How To Stop Time
Author: Matt Haig
Published by: Canongate Books
Pages 328
Format Paperback
My Rating ★★★★★
‘How many lifetimes does it take to learn how to live?’
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can stay one step head of his past – and stay alive.
The only thing he must not do is fall in love…
My thoughts:
“The first rule is that you don’t fall in love, ’ he said… ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay.’"
I have just finished reading How To Stop Time, and can honestly say that it is definitely going to go down as one of my all-time favourite fiction books.
How To Stop Time tells the story of the book’s narrator, Tom Hazard, who is old. In the very first pages, he explains how he is old ‘in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old.’ Basically, for about every thirteen or fourteen normal human years, Tom only ages one year himself.
What he describes as his ‘condition’ causes Tom to consistently feel distanced from the rest of society, doomed to see everyone around him age and die. Even those he loves the most.
During Tom’s journey, for a long time he bounces from one life to the next, having to reinvent his identity every eight years and start over again in order to avoid suspicion and danger from others. This strange mix of lifestyles, however, begins to really take its toll on Tom and he goes through life feeling increasingly lonely and isolated. Being unable to build any real connection or relationship with the various people around him in the world, he begins to lose hope and wonder what he is actually living for. Is he merely just existing or really getting to live?
As Tom struggles to come to terms with his condition, eventually things start to settle down and he finds himself particularly enjoying his newest identity working in London as a history teacher in a nearby comprehensive school. Here, he at last feels he has found some kind of purpose in life.
However, things do not stay simple for long, as Tom feels gradually more and more drawn to a woman from work. He internally battles with his instincts to fall for her, worrying about what kind of future this could create. As Tom discovers that there are others who possess this same condition, old friends and people from the past soon start to re-emerge. Bringing complications into his life, Tom finds himself feeling pretty lost about what to do next.
Ultimately, this is a wonderfully original book that is heart-warming and really fascinating to read. Matt Haig’s writing is beautiful, subtle and emotional. Haig had me hooked very early on. Reading the book, it feels short and sweet but not too short to engage with the story and characters. How To Stop Time is one of those stories that will have you desperate to keep reading and reading on well into the night. The character progression is fantastic throughout, and Matt Haig creates characters that feel so human and truthful. Moments in the story are more than a little heart wrenching, but the balance is perfect and I would describe the book overall as a very heart-warming and intriguing read.
‘There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you are, even if it is dangerous.’
Without really giving any spoilers away, I can also confirm that the ending provides a nice fitting resolution and ties up the loose ends pretty successfully.If you haven’t already, go read this one! It’s fantastic.
Overall reaction:
Published by: Canongate Books
Pages 328
Format Paperback
My Rating ★★★★★
‘How many lifetimes does it take to learn how to live?’
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can stay one step head of his past – and stay alive.
The only thing he must not do is fall in love…
My thoughts:
“The first rule is that you don’t fall in love, ’ he said… ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay.’"
I have just finished reading How To Stop Time, and can honestly say that it is definitely going to go down as one of my all-time favourite fiction books.
How To Stop Time tells the story of the book’s narrator, Tom Hazard, who is old. In the very first pages, he explains how he is old ‘in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old.’ Basically, for about every thirteen or fourteen normal human years, Tom only ages one year himself.
What he describes as his ‘condition’ causes Tom to consistently feel distanced from the rest of society, doomed to see everyone around him age and die. Even those he loves the most.
During Tom’s journey, for a long time he bounces from one life to the next, having to reinvent his identity every eight years and start over again in order to avoid suspicion and danger from others. This strange mix of lifestyles, however, begins to really take its toll on Tom and he goes through life feeling increasingly lonely and isolated. Being unable to build any real connection or relationship with the various people around him in the world, he begins to lose hope and wonder what he is actually living for. Is he merely just existing or really getting to live?
As Tom struggles to come to terms with his condition, eventually things start to settle down and he finds himself particularly enjoying his newest identity working in London as a history teacher in a nearby comprehensive school. Here, he at last feels he has found some kind of purpose in life.
However, things do not stay simple for long, as Tom feels gradually more and more drawn to a woman from work. He internally battles with his instincts to fall for her, worrying about what kind of future this could create. As Tom discovers that there are others who possess this same condition, old friends and people from the past soon start to re-emerge. Bringing complications into his life, Tom finds himself feeling pretty lost about what to do next.
Ultimately, this is a wonderfully original book that is heart-warming and really fascinating to read. Matt Haig’s writing is beautiful, subtle and emotional. Haig had me hooked very early on. Reading the book, it feels short and sweet but not too short to engage with the story and characters. How To Stop Time is one of those stories that will have you desperate to keep reading and reading on well into the night. The character progression is fantastic throughout, and Matt Haig creates characters that feel so human and truthful. Moments in the story are more than a little heart wrenching, but the balance is perfect and I would describe the book overall as a very heart-warming and intriguing read.
‘There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you are, even if it is dangerous.’
Without really giving any spoilers away, I can also confirm that the ending provides a nice fitting resolution and ties up the loose ends pretty successfully.If you haven’t already, go read this one! It’s fantastic.
Overall reaction: