How to Stop Time

Tom Hazard looks 41-years-old but he has a rare condition. He ages at a slower rate and is actually four-hundred-and-thirty-nine-years old. Tom is protected by a secret society for people like him and with their help, he must move around every 8 years to not create suspension. The number one rule to this secret club, don't fall in love which hasn't been a problem for Tom. This time around he decides he will move back to his old stomping grounds, London, to become a high school history teacher but when he meets a woman at work he starts to remember the fulfillment and hurt that comes with any life. Now, Tom's current life is haunted by his past experiences and he must decide if he will stay stuck in his former memories or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time alternates between present-day London and Tom's many past memories but I was never confused. Haig does a good job of keeping the story moving but not disorganized. The synopsis of the book will have you think this is a love story between two people but I think it is about following Tom during a time when he feels his life is spent and is questioning his place not only in the world but in the secret society. There is a love story but it's not the novel's main focus like the movie, “The Age of Adeline” or the book, The Time Traveler's Wife. The romance is slow burning and a reader may be confused when they start reading and find nothing happens with this present day romance until the last half of the book. It takes Tom a long time to accept his feelings. I think the main theme of the book was more about the heaviness of being alive. How a group of people you thought was protecting and helping you may have been hurting you? Also, seeing the good, “to love food and music and champagne and rare sunny afternoons in October. You can love the sight of waterfalls and the smell of old books.”

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself marking many passages that stuck with me. The read can be a little slow at times (what life is always exciting?) but it was quite thrilling by the end.

Some favorite quotes:

“That's the thing with time, isn't it? It's not all the same. Some days - some years - some decades - are empty. There is nothing to them. It's just flat water. And then you come across a year, or even a day, or an afternoon. And it is everything. It is the whole thing.”

“And, just as it only takes a moment to die, it only takes a moment to live. You just close your eyes and let every futile fear slip away. And then, in this new state, free from fear, you ask yourself: who am I? If I could live without doubt what would I do? If I could be kind without the fear of being fucked over? If I could love without fear of being hurt? If I could taste the sweetness of today without thinking of how I will miss that taste tomorrow? If I could not fear the passing of time and the people it will steal? Yes. What would I do? Who would I care for? What battle would I fight? Which paths would I step down? What joys would I allow myself? What internal mysteries would I solve? How, in short, would I live?”

Un joli roman de Matt Haig, un auteur que j'ai découvert récemment et dont j'apprécie décidément beaucoup les oeuvres, qu'elles soient de fiction ou non.

Dans ce roman, Matt Haig nous propose de suivre la longue vie de Tom, son protagoniste qui présente une particularité étonnante : il vieillit beaucoup plus lentement que la normale. Né au XVIe siècle, il se présente de nos jours comme un jeune quadragénaire. Bien sûr, son âge véritable doit rester un secret, et il doit bouger tous les huit ans pour se faire oublier et recommencer une nouvelle vie loin de la précédente.

Je ne vais pas en dire plus pour ne pas vous divulgâcher ce roman, mais c'est un récit dans le temps qui vaut le coup d'être lu. C'est intéressant, palpitant par moments, et parfois touchant. Une réussite, à nouveau, pour Matt Haig.

This was a typical Matt Haig book in that it deals with an extraordinary circumstance and how it effects the main characters mental health. Luckily I enjoy his style, not least due to the speed of the story telling and ease of reading; however, the ending was a slight let down as it felt like he ran out of steam and decided to just stop there and wrap it all up as quickly as possible.

3,5 sterretjesGelezen voor de NEWTs readathon van Book Roast:Acceptable in Herbology: een audioboek.“The way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it.”Net zoals [b:The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August 35066358 The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August Claire North https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493966668l/35066358.SY75.jpg 25807847] gebeurt in dit boek eigenlijk relatief weinig. Het hoofdpersonage leefde en leeft een vrij saai leven, behalve dan dat hij niet 40 maar meer dan 300 jaar oud is en op één of andere manier veel grote bekenden van die paar afgelopen paar eeuwen ontmoette (van Shakespeare over Kapitein James Cook tot Josephine Baker). Hij verzuipt in melancholie, over hoe in elke tijdsgeest de mensen in essentie hetzelfde blijven. Hij rouwt na 100'den jaren nog steeds om zijn vrouw en kan daardoor niet meer verliefd worden. En hij beklaagt zijn rol in de geheime genootschap van mensen zoals hij, maar ziet in hen de enige hoop om zijn dochter te vinden en doet daarom dingen waar hij op het moment zelf of achteraf spijt van heeft.“I don't know for sure that the words I write were the words that were actually spoken. They probably weren't. But this is how I remember these things, and all we can ever be is faithful to our memories of reality, rather than the reality itself, which is something closely related but never precisely the same thing.”Eigenlijk opnieuw een boek dat ondanks zijn interessante premisse over tijdloze wezens toch een vrij monotoon en weinig spannend verhaal verteld. En toch, toch werkte dit boek voor mij wel, terwijl ik dat ander boek echt pokkesaai vond. Komt het omdat ik het als audioboek las en zo mee kabbelde met de vertelstem? Goed mogelijk. Hoe dan ook de melancholie, de mooie gevatte bedenkingen en de schijnbaar random flashbacks naar het verleden weefden voor mij een mooi meeslepend relaas, gedrenkt in zowel weemoed als hoop. “You have to keep walking forwards. But you don't always need to look ahead. Sometimes you can just look around and be happy right where you are.”Het zette aan tot nadenken en verwoorde heel mooi de essentie van het bestaan in relatie met tijd. Het kwam met momenten heel filosofisch over, maar raakte bij mij wel snaren en sloeg nagels met koppen. “The key to happiness wasn't being yourself, because what did that even mean? Everyone had many selves. No. The key to happiness is finding the lie that suits you best.”En ook al mankeren er op het einde van het boek toch wel wat antwoorden op een deel van mijn vragen, ik bleef niet achter met een onbevredigd gevoel, maar met een glimlach en het gevoel dat ik nieuwe inzichten verwierf.

Tom's journey is tinged with Miniver Cheevy's regret; he lives in the past and believes he's hardly ever at the right time or place. He longs to go back to the long lost loves and places he cherishes the most, but discovers living in the moment is more possible than he thought. Tension crests and wanes in the past while the current relationships play along the edges. Then, everything comes together in a satisfying way. The Albatross Society feels incomplete and could fill a book itself. Omai is also in incredible character with a philosophy all his own, and I was left wanting more time with him and his own journey. This entire book could be the foundation for a more in-depth Outlander or Highlander-esque book or television series.

I was eagerly anticipating reading The Midnight Library, so I decided to start with this book first. However, I'm really hoping it's better because this one left me feeling disappointed. How can a 500-year-old individual, who has had experiences with Shakespeare and Captain Cook, be so uninteresting? The premise of people aging slower, roughly 15 years to every one year for normies, intrigued me, and this story revolves around Tom, one such extraordinary individual. Despite such a promising setup and a relatively realistic journey through time, reading this book felt like an excruciating task.

Let's begin with the positives: the book provided a fascinating glimpse into various eras as the narrative hopped through different times. The writing style had its moments of philosophical depth, although it might have been a bit excessive for my taste. If you enjoy a book that dances around the concept and implications of extended life, this might appeal to you.

Now, let's explore the negatives: the conversations between characters lacked authenticity, feeling stilted and devoid of a natural flow. The biggest issue lies with Tom and the overall story; both turned out to be rather mundane. Perhaps the intention was to portray Tom as an ordinary individual, but this approach drained much of the story's excitement. Most of Tom's narrative seemed to dwell on the downsides of his long life, making it obvious that he hasn't truly been living since the tragedies of his youth. Unfortunately, this drained the vibrancy from much of the tale. Additionally, the big climax left me scratching my head; parts of it were apparent, yet it didn't fit well, and it failed to capture my interest. Furthermore, there was a lack of focus on romantic elements, leaving any chemistry to happen off the page, which made the ending triumph feel rather underwhelming.

Overall, I struggled to get through this book. It was decent, but the disappointment was significant. I believe some of this disappointment was intentional, perhaps to force introspection on what makes living worthwhile and to address themes of grief and living on in memory. Nonetheless, the book came across as somewhat lackluster.

240220 How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard is a morose loner. Born in 1581, he fell in love in 1598. He lost his love and never loved again.

Not once in the next 400 years.

Tom has a rare genetic condition that opposes progeria. Rather than aging quickly, Tom – and a few others – age very slowly, about one year for every fifteen years. Since the condition kicks in at puberty, Tom spends eighty years as a teenager. In his youth, i.e., the sixteenth century, this raises fears of witchcraft. Tom learns discretion.

In the 1890s, he discovers an organization of similar individuals who take control of his life, insisting that he avoid entanglement with “mayflies,” i.e., those who live and die within the allotted eighty years. People like Tom call themselves “albatrosses” in homage to the alleged long lives of the bird.

This book skips back and forth between the present – London circa 2018 – and various episodes in his past. Tom and his beloved wife, Rose, had a child, Marian. Marian received the albatross gene, but when Rose died of the plague in 1619, Marian disappeared. He's been looking for her ever since.

Tom has lived through history and met some great people – Shakespear, Fitzgerald, Cooke, Samuel Johnson, and others – but he is not an interesting person. He comes across as morose and awkward. He seeks to live an average life. As the story opens, he takes on a job teaching history to school children. There is a romance. There is also tension as Tom comes to trust the Albatross Society less.

I liked the story. I tend to like stories with protagonists who are essentially immortal. The hopping around in time in the story was fun and kept the story moving along. The story ends with action after a slow burn build-up. I could pick some nits about how conveniently the threads of the story came together in the last ten pages, but I am not because I enjoyed the ride.

This book is being made into a television serialization starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom Hazard. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/miptv-2023-benedict-cumberbatch-series-matt-haig-how-to-stop-time-1235376489/#!

This is a spoiler-free review
Read on In The Sheets

I first discovered Matt's books several years ago when I happened upon The Humans at my local book store. It sounded fun and  there was a dog on the cover, so I was really left with no choice but to buy it. By the time I'd closed the book it'd easily become my new all-time favourite and I was determined to hunt down and read everything he'd ever written. I mean like, within reason. Nothing weird.

How to Stop Time tells the story of Tom Hazard (great name) who's not necessarily immortal, but ages at a fraction of the speed of a normal human, but it's also so much more than that.

Like The Humans, How to Stop Time is much deeper than you'd anticipate going into it unless you're already familiar with Matt Haig's work. At it's core, it's a beautiful story about life, relationships, love, and what truly makes us who we are.

Aging at a fraction of the normal rate and living for hundreds of years sounds delightful, but less so when you're forced to choose between 400 years of loneliness and watching the people you love and care about grow old and die over and over again.

As per usual, it's beautifully written, I could not put it down. When I finally did, it left me feeling satisfied and pining for more. It's been a couple of months since I read this and it's still a book I think about all the time. 

How to Stop Time (like all of Matt's other work) is a book I cannot recommend enough. Also, the cover is gorgeous and it's already being turned into a movie staring Benedict Cumberbatch, so there's that.