Books About the Many-Worlds Theory — PART 1

Unintentionally, or maybe somewhat intentionally, since I like a good “what if?” sci-fi mystery, the past 2 books I read both dealt with the idea of multiple branching worlds, all of which coexist simultaneously. First, I read ‘Dark Matter’ by Blake Crouch off my mom’s bookshelf, per the recommendation of a random tweet I came across. Second, I read ‘The Midnight Library’ by Matt Haig, which I’d heard people refer to as both ‘a 5 star’ book as well as ‘the worst book I’ve ever read’, which intrigued me, you know, along with the basis of the plot.

Was reading two books with essentially the same theoretical framework boring? Was it repetitive? Honestly? I found both books to differ much more than align in their respective reading experiences. And I’m eager to compare my experiences with both books, including what they had in common, and what was unique to each of them.

Let’s start with Dark Matter. I was going to make this blog post about both books, but I fear it has gotten too long, and I don’t have the patience for that in a single sitting.

This book was creepy. But it was good. I went into ‘Dark Matter’ hoping for answers, hoping it would illuminate to me the meaning of life, as it’s inside cover-summary seemed to promise. I read the synopsis, and gathered that by the end of the story I should know whether a life of comfort and family, or a life of drive and achievement is “better”– a question I would obviously love to know the answer to, since at 23, I’m not too sure what my life priorities and goals should be. By the end of the book I think I got my answer. From the narrator’s POV at least, a life dedicated to family is ultimately better than a life seeking professional success. However, a book is just a book, written by a single person, so despite my wishes to know the meaning of life, I still have my reservations.

The main conflict of the story, that the main character has stolen his own life (in a different, coexisting world), struck a chord with me. In fact, in comparison to ‘The Midnight Library’, I actually found ‘Dark Matter’ to be much more similar to a Goosebumps novel (‘Let’s Get Invisible’ – Goosebumps #6) from my childhood which had permanently scarred me.

In Goosebumps #6, the protagonist finds a mirror in his closet that can turn him invisible. However, he eventually finds out that if you stay invisible for too long, your mirrored-reflection will steal your life, and you will become trapped in the mirror. He figures this out when his crush, who has a ‘cute’, lopsided smile, is smiling to the wrong side (how adorable). This book shook me to my core. I guess it’s not aliens or monsters or the end of the world that haunts me. Instead, it’s apparently the idea of another version of ourselves taking over our life. Maybe this represents a loss of control, or just a loss of our own life, i.e., dying in another form. Or maybe it’s the sense of powerlessness along with losing our own life that is so distressing.

Anyways, ‘Dark Matter’ was similarly distressing. I had various theories, but was thoroughly caught off guard when Jason realizes that it is in fact the alternate world version of himself that has stolen his own life, and trapped him in another parallel universe. It all makes so much sense, but it is so horrifying. The idea that someone could perpetrate such a horrific act to what is essentially themself? Or, if you believe the two Jasons are not the same person, that Jason #2 could do something so horrible to another person at all? It was eerie to see this man trapped in another life for maybe forever, while someone else lives his ‘real’ life, with his wife and his kid. I loved this premise, it was scary and engaging. I’ve read so many blahhhh books recently that I had forgotten how it felt to be so completely absorbed by a book, to not have to force myself to keep reading, but rather force myself to stop reading… While also simultaneously being worried about the nightmares I’d have following this read…

Another thing I enjoyed about ‘Dark Matter’ was what I understood to be the main takeaway from the novel: It is a near-universal experience to have regrets about one’s life. However, Dark Matter shows us that while we may have regrets about what could have been, it is exactly those regrets that make us ‘us’.

In the past, when I’ve been asked whether I have any regrets, I have sometimes thought ‘yes’, but most times I have said, ‘no’. My logic was that I don’t have any regrets, because if I hadn’t made those decisions, I wouldn’t be me. I always made the best decision, the decision that was most ‘me’ at any time given the information and experiences I had.

1. Who we ‘are’ is only defined by the experiences we have had, which is defined by every single tiny, minute decision that we have made.

2. A single decision thus, can also fundamentally change who we are as a person over time.

For example, at first I found it wild and almost unbelievable that Jason would be able to commit such a horrible act, to steal his own life. However, it does make sense when you think about how alternate reality Jason has spent the past 10 years fully dedicated to a morally-corrupt company (as most large companies are). When you are an integral part of a company that is willing to murder people in order to achieve their goals, you become the kind of person who is able to justify such actions. This is essentially the idea of echo chambers, or of slowly raising the temperature of a pot of water to boiling while a lobster sits inside. It is such a slow and subtle process to become trapped or set in some perspective, and that’s what makes it so concerning .

I am often intrigued by the initial set-up of a book, but inevitably become disappointed with the ending and resolution of the foundational mystery said book. I appreciated Dark Matter because I was not immediately disappointed by the resolution of the central conflict, and by the ending of the book. TLDR; I liked this book because it agrees with my philosophy on regrets.

Ok now quick-fire things I did not like about the book:

1. Is it believable that a company would really murder countless people to keep their trade secrets? Ehhh maybe.

2. Is it believable that Jason would ever be willing to kill other versions of himself, and his family? and

3. Meanwhile, other versions of Jason would be so ok with giving up their dream of coming back home to their family? But maybe the book works exactly because of this, because Jason, as a character, is someone who so carefully toes the line of both capable hero and villain–as many of our favorite protagonists have done before (see: Harry Potter/Voldemort/James Potter, Luke Skywalker/Anakin Skywalker, etc.)

4. Additionally, the portion of the book which explores Jason’s possible romantic relationship with the woman he escapes with, Amanda, felt sooooo icky. The entire time I couldn’t believe that Jason cared so much about returning to his wife and family, yet he was almost ok with cheating on her and on his son with some lady he had met days ago. Ok, sure Jason decides not to follow through with it, but he was so close. And maybe that’s the point? That in many realities, Jason chooses to forget his family, and to begin a new relationship. But that in these realities, he never makes it back to his wife, and thus he is not ‘our’ main character, the one whose story we are following, the one who succeeds in his quest to return to the life of family and love. Either way, having to hear Jason’s thoughts throughout this part of the book made me cringe.

Overall, I give ‘Dark Matter’ 4/5 stars. It was a very quick and engaging read, with a fun mystery that explored some interesting ‘what if’ questions, and a satisfying resolution which left room for further reflection. Despite being fairly short, the main characters felt multi-dimensional and real. See you soon for my thoughts on ‘The Midnight Library’, and maybe a compare a contrast with ‘Dark Matter’!