Study Guide for Book Clubs: The Midnight Library: Study Guides for Book Clubs, #48

By Kathryn Cope

An essential tool for all reading groups!

 

This comprehensive book club companion guides readers through Matt Haig's best-selling novel, The Midnight Library. Designed to make your reading experience more rewarding and enjoyable, this study guide encompasses a wealth of information.

 

Inside this guide you will find a plot summary; literary context; character analysis; a breakdown of themes and symbols; thought-provoking discussion questions, and even a quick quiz.

 

Study Guides for Book Clubs help you get the best from your book club meetings. These high-quality guides enable readers to appreciate challenging works of literature in greater depth than ever before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Cope
• Release date: Feb 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393950417

Kathryn Cope

Kathryn Cope graduated in English Literature from Manchester University and obtained her master’s degree in contemporary fiction from the University of York. She is the author of Study Guides for Book Clubs and the HarperCollins Offical Book Club Guide series. She lives in the Staffordshire Moorlands with her husband, son and dog.

Book preview

Introduction

There are few things more rewarding than getting together with a group of like-minded people and discussing a good book. Book club meetings, at their best, are vibrant, passionate affairs. Each member will bring along a different perspective, and ideally, there will be heated debate.

Nevertheless, a surprising number of book club members report that their meetings have been a disappointment. Even when their group enjoyed the book in question, they could think of astonishingly little to say about it and soon wandered off-topic altogether. Failing to find interesting discussion angles for a book is the single most common reason for book group meetings to fall flat. Most groups only meet once a month, and a lacklustre meeting is frustrating for everyone.

Study Guides for Book Clubs were born out of a passion for reading groups. Packed with information, they take the hard work out of preparing for a meeting and ensure that your book group discussions never run dry. How you choose to use the guides is entirely up to you. The ‘Background’, ‘Style’, and ‘Setting’ chapters provide useful context which may be worth sharing with your group early on. The all-important list of discussion questions, which will probably form the core of your meeting, can be found towards this guide's end. To support your responses to the discussion questions, you will find it helpful to refer to the ‘Themes & Symbols,’ and ‘Character’ sections.

A detailed plot synopsis is provided as an aide-memoire to recap on the finer points of the story. There is also a quick quiz – a fun way to test your knowledge and bring your discussion to a close. Finally, if this was a book that you enjoyed, the guide concludes with a list of further reads similar in style or subject matter.

This guide contains spoilers. Please do not be tempted to read it before you have finished the original novel as plot surprises will be well and truly ruined.

Kathryn Cope, 2021

Matt Haig

Matt Haig is a British author who lives in Brighton with his wife and two children. His diverse body of work comprises novels for adults and children and several non-fiction books. The author’s most well-known novels for adults include The Radleys, How to Stop Time, and The Humans. The most recent, The Midnight Library, was a New York Times bestseller, the winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction and A Good Morning America Book Club Pick. One of Haig’s children’s books – A Boy Called Christmas – was recently adapted into a movie.

In 2015, Haig became a spokesperson for mental health issues after publishing the bestselling Reasons to Stay Alive. This memoir/self-help book described the author’s battle with depression and anxiety, which led to a breakdown at the age of twenty-four. By writing honestly about his experiences, Haig wanted to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness. He also hoped to convey to those suffering from depression that recovery is possible.

In the past, Haig has been a regular contributor to Twitter. However, after receiving abuse on the social media site, he recently decided to take a break from tweeting. The author has since spoken about the negative impact of social media on mental wellbeing.

Background to the Novel

Philosophy and theories from quantum physics form a background to The Midnight Library.  These topics are introduced with a light touch by Haig, making them accessible to readers. Below is a quick refresher on some of the concepts covered in the novel.

Quantum Physics

Quantum physics is the study of how matter and energy (atoms, particles, etc.) behave within the universe. Haig introduces ideas from this branch of science to explain how his protagonist can move between parallel lives. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist Erwin Schrodinger is mentioned as the originator of many key theories in quantum science.

Nora is transported to different versions of her existence, all of which are taking place simultaneously. This phenomenon draws on the concepts of multiverses, string theory, and quantum wave theory. In short, the idea that there are infinite numbers of parallel universes made up of different dimensions, and that particles can exist in multiple states at once. Hugo Lefèvre gives a handy summary of these concepts in the chapter ‘Life and Death and the Quantum Wave Function.’

Philosophy

Nora is a Philosophy graduate, and the novel is peppered with quotes from famous philosophers. These quotations are relevant to Nora’s situation, as they explore existentialism – the meaning of being human and all the angst that comes with it. Through Nora’s depression, suicide attempt and exploration of alternative lives, we see her grappling with how to deal with the painful nature of existence. She also questions what constitutes a well-lived life.

Nora’s favourite philosopher is Henry David Thoreau. She likes the American philosopher’s emphasis on living simply and finding spiritual meaning in nature. Nora retains this interest in Thoreau in several of her alternative lives. For example, as a rock star, she has a Thoreau quote tattooed on her arm: ‘All good things are wild and free.’ In her life as a glaciologist, Nora experiences the kind of meaningful connection with nature advocated by her intellectual hero.

Despite her fondness for Thoreau, Nora finds it difficult to follow his advice – particularly his instruction to ‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.’ Part of her problem is that she is unable to identify precisely what her dreams are. In the end, it is Mrs Elm who helps Nora fully comprehend Thoreau’s assertion that ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.’ Her problem is not her life, but the way she perceives it.

Throughout the novel, the wisdom of other famous philosophers is used to sum up Nora’s journey. Jean-Paul Sartre’s statement ‘Life begins on the other side of