives, some for minutes and some for months, but only at the end does time actually pass, and by the time she wakes up in her root life it is one minute and twenty-seven seconds past midnight and her outlook on life has changed entirely. will be fine without her, she returns to the Midnight Library. Comment on the use of imagery in "Games at Twilight.". Elsewhere in the neighborhood, she sees the police arrest a boy for theft that turns out to be Leo. With that, shes transported into the life of an Arctic Researcher. Nora remembers playing chess with Mrs. Elm and getting the news that her father had died of a heart attack. Later, we learn that Huge experienced it as a video store, with a cherished uncle instead of a librarian. So she decides to die. She also comes across Ravi, her brother Joes best friend. Perhaps endless. Hugo explains that quantum superposition is what allows all these infinite lives to exist at once. At midnight precisely, time seems to stop and Nora is engulfed in a mist. Nora is transported into a life that seems perfect. She knew that everything humans see is a simplification. She thinks about how she loves them and forgives them for the ways theyve disappointed her. Inside the library itself, Mrs. Elm's job is to present everything to Nora very clearly and to lay out the stakes very directly. As she writes, I AM ALIVE, she awakes on her own mattress and vomits. Do you think by considering the ways in which our lives might have turned out differently our regrets truly go away, or do we simply learn to live with them? Her brother arrives, and the two share a heartfelt reconciliation; Izzy texts to tell Nora how much she misses her; and Nora gets rehired at one of her jobs. The Midnight Library was my introduction to Matt Haig and I thoroughly enjoy his writing. Over a game of chess, the two muse about what it means to live a good life. Nora realizes that her regret over this relationship ending is misplaced and returns to the Midnight library. Joe also tells her that he happened to run into Ravi, who he hasnt seen in 10 years in this life, and he invited Ravi to Noras talk. Nora was once the songwriter in a band called Labyrinth with Ravi, Ella (Ravis girlfriend, now wife) and Joe that was on the verge of a deal with Universal, but Nora nixed her involvement in it. Clue #2: The Midnight Club novel's ending. When presented with a chance to review The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, narrated by Carey Mulligan, I grabbed my earbuds and dove in. Nora discovers a life that she thinks is quite nice, where they have a young daughter named Molly and a dog named Plato. He had been staunchly against her staying in the band. Log in here. Mrs. Elm tells Nora that almost all of the books on the library's seemingly infinite shelves represent lives that Nora could have lived if she had made different choices. All 120 characters in The Midnight Library are listed by chapter with character descriptions included. Humans are fundamentally limited, generalizing creatures, living on auto-pilot, who straighten out curved streets in their minds, which explains why they get lost all the time. She is playing chess with the school librarian, Mrs. Elm, when she gets the news about her father's death. The new Mike Flanagan series dropped many bombs in its final episode. That is a simplification. Infinite possibility, sure, but only one shot at each of them. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance The library offers her the chance to reflect on her life and her regrets and to try different lives, lives where she'd made different choices. She goes looking for Voltaire, but she finds that he is under the bed, but dead. The librarian tells her to write her own story now, as quickly as she can, and maybe she can escape. Neil also allows Nora to put up some flyers at String Theory offering more piano lessons to others, and the ads have already gotten a large response. Chapters 64 65 (Nowhere to Land, Dont You Dare Give Up, Nora Seed!). Next, Nora asks to see a life where she had decided to move to Australia with Izzy. Mrs. Elm says that Nora has become lost because she's still trying to live for other people. He realizes that he was dismissive of her panic attacks and it wasnt until Ewan got them, too, that he realized they were serious. From there, Nora tests out a multitude of lives as a concert pianist, having a teenage son, as a travel vlogger, as a cat-sitter, as an aid worker and even coming across Hugo again. She begs, pleads, shouts at the universe to keep her alive. She explains that Nora can stay as long as she likes in each life, but she warns Nora that if she loses the will to carry on while she is between lives, then Nora will truly die with finality. Hes slightly drunk, and Nora realizes that she has recently dumped him. Chapters 13 15 (Every Life Begins Now, The Three Horseshoes, The Penultimate Update Nora Had Posted Before She