Matt Haig is such a joy to read. Anyone that loved humans will just adore "how to stop time"

I discovered Matt through Reasons to stay alive.... and his voice, his warmth, his ideas, his beliefs shine through in all his fiction.

A tale of what it means to be human, what it means to be alive, and how a life with love is the answer, it's always the answer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were so real and I could really appreciate the problems that might come with living so long. A small niggle was where Hendrich got his funding from but that was a side issue as was the existence of the Institute in Berlin. There was a satisfying ending however.

Tom is old - not just a little bit old, but hundreds of years old - and yet he looks as if he is in his forties. He is working as a History teacher which is pretty easy for him as he has actually lived through the events he tells his students about. Matt Haig's writing is as beautifully contemplative as in his previous books. The story is full of introspection, love and fear of exposure and I enjoyed every minute of reading it. It's quite a gentle book in some ways and left me wanting to hug my family and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them.

I've been a fan of Matt Haig's writing for a while now, The Radleys was the first Matt Haig book I read and I eagerly went on from there. So when I saw this one I knew I had to read it. It didn't disappoint.
Once again Matt Haig has written a touching, thought provoking and above all enjoyable story that touches on what it means to human, with a slight twist. Tom is a great character and I was sad to reach the end of the book.

Tom Hazard doesn’t age. Or rather, he ages very slowly. Born in the middle ages, his mother is suspected of witchcraft to keep her son young forever. But rather than magic, it’s a condition – the opposite to Progeria, the rapid-aging disease.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Having all the time in the world to do whatever you want. Time is a commodity that becomes more precious with every day we live, with every day we’re moving closer to death. And surely Tom makes use of that. He is well-travelled, and he is a master of countless musical instruments, a skill that, at some point, earns him a job alongside Shakespeare himself.

But there is a downside to his existence. Be it the ages of witch hunts and superstition or the ages of science and experimentation, Tom needs to keep a low profile at all times to remain safe. He is forced to move on and start a new life every few years to evade suspicions; the weight of life, of more life experience humans are meant to carry weighs him down. And worse, he is condemned to outlive everyone he loves. Falling in love can have fatal consequences, something he is warned against and yet cannot avoid. Unable to retain closeness to other human beings leaves him desperately lonely and empty. Only the drive to find his lost daughter, struck with the same condition, keeps him going and searching for her through the continents and centuries. Until a secret society offers him help… which, however, comes at a price that might be too high.

And here I pause, trying to put into words how much this book has touched me. What can I say – I adore Matt Haig anyway, but he has completely outdone himself. How to Stop Time is MAGNIFICENT. Easily his best novel so far, and definitely one of the best books of the year!
It’s not just an amazing premise and story in itself, it’s also deeply philosophical. Matt Haig, like no other, puts his finger on the human condition and wraps it in a tale you’ll be unable to forget. It’s about the burdens of humanity and of being human, and of too much of it. It’s about history going in cycles, and the futility of existence and yet finding meaning in it all; about the imprisonment of love and the impossibility of retaining it, yet having only fleeting meaning without it. I found myself highlighting passages because they struck me as utterly profound or resonated with me so much I felt myself hum like a tuning fork. Haig writes it so well you can easily believe his protagonist has lived for centuries, because Tom Hazard is so complex, yet so simple, his character shaped by having to bear the cross of several lifetimes, and his wisdom and insight into human nature is practically uncanny.

If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Hermann Hesse has found a new rival.

Wonderfully thought provoking, a book that feels as though it is written for you. Another job well done Matt Haig, I feel this is a book that will definitely be reading again.

I really enjoy novels that are a little different to the norm and this one did not disappoint. As someone who has suffered from anxiety/depression I felt that Matt was bringing some of the existential/meaning of life worries that I have thought about to light. Very thought provoking about how sad life is if you are unable to let yourself interact with and love others.

I really enjoyed reading this book - it so beautifully written and the jumps through history were seamless and totally fascinating. Enchanting.

I wasn't sure if I'd like this book, as I'm not one normally to go for things like time travel. But this isn't a fantasy book, if you allow for the protagonist being able to age very, very slowly - a device the novel hangs on. And I did enjoy it. What I liked best was how it through the likeable protagonist brought to life so many different periods of time, from modern-day London to Shakespeare's Globe and lots in between.

If like me you're not one for science fiction, don't be put off by the thought of time travel to keep you from reading this book. I'll recommend it to my local book club as it's one for discussion.

Quirky, atmospheric, original. An ongoing history lesson..

I absolutely loved this novel which will stay with me a long time. So beautifully written and atmospheric. I lived every moment of Tom's journey through life and didn't want it to end.

Thank you Matt Haig for bringing history to life for me.

Tom Hazard is a History teacher in London. He's a pretty good teacher because to him it isn't History - Tom has been alive for centuries. Marion is Tom's daughter. She's also still alive. Tom had to leave her and her mother to keep them safe but it's the greatest regret of his life and Tom will do anything to find Marion alive. After all, there's no point to life if he can't find her. Is there?

This is yet another lovely, thought provoking story by the brilliant Matt Haig who, once again, goes right down to the essence of humanity and pulls out what living is "all about". Tom has had a long and fascinating life but it isn't enough; he lost the woman he loved and was then scared to put himself in that position again. The lovely scenes with Camille are what remind us all that the important thing to do is not to spend those times worrying about what will happen in the future and instead to concentrate on what we have right now. Living in the present is the only way.

