There wasn't long left here.

shootingstar

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Joined
Nov 17, 2022
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Student or Learner
Native Language
German
Home Country
Germany
Current Location
Germany
She had shrunk for him, but he still hadn't found the space he needed. No more.
'Icosagon,' she told him.
'What?'
'The quiz. Earlier. The twenty-sided polygon. Well, a twenty-sided polygon is called an icosagon. I knew the answer but didn't tell you because I didn't want you to mock me. And now I don't really care because I don't think me knowing things that you don't should bother you. And also, I am going to go to the bathroom.'
And she left Dan with his mouth open, and trod gently on the wide floorboards, out of the room.
She reached the bathroom, Switched a light on. There were tingles in her arms and legs and torso. Like electric static in search of a station. She was fading out, she was sure. There wasn't long left here. The disapointment was complete.
(The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, episode The Three Horseshoes)

Annotation: Nora finds herself between life and death. She is dreaming through a new or other life she didn't make come true respectively she rejected. There are other lives she'll be dreaming through. She is dreaming all those lives tentatively.


What does "There wasn't long left here" literally mean, and what does it mean in this context? I take it to literally mean "there wasn't a long time left here" Do I have this right? However, what does it mean in this context? I think it means she doesn't want to keep dreaming of this life anymore., right? I guess the words "She was fading out" insinuate this.
 
Last edited:
Not a teacher.
She reached the bathroom, Switched a light on, There were tingles in her arms and legs and torso. Like electric static in search of a station. She was fading out, she was sure. There wasn't long left here. The disapointment was complete.
There wasn't much time left.
 
What does "There wasn't long left here" mean in this context? I think it means she doesn't want to keep dreaming of this life anymore., right? I guess the words "She was fading out" insinuate this.
 
From what I remember of the book, she keeps finding herself in different situations but she knows they'll all end at some point and she'll be back in the library.
"There wasn't long left here" simply means that she knew she was likely to be pulled back out of that place quite soon.
 

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