Found Herself Between Life and Death). The call is amicable, and they agree to remain friends. She had a difficult father, she became ostracized from her brother when she jumped ship on the band they were in together, just as it started to be successful. Hugo has seen hundreds of lives and plans to continue to do so. She finds herself in the cabin of a boat. 2. She just needed to realize that her own had potential, and that she could keep reinventing herself until she achieved happiness. In her e-mails, she finds an address for herself. Every night at midnight, the patients meet in the hospice library to. Kevin (Igby Rigney) finally decided to end his serial killer story. It occurs to her to try a life where shed accepted Ashs coffee date once upon a time, instead of rejecting it because shed been with Dan at the time. The rest of his friends didn't love . 7. Matt Haig's magical novel The Midnight Library is a tonic to anyone who tumbles down this rabbit hole of what-if thinking. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. What do you think your Midnight Library would be? She just lost her job and cat, has fallen out with her brother and best friend and generally assumes she's a giant disappointment. Nineteen years later, Nora is now a 35-year-old woman who is unhappy in her life. Call it the Haig effect: Why squander energy on imagining some other life? This finale explores the truth behind Brightcliffe's troubled history via flashbacks, while in the present, there are emotional goodbyes and the Midnight Club members bring a . The one that could be a messy struggle, but it was her messy struggle. Not in heaven (dull) or hell (overdone) or purgatory (insert Lost joke), but in a library. Chapters 16 18 (The Chessboard, The Only Way to Learn Is to Live, Fire). eNotes.com, Inc. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original The Midnight Library by Matt Haig ended up being a preachy, fictionalized self-help book that I didn't ask for and that wouldn't have helped anyway. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. There is one book that is different from the rest. Nora experienced it as a library because of the meaningful relationship she had with Mrs. Elm, her childhood school librarian. And it is filled with nothing but books, shelves and, curiously, Nora's school librarian, Mrs. Elm. The trillion big and little things I would have stressed over or been excited about. About how human brains take complex information about the world and simplify it, so that when a human looks at a tree it translates the intricately complex mass of leaves and branches into this thing called 'tree'. As time passes, she finds herself feeling grateful for this life. Back in her original life, Nora wakes up and throws up. Yes, it really is that simple. So she ends it. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Instead, Nora feels like a fraud because she hasnt earned this life. to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Living has become nothing but a chore. Our teacher made us read this, now writing an essay about the book and this is quite helpful for summarising all the key events of the book so thanks. Shed ended up part-way through and not knowing which way to go in order to survive. She explains to Mrs. Elm that she no longer feels anything when experiencing different versions of her life. Meanwhile, String Theory has closed down, as was the case in the Dylan reality as well. Ultimately, it became a saga about how Kevin feels like he's let down everyone he loves. 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 . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, The book follows Nora, a dejected 35 year old who, after overdosing, finds herself transported to a library. At home, Nora sees Voltaires empty bowl and takes two anti-depressants. The Midnight Club ending, explained. Chapters 32 35 (One Night in Longyearbyen, Expectation, Life and Death and the Quantum Wave Function, If Something Is Happening to Me, I Want to Be There). Your email address will not be published. In the library, Nora learns that the life she gave her cat was one of the best he could have experienced. 2. The Midnight Library Trigger Warning: suicide, attempted suicide, death, depression, cancer. 1. Out of it she sees a building, which is revealed to be filled with endless rows of unlabeled books, all with covers colored in shades of green. She eventually finds a life she's happy in, but in the process she learns that her original life had value. Nora sees the cat and feels sadness, but also a bit of envy at seeing him lying there peacefully. She has spent over a decade unhappily working in a music store and finds herself struggling with her mental health. It was the ending that this broken character of Nora Seed needed and I am in awe of how Haig transformed a predictable ending into one that was naturally the part of her journey with The Midnight Library.