How to Stop Time A Novel
Reviews
Matt Haig always provides incredible insight into the human condition with his work. There were so many sentences / paragraphs in this novel that completely stopped me in my tracks that I actually highlighted some of them, like I was back in college lol. Here’s one of my faves:
“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.”
Like, just absolute perfection. Highly recommend 🙌🏻
read this while i was remanded. some of the quotes touched me quite profoundly amidst my mental chaos. i will always remember that the people i love(d) will live as long as i keep them alive. and i also wield the power of choosing what to remember them by. i hope i find the courage tom achieved, again
This book was not for me.
The hardest part for me about this book was the fact that I got bored. I'm not sure if it was because at times the story felt directionless or because I couldn't relate to the main character, but it felt like I was chugging along through this book instead of enjoying it. The concept of people living lives and not aging is interesting but overall the book lacked urgency or specific plot points that carried enough action to keep me engaged.
I'm sure it's for someone, but it was too slow paced for me.
Slow paced books aren't for me. The whole thing was back story and then the last 10% was good
Love it but it’s a bit slow
This book took its time to grow on me but once I was there, I really felt it. It has its highs and lows but overall it goes by smoothly and it takes the time to truly appreciate the opportunity that a story of this type offers, going back and forth between ages.
It made me reflect a lot, loved it.
I liked this a lot more than the Midnight Library. I liked the characters and the historical time periods it portrayed. It wasn’t fantastic, but I enjoyed reading it.
i’ll never touch a haig again
The start was good and kinda intriguing and then I was bored out of my mind
god this book is blood awful, the only reason i even finished it was because i own it as a physical copy
A brilliant story and beautifully written. Loved it I happily recommend any and all books by Matt Haig :)
"and I know there are many more presents to live. I understand you can be free. I understand that the way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it. I am no longer drowning in my past, or fearful of my future. How can I be? This book. Wow. Just wow. Incredible. The plot was phenomenal and I was hooked from page one. But not only the plot- the plot worked beautifully alongside the rich characters. Tom was a beautifully broken and fragile character and he went through one of the best character developments I've read in a while. His inner monologue was comforting and his bits of insight about humanity were thought-provoking. The passing of time scares everyone. Like the quote above, we are all ruled by it even if we aren't semi-immortal beings. This book is being put on my shelf as one that I will come back to time and time again (no pun intended). “Everything is going to be all right. Or, if not, everything is going to be, so let's not worry.”
This is such a beautiful book. Really, really enjoyed this. Little moistness in the eyes at the end too.
At first interesting (and all around well written) hopelessly derivative story. Read the better 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' by Claire North, if you are interested in this type of narrative.
I liked it but not nearly as much as The Midnight Library. Maybe this one was a bit too far-fetched (lots of random historical name-dropping) with not enough plot for me.
2.5 ⭐️
Slow to start but once it gained paced it was really well written. It takes a little time to adjust to the constant flipping of timelines but overall an enjoyable and insightful read.
matt haig does a great job of using a human who’s not quite human to share truths about humanity. this is my second humanist book of his, and this one didn’t hit quite as hard as the humans (one of my all time fave reads). it was an engaging novel, but didn’t leave me feeling much emotion. enjoyable, light read, nothing to scratch your head over
Haig’s “How to Stop Time” is a well-paced, heartwarming survey into what it means to truly live. It follows Tom Hazard as he tries to navigate his 21st century life while it collides with his past 400+ years of life. Haig wrote a relatable and like-able main character that is incredibly human, despite having found himself in a secret society who warns against that lesser way of life. Speaking of, the leader of this “organization”, Hendrich, was the worst — I immediately knew I was going to hate him for the entirety of the book. But he served his purpose well. He was meant to be frustrating and questionable. Is he really the good guy? Is he really just paranoid? The premise was great, and I think Haig executed it rather well. My only drawbacks were that as a “romcom” I wish there would have been a little more of their story. As well as there were some small little incidents where characters made jokes or random comments, and they weren’t quite correct. I hate being that person, but it’s something that will always irk me when an author gets it incorrect but will make me love an author 1,000,000x more when they get it right. It’s truly the little things that set it over the top. BUT, it truly is worth the read 100x over! Matt Haig, from what I gathered, is a very intentional writer. I don’t think he just wanted to write a wonderful story about this man who doesn’t age quite like everyone else, but to extend an invitation to reflect on the importance of living, of loving, and what they mean to each other.
