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How to Stop Time Matt Haig Books

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How to Stop Time Matt Haig Books

4.5 stars

How to Stop Time is a thought-provoking read. Matt Haig envisions a world where a small group of individuals age at a much slower pace than the average human. While the main character, Tom Hazard, looks 41, he is actually centuries old. To avoid being institutionalized or treated as a medical research subject, Tom has moved around his entire life staying nowhere more than 8-10 years. When the book opens, Tom has decided to return to London and teach history at a local low-income high school. He is tired of constantly being on the move and wants to have an ordinary life. As his quest for a normal life unfolds, we are taken back and forth in time to learn about the many places and people Tom has experienced over his long and storied life.

I loved the history aspects of the story. In his lengthy life, Tom met Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Captain Cook and many others, and their encounters were so much fun to read about. Haig focuses on relationships and their importance in people’s lives. He also observes that humans are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past, a sentiment that addresses what the United States is experiencing right now. I don’t generally quote books in my reviews, but I felt that the following statement completely encapsulates what we are going through right now: “The lesson is that ignorance and superstition are things that can rise up, inside almost anyone, at any moment. And what starts as a doubt in a mind can swiftly become an act in the world.” His recognition that humans are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past is a sobering and timely statement.

I enjoyed How to Stop Time. Occasionally, I was ready for it to move along a little faster but overall it was a very entertaining read.


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How to Stop Time Matt Haig Books Reviews

I was constantly frustrated reading this book. It was written well and the premise of the book is interesting-- it takes the idea of immortality and de-mystifies it. However, the main character is extraordinarily flat and the most interesting characters get very little page time (e.g. Marion, Mary Peters). Regarding structure, each chapter alternates between present day and past and the past chapters are so long and the present day ones so short that no concept or character ever gets well developed. I wanted to like this book so much, but I had to force myself to finish it because it was so dull.
This was a fairly easy read for me, and one that I absolutely devoured in a day. And it's kind-of funny, I told my son while I was reading it that I saw this in my head as a movie. Rarely do I picture things being acted out when I'm reading them. I don't normally see characters or places as I'm going along. But with this book, I could SEE everything so clearly. I could perfectly visualize Tom walking down a street in London, and seeing the present day chip shops etc but also seeing what it was like in the past bleeding through and causing him to lose his breath. Being taken aback by realizing he's standing in front of the spot that was once his home, and is now a pet shop.

In the beginning of the book, Tom talks about how he's not like a vampire stuck perpetually in his youth. He is aging. He will die. He CAN die. He's not immortal. But the story is reminiscent, at least to me, of some of the better vampire fiction I've read in the past. Even more so, it reminded me of the television show New Amsterdam starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (of Game of Thrones fame), which only aired for 8 episodes but I LOVED. The whole idea of living for an extremely long amount of time, watching people come and go, places evolve, loves lost and the whole gamut of issues that would arise if you had lived for over 400 years...and knew you were going to live for about 900...are fascinating and this book merely touches on them, and with a flourish that is at times almost poetic.

I think my favorite sections of the book involved the people in the past that Tom interacted with, and then how he tried to weave some of his knowledge into the school lessons he was teaching. I'm a giant Shakespeare nerd, so the section in which he works for Shakespeare was wonderful. Was it historically accurate? I haven't the foggiest, and don't even care a whole lot...it was just entertaining to me! And having drinks with Fitzgerald?!? So lovely, and in my head Fitz was totally Hiddles. (If you haven't watched Midnight in Paris, you need to!!)

Yes, there is a bit of a love story...but it wasn't sappy or overwhelmingly emotional. I feel like the real love story here involved Tom and Life in general. The book really was all about Tom figuring out how he wanted to live all of these years that he's been given. Did he want to just go through the paces and saunter along in a fog? Or did he want to open himself up to new and exciting possibilities, and put himself out there again?

A quick and enjoyable book. Science-Fiction with some historical aspects. I enjoyed the author's writing style, which has an almost poetic flourish. I definitely recommend it!
4.5 stars

How to Stop Time is a thought-provoking read. Matt Haig envisions a world where a small group of individuals age at a much slower pace than the average human. While the main character, Tom Hazard, looks 41, he is actually centuries old. To avoid being institutionalized or treated as a medical research subject, Tom has moved around his entire life staying nowhere more than 8-10 years. When the book opens, Tom has decided to return to London and teach history at a local low-income high school. He is tired of constantly being on the move and wants to have an ordinary life. As his quest for a normal life unfolds, we are taken back and forth in time to learn about the many places and people Tom has experienced over his long and storied life.

I loved the history aspects of the story. In his lengthy life, Tom met Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Captain Cook and many others, and their encounters were so much fun to read about. Haig focuses on relationships and their importance in people’s lives. He also observes that humans are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past, a sentiment that addresses what the United States is experiencing right now. I don’t generally quote books in my reviews, but I felt that the following statement completely encapsulates what we are going through right now “The lesson is that ignorance and superstition are things that can rise up, inside almost anyone, at any moment. And what starts as a doubt in a mind can swiftly become an act in the world.” His recognition that humans are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past is a sobering and timely statement.

I enjoyed How to Stop Time. Occasionally, I was ready for it to move along a little faster but overall it was a very entertaining read.