Moja ocjena: 5 / 5
Goodreads ocjena: 4,05 / 5
Izdavač: Vorto Palabra
"Između života i smrti nalazi se knjižnica. Police se protežu u beskraj, knjiga je bezbroj, a u svakoj je priča o nama. Svaka knjiga prilika je da iskusimo neki od života koji smo mogli živjeti, da vidimo kako bi bilo da smo u nekim trenucima donijeli neke druge odluke... Bismo li išta učinili drugačije kad bi nam se pružila prilika poništiti ono zbog čega žalimo?"
Lokacija: Gradska knjižnica "Ivan Goran Kovačić", Karlovac
Za Ponoćnu knjižnicu Matt Haiga kažu kako je pojas za spašavanje.
I uistinu jest. Za one koji su voljni poslušati...
Knjiga je u moje ruke dospjela u trenutku kada sam se osjećala uistinu loše. Naravno, ne toliko loše da bih trebala pojas za spašavanje, ali dobro mi je došla - moja mala doza pozitive, kako to volim reći. :)
Poznato je kako svi imamo one određene periode u životu, kada se ne osjećamo baš dobro i u kojima nam treba samo sitnica koja može ukazati na lijepu stranu života. E pa... slažem se kada kažu kako je ova knjiga upravo ta "sitnica" kojoj težimo.
Radnja knjige prati Noru Seed - tridesetpetogodišnju ženu, koja ne vidi svjetlost na kraju tunela. Ostala je bez posla, ostala bez mačka, obitelj ju napustila, nema prijatelje, nema vlastitu obitelj i ostale "stvari" koje čovjeka čine cijelim... Jedino što u životu ima su propali snovi - nastali kao posljedica strahova i neodlučnosti. Barem nam je tako na početku priče prezentirano.
Gubitkom posla i mačka, kao jedinog životnog prijatelja, Nora shvaća kako se više nema čemu veseliti. Život ju je napustio, ostavio samu da se koprca kao riba na suhom... Vrti priču unatrag i jedino što vidi jest gomila neuspjeha i mnoštvo ljudi koji ju promatraju sa razočaranjem. "Mogla si biti slavna, mogla si rušiti svjetske rekorde, mogla si biti revolucionarka - znaš, Nora? Mogla si biti sve to." - promatra ih opterećena težinom riječi kojima ju preplavljuju.
Sjedi u svom dnevnom boravku, pritisnuta težinom depresije koja ju snažno obgrljuje i shvaća kako joj više nema izlaza. Stoga odluči prekinuti bol jednom zauvijek.
Samo što ju ta odluka ne odvodi u svjetlost na kraju tunela niti u vječnu vatru već određenu vrstu čistilišta gdje ju dočekuje gospođa Elm, knjižničarka.
Gospođa Elm uvodi ju u Knjižnicu ispunjenu svim životnim scenarijima koje je Nora mogla proživjeti, da je u zadanom trenutku odlučila krenuti drugačijim stopama. Bilo da je odlučila postati vrhunska plivačica i olimpijska pobjednica, bilo da je postala pjevačica u bendu, majka i supruga, glaciologinja i brojne druge životne uloge koje su joj bile na popisu želja, a na koje se nije odlučila odvažiti iz vlastita straha - svi su ju ti scenariji čekali u Knjižnici. Samo je trebala posegnuti za knjigom, uroniti među slova i vidjeti što bi bilo kad bi bilo...
Samo što se pritom postavlja glavno pitanje - misao vodilja kroz čitavu radnju:
Jesu li to bile njezine ili tuđe želje? Njezini snovi ili snovi njezine okoline?
Potrebno je napomenuti, radi boljeg shvaćanja, kako knjiga sadrži autobiografske elemente budući da se sam autor borio sa depresijom. Upravo iz tog razloga je radnja ispričana na toliko blizak i realističan način. Jedno je opisivati prema viziji kako bi neko duševno stanje izgledalo, a drugo je kada to uistinu i proživiš.
Tako da sam osjetila sve prikazane perspektive duha - od osjećaja bivanja u beznadnoj situaciji pa do buđenja volje za životom. Ali ona nije samo to.
Koliko god da mi se svidjela radnjom i likovima s kojima se susrećemo, mogu reći kako nije poanta samo u boravku u depresivnom stanju i kako iz njega izaći već se kroz priču provlači nešto još dublje i misaonije, posljedično povezano sa depresijom ili bilo kojim drugim oslabljenim stanjem duha.
Nora inače sebe smatra slabom osobom koja je razočarala čitav sebi poznati svijet - ali ona zapravo uopće nije takva, samo što to sama nije sposobna vidjeti.