A young boy doesn’t appear to age, so the townspeople test his mother to see if she is a witch. Not surprisingly she drowns and the boy must learn to hide his “affliction” from others. A secret society of similarly long-living people help members obtain new identities and backgrounds, but at a cost that is much too high. Overall an interesting thought experiment but with many holes.
interesting plot, more sci-fi-y than I would usually go for but still had a lot of interesting points about how history repeats itself and all humans have the same thoughts and feelings despite when they lived. Made some stunning points about living in the moment and not worrying about the past or present
Highlights
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.
Absolute perfection.
But the thing is: you cannot know the future. You look at the news and it looks terrifying. But you can never be sure. That is the whole thing with the future. You don’t know. At some point you just have to accept that you don’t know. You have to stop flicking ahead and just concentrate on the page you are on.
What a great paragraph to read as we head into 2025. Just wow.
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 l 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?
WHEW! How indeed.
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?
It is clear. In those moments that burst alive the present lasts forever, and I know there are many more presents to live. I understand. I understand you can be free. I understand that the way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it. I am no longer drowning in my past, of fearful of my future. How can I be?
The future is you.
I realise I would like to solve the mystery of her just as much as she wants to solve the mystery of me and she nestles a little into me and I put my arm around her. Right there. On the park bench. Maybe that is what it takes to love someone. Finding a happy mystery you would like to unravel for ever.
She was now able to look at me in the face. “It is not for myself. I am not scared for myself. I will not be truly alive without you. I will be a ghost that breathes.” (224)
I thought of all the days we'd had together as a family, all jammed close like plums in a basket. I wish I could have taken those days and spread them out for ever. One afternoon with them a month for the rest of my life. I could cope if it was just one day a year, so long as there was a time with Rose and Marion in front of me. But the trouble with life was that it had to be lived consecutively. (225)
this broke me a little
‘It's strange.’
‘What's strange?'
‘How much time you spend worrying about the future.’
History was – is – a one-way street. 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.
But the thing is: you cannot know the future. You look at the news and it looks terrifying. But you can never be sure. That is the whole thing with the future. You don't know. At some point you have to accept that you don't know. You have to stop ficking ahead and just concentrate on the page you are on.
We have the luxury of time but we still can't reverse it. We can’t stop it. We are one-way traffic, just the same as all these mayflies.
There is no possible way of living it world without books or trees or sunsets. There just isn't.
Are you someone who watches life, or someone who participates?
Ordinary life is not a guarantee of happiness.
“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.” (24)
“There is a darkness that fringes everything. It is a most horrid ecstasy. And I felt the horror of her horror. That, I suppose, is a price we pay for love: the absorbing of another’s pain as if our own.” (24)
“You c ant choose where you are born, you can’t decide who won’t leave you, you can’t choose much. A life has unchangeable tide the same as history does. But there is still room inside it for choice. For decisions.” (152)
“The past resides in the present, repeating, hiccuping, reminding you of all the stuff that no longer is. It bleeds out from road signs and plaques on park benches and songs and surnames and faces and the covers of books.” (180)
“You can’t simply cut away from the society and more than you can be unborn.” (194)
“But the trouble with life was that is had to be lived consecutively.” (225)
“The truth comes with its own lies” (243)
“People you love never die” (283)
“After all, we aren’t just who we were born. We are who we become. We are what life does to us.” (315)
“There is only the present. Just as every object on earth contains similar and interchanging atoms, so every fragment of time contains aspects of every other.” (325)
And you only need to switch on the news to see the dreadful repetitions, the terrible unlearned lessons, the twenty-first century slowly becoming a crude cover version of the twentieth.
Everything is going to be all right. Or, if not, everything is going to be, so let's not worry.
Places don't matter to people any more. Places arent the point. People are only ever half present where they are these days. They always have at least one foot in the great digital nowhere.
The progress of humanity seemed to be measured in the distar we placed between ourselves and nature.
It wasn't just the loss of people I had known but also the loss of myself. The loss of who had been when I had been with them
The very word news became a joke. It was all just a cycle. A slowly rotating downward one.
Recently, I was starting to feel you couldn't do mathematics with emotions. In protecting yourself from hurt, you could create a new, subtler type of pain. It is a dilemma, and not one I'm going to solve tonight. Life is confusing, that is all we really know. And the thought keeps repeating like a musical motif as I slowly fall into sleep.
End of part 2
Human beings, as a rule, simply don't accept things that don't fit within their worldview.
11:28 people you love never die