The Midnight Library: a Perfect Read for Every Teen

The Midnight Library: a Perfect Read for Every Teen

Personal Growth

September 04, 2021

What if I tell you that there's a library in the afterlife where a librarian awaits, holding uncountable books for you that contain all the other lives that you may have lived, and you'll have time to try them all once? Will you try it, or will you accept your fate? Will it be easy to look into the "Book of regrets", or will it be a smooth ride?

What exactly is this library? Is it really possible? To get answers to all these questions, you'll have to read this amazing book by Matt Haig, "The Midnight Library".

A short blurb

This is the story of Nora and her life. She's a very intelligent person, yet totally miserable in relationships. She has everything yet nothing.

After her parents died, she only had her brother Joe left by her side, but after a terrible decision, she lost him too. She's like a black hole, swallowing everything around her while collapsing on herself. She's done with life and ends it, but between life and death there's a library that is waiting for her arrival, the shelves always moving, containing millions of books with billions of different lives residing in them.

Will she make a different choice now? Will there be fewer regrets in the book of regrets? For that, we'll have to read this amazing book, but that may take a long time, so, here are a few teachings that one should note to have a better, successful, and depression-free life.

Heads up for the spoilers.

You cannot have everything in a single life.

Nora once dreamed of being a band musician, but for some personal reasons, she couldn't have that life. But after her introduction to that life, she noticed the fact that her brother Joe ODed in this life, yet she had an amazing life where she dated and dumped a famous actor. She had her own music tours assigned; had unlimited fans; she had that luxurious life which she had never dreamed of. Despite that, there was one of the most important people missing in this life, her brother.

This was a lesson for Nora, taught by Mrs. Elm (The Librarian), that one cannot have everything in a single life, one has to give something to get everything. This statement resembles everyone's life, too.

Whatever you do, doesn't matter how famous you are, you'll never have anything in a single life. It's one of the biggest lessons in life that helps people to be the best version of themselves.

Regret: Way worse than anything.

Before Mrs. Elm offered Nora another life. She made her go through a thick book titled "The book of regrets" so that Nora could choose her life wisely.

The regrets started from minor ones like "I regret not doing homework today" to big ones like "I regret not staying in the band". Such regrets changed her whole life, and she was forced to take her own life. Regret is a simple yet painful word.

You may look it up in any dictionary, you can learn about it, but one must feel it in order to completely understand it. It's a feeling that will be with you for the rest of your life, making you ask yourself "What if I did that".

We have all made some unlikely choices in the past which still haunt us. This feeling of longing for something you may have done is regret, and it's the worst feeling of all. So, better not make any more regrets in life and live your life to the fullest. We've got only one life, so why not experience everything with no regrets?

Actions cannot be reversed.

Nora did some things that she wasn't proud of. She took various decisions that she regretted later in her life, and one may think that it will now be possible as she's in The Midnight Library now. But no, there's a simple yet complicated thing about the library.

You cannot reverse your actions, what's done is done. If you make a choice in that life, it's made for good now. The actions may vary depending on the various situations, but her actions remain constant.

This is one of the biggest lessons that life or this book teaches us. One cannot reverse his/her actions. If you make scrambled eggs for your breakfast but you don't want to eat them, you just cannot get the eggs back together.

Yes, this is life. Once you break someone, you cannot undo that, there's no going back from it. But on the positive side, we get to make our own decisions, so why not make good ones that can make us and the surrounding people happy?

So, these were a few lessons that one can learn from this glorious book. This book can change one's entire perspective to observe the world and motivate him/her to get the best out of this life. This book is about life, stating various reasons one must pursue it, no matter what, because a wise person once said, "No player should give up if there are still pieces left on the board."

Piyush Goel
20k+ pageviews

Writer since Jun, 2021 · 10 published articles

An avid reader who loves to explore various new genres. Been writing articles on some of the crucial and sensitive topics to turn this grimacing society into a pristine one. Wants people to bask in the sunlight of wisdom and freedom. Has worked with some publishing houses such as HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan India in different domains. Loves to read code, appreciate art, listen to music, think about philosophy, and read about philosophy and literary fiction.

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