Samo... muči me to što je uvijek imala snage svima reći "NE", a samoj sebi nikad nije rekla "DA".
Draga je i pristupačna osoba, ali je karakterno takva da ja s njom ne bih mogla obitavati. Ona mi je "tabula rasa" iliti prazna ploča, ali ona vrsta ploče koja ti neće dopustiti da po njoj pišeš dok sama ne shvati kako je moguće po njoj pisati. Razumijete me? Sposobna je plakati nad vlastitom sudbinom, a nije se voljna potruditi da to promijeni.
U kojoj god realnosti se nalazila - svom pravom životu ili jednoj od paralelnih stvarnosti - nije u potpunosti ostvarila nešto čime bi se ponosila i na što bi se osvrnula na kraju života ili je čak, kada bi se našla u naoko savršenoj stvarnosti, opet pronašla nešto što ju nije u potpunosti zadovoljilo.
Osim toga, koliko god je draga kao osoba, toliko mi je na momente bila pomalo iritantna - kupala se u vlastitom jadu i žalosti. Sve joj je crno. Živi u strahu i boji se izaći iz zone komfora. Jadikuje nad životom, a neće se potruditi nešto promijeniti.
Možda će vas u nekom trenutku malo opteretiti broj života kroz koje Nora prolazi, ali u konačnici se radi o jednoj velikoj slici koja prikazuje koliko je ona zapravo neispunjena osoba. Imala je velike mogućnosti u životu - mogla je napraviti čuda, da se samo malo posložila u glavi i da se potrudila donijeti neke konstruktivne odluke.
Ali nemojte misliti kako je knjiga oličenje apsolutne depresije jer fakat nije. Kako je radnja tekla dalje, tako se i ta slika lagano mijenjala - postala je vedrija, pozitivnija i konačno počela uviđati da zapravo propusti u životu nisu njezini već propusti onih koji su kroz nju željeli ostvariti svoje snove.
Što se tiče Ponoćne knjižnice, zbilja želim da ju pročitate. Knjiga je odlična, lagana i brzo se čita. Autor nas ne opterećuje dosadnom radnjom niti napornim konstrukcijama rečenica, što je meni od iznimne važnosti. Radi se o jednoj realnoj priči, o stanju u kojemu se svatko od nas može naći, ali ujedno vam daje i spomenuti pojas za spašavanje kako bi vas iz tog stanja izvukao. Svatko od nas traži priliku za spasenje, ali ima i onih koji su spremni ponuditi ruku spasa - a jedan od njih je upravo Matt Haig.
Još vas samo želim podsjetiti kako je život prepun mogućnosti. Nikad ne znate što vas iza ugla čeka. I znam... najlakše je "drobit" o tomu kako je život nešto predivno, kako je sve lagano i te spike. Nije Goga proživjela ništa loše, jede svaki dan sa zlatnom žlicom i sve joj je prezentirano na pladnju.
Ali ne... prošla sam tim putem, prešlo je preko mojih leđa sve i svašta, ali ja sam iz toga izašla jača. Stoga znam kako je to biti na dnu, kako je vidjeti samo tamu bez svjetlosti na kraju tunela, ali ja sam se iz toga izvukla... a vjerujem da možete i vi.
SAMO TREBA DONIJETI ODLUKU.
TE SE ODLUKE ČVRSTO PRIMITI.
I još nešto...
NE PUŠTAJ!
Do iduće objave,
Voli vas vaša Goga
Ako vam se svidjela recenzija knjige, među recenzijama sam objedinila još jednu knjigu Matt Haiga. O njoj više možete doznati na linku u nastavku.
My rating: 5 / 5
Goodreads rating: 4.05 / 5
Publisher: Vorto Palabra
"Between life and death there is a library. The shelves stretch to infinity, the book is countless, and in each there is a story about us. Each book is an opportunity to experience some of the lives we could live, to see what it would be like to be in some moments made some other decisions ... Would we have done anything differently if given the opportunity to undo what we regret? "
Matt Haig's The Midnight Library is said to be a life jacket. And it really is. For those who are willing to listen...
The book came into my hands at a time when I was feeling really bad. Of course, not so bad that I needed a life jacket, but it came in handy - my small dose of positivity, as I like to say. :)
It is known that we all have those certain periods in life, when we do not feel very well and in which we need only a little thing that can indicate the beautiful side of life. Well... I agree when they say that this book is exactly that "little thing" we strive for.
The plot of the book follows Nora Seed - a thirty-five-year-old woman who sees no light at the end of the tunnel. She lost her job, lost her cat, her family left her, she has no friends, no family and other "things" that make a person whole... The only thing she has in life are failed dreams - caused by fears and indecision. At least that's how it was presented to us at the beginning of the story.
With the loss of her job and the cat, as her only life friend, Nora realizes that she has nothing to look forward to anymore. Life has left her to squirm like a fish on dry land... She turns the story backwards and the only thing she sees is a bunch of failures and a lot of people watching her with disappointment. "You could have been famous, you could have broken world records, you could have been a revolutionary - you know, Nora? You could have been all that."
She sits in her living room, pressed by the weight of depression that hugs her tightly and realizes that she has no way out. So Nora decides to stop the pain once and for all.
It's just that this decision doesn't take her to the light at the end of the tunnel or to the eternal fire, but to a certain kind of purgatory where she is greeted by Mrs. Elm, a librarian.
Mrs. Elm introduces her to a Library filled with all the life scenarios that Nora could have lived through, that at a given moment she decided to take different steps. Whether she decided to become a top swimmer and an Olympic winner, whether she became a singer in a band, a mother and wife, a glaciologist and many other life roles that were on her wish list, and which she did not dare to achieve because of fear - all these scripts awaited her in the Library. She just needed to reach for the book, immerse herself in the letters and see what would happen if it were...
Only the main question arises - the guiding thought throughout the action:
Were these her or someone else's wishes? Her dreams or the dreams of her surroundings?
Location: The public library "Ivan Goran Kovačić", Karlovac
It should be noted, for a better understanding, that the book contains autobiographical elements since the author himself struggled with depression. It is for this reason that the action is told in such a close and realistic way. It is one thing to describe according to the vision what a mental state would look like, and it is another when you really experience it.
So I felt all the perspectives of the spirit shown - from the feeling of being in a hopeless situation to awakening the will to live. But she's not just that.
As much as I liked the plot and the characters we meet, I can say that the point is not just staying in a depressed state and how to get out of it, but something even deeper and more thoughtful runs through the story, consequently related to depression or any other weakened state of mind.
Nora considers herself a weak person who has disappointed the whole known world - but she is not really like that at all, only she is not able to see it herself.
It's just... it bothers me that she always had the strength to say "NO" to everyone, and she never said "YES" to herself.
She is a nice and approachable person, but her character is such that I could not spend my time with her. She is my "tabula rasa" or blank board, but the kind of board that won't let you write on it until she realizes how it's possible to write on it. Do you understand me? She is capable of crying over her own destiny, and she is not willing to make an effort to change that.
Whatever reality she was in - her real life or one of the parallel realities - she didn't fully achieve something to be proud of and look at at the end of her life, or even, when she found herself in a seemingly perfect reality, she found something again. which did not fully satisfy her.
Besides, as dear as she was as a person, she was a little irritating to me at times - she bathed in her own misery and grief. Everything is black to her. She lives in fear and is afraid to step out of her comfort zone. She laments over life, and he won't bother to change anything.
You may at some point be a little burdened by the number of lives Nora goes through, but ultimately it’s one big picture that shows how unfulfilled she really is. She had great opportunities in life - she could make miracles, put herself in her head a little and try to make some constructive decisions.
But don't think that the book is the embodiment of absolute depression, because in fact it is not. As the plot went on, the picture changed slightly - she became brighter, more positive and finally began to realize that the failures in life are not hers but the failures of those who wanted to make their dreams come true through her.
As for The Midnight Library, I really want you to read it. The book is great, easy and quick to read. The author doesn't burden us with boring act or laborious sentence constructions, which is extremely important to me. It is a real story, a state in which each of us can find ourselves, but it also gives you the aforementioned life jacket to get you out of that state. Each of us is looking for an opportunity for salvation, but there are also those who are willing to offer a helping hand - and one of them is Matt Haig.
I just want to remind you that life is full of possibilities. You never know what’s around the corner. And I know .. the easiest thing is to babble about how life is something wonderful and how everything is easy and other. Goga has not experienced anything bad, she eats every day with a golden spoon and everything is presented to her on a platter.
But no... I went that way, lots of heavy things went over my back, but I came out stronger. So I know what it's like to be at the bottom, what it's like to see only darkness without light at the end of the tunnel, but I got out of it... and I believe you can too.
YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION.
THESE DECISIONS ARE STICKLY ADMITTED.
And one more thing...
DON'T LET IT GO!
Until the next post,
Your Goga loves you
If you liked the book review, I’ve put together another book by Matt Haig among the reviews.
You can find out more about it at the link below.
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