On the Midnight Library

Unlike some other reviewers, I cannot go so far as to say that this book cured my depression, but it has helped some. Reading through the other reviews, I am surprised how much this book resonated with other people—I know it did for me. To me, the book had a slow start, but I see a lot of myself in Nora. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that others did the same—American society, along with many others around the world, has become one where it is much more acceptable to talk about mental health than decades ago. We know, for instance, that many people around us struggle with anxiety and/or chronic depression.

Yet, there is still a long way to go in talking about the lived experiences of these mental health issues. Although I hear about people dealing with depression all the time, there is little open discussion about what that experience is really like. Haig does an excellent job of painting a picture of chronic depression, and I think that is why his book resonates with so many of us. At the same time, this book is good therapy. While he cannot “cure” us of depression, reading The Midnight Library helped me discover some tools for managing depression while giving me the means to think about what it means to live without major mental issues. What would that look like? To me, I see-saw between highs and lows, but it feels like much of my life over the past few years have been consumed by the lows, so this book did a fair job of illustrating—in a realistic way—what it might look like to be “well.”

The story is nothing too special, but Haig’s writing style makes it worthwhile. What’s more important than the actual plot is the questions Haig raises, and how we all relate this book to our own experiences. I feel like this one will be something to re-read as I continue to struggle with mental health issues.