Once again, Matt Haig reminds us what is is to be human. Once again, he's right!

Tom Hazard has been alive for centuries, but ages incredibly slowly. Others like him exist, but the organisation he belongs to insist on secrecy and warn of the dangers of discovery, something he has himself suffered in his early life when he was suspected of being in league with Satan. Tired of constant moving around, in the present day he tries out a regular life as a history teacher- is it possible to live and love again?
Some of the reflections on change, dying and the burden of outliving those you love are dealt with poignantly, and I enjoyed Tom's initial love story and his early struggles to conceal his condition, and also his efforts to start again in the present day and to form a relationship with another teacher. What I enjoyed less was Tom's regular meet-ups with important historical figures (Shakespeare, Captain Cook, Scott Fitzgerald) when the parts I found most engaging where the more ordinary aspects of adjusting to the massive changes brought about by progress over the centuries and how he dealt with relationships.
So, some interesting ideas, but overall it didn't really work for me.

How To Stop Time is a beautiful work of fiction – you know I read a lot of books (this is actually book 120 for me of 2017) and I don’t think I have ever read an author that just grasps and conveys the vagaries of human nature quite like Matt Haig does – in a way that makes you feel like he is writing just for you. The emotional sense of his writing is enduring and never anything less than compelling no matter the story being told or the premise that starts it.

So there is that – and How To Stop Time falls firmly under page turner, with a dash of passionate prose, a smattering of emotional trauma and a big hit of poignant insightful commentary on the human race. Pretty much what this author does in a nutshell.

Tom is one of those characters that will stay with you long after you have finished reading his story – and what a story it is. He is old, plagued (or blessed maybe that will be subjective) with a condition that means he ages at a much slower rate. Not immortal but feeling that way, he is part of history and an observer of it – we see him over time, at his best and his worst, this is a love story with a touch of mystery and is hugely gripping from the very first page until the tear inducing poignant finale.

I won’t give away much, this is one of those books that everyone will come to in their own way and will take from it different things – but Matt Haig manages to bring history alive on the page here through Tom and what he experiences, it almost feels as if you are living it with him. The characters he and we meet along the way all come with their own peculiarities and sense of self, the story weaves somewhat of a magic spell on the reader, or it did on me at least I was totally immersed into this one all the way.

The thing about stories is that they transport you to other places, make you think about other things. When you have a master storyteller at work it becomes so much less about construction and literary merit and all of those bookish things that as a reviewer I’m supposed to be perhaps commenting on – and just becomes about you, as a reader, in those few short moments of time you are living in that other world. Matt Haig is simply, when you remove the white noise, a master storyteller.

I loved this book. Just that.

Highly Recommended.

I have been in love only once in my life. I suppose that makes me a romantic, in a sense. The idea that you have one true love, that no one else will compare after they have gone. It’s a sweet idea , but the reality is terror itself. To be faced with all those lonely years after. To exist when the point of you has gone.'
The Humans by Matt Haig is the first book I reviewed on Hair Past a Freckle and pretty much the reason why this blog exists. It remains my most recommended book and the one that means the most to me. It was the book I needed when I most needed books.
Four years on and How To Stop Time is Haig's first adult fiction book since The Humans. He's not been quiet in the meantime having written a young adult novel, Echo Boy, a self-help memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive, and two books for children, A Boy Called Christmas and The Girl Who Saved Christmas. Having read them all (as well as his previous novels The Radleys, The Last Family in England, Shadow Forest and The Runaway Troll.) I know a little of what to expect from his books. I don't know if there's an author writing today who is better than Haig at making it seem as if his book is written with you in mind. He has a deep understanding of the human condition and writes with such honesty and clarity that his books become more than just stories, they are beacons of hope in what are troubled times.
How To Stop Time continues this theme, again Haig's principal character - in this case Tom Hazard - needs to learn what it means to live. Tom doesn't have any problem staying alive, in fact he's over 400 years old, but forced to move every few years before people become suspicious by his much slower ageing rate ('The speed of ageing among those with anageria fluctuates a little, but generally it is a 1: 15 ratio') and the knowledge that his condition means he is dangerous to become close to has led to a lonely existence. Despite leading what many would consider an extraordinary life, born in 1581, he has spent time with Shakespeare, had a drink with F. Scott Fitzgerald, sailed to the South Sea Islands and watched as mayflies (humans who age naturally, Tom and others like him are albas - short for albatrosses, once thought to live to a great age) have invented bicycles, cars, the telephone, television and the internet, he craves an ordinary life. Now working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive he finds himself drawn to Camille, the French teacher but he knows he should heed the warning from Hendrich, leader of The Albatross Society and facilitator of his new lives every few years - in return for certain 'favours'...
‘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.’
Living in London means Tom is surrounded by memories from his long past. How to Stop Time isn't written chronologically, something in Tom's present will remind him of past events and we're transported there. Haig writes so vividly that these scenes are always far more than distant memories. His evocation of the sights, smells and sounds bring Tom's past to life;
'It was an area, essentially, of freedom. And the first thing I discovered about freedom was that it smelled of shit. Of course, compared to now, everywhere in or out of London smelled of shit. But Bankside, in particular, was the shittiest . That was because of the tanneries dotted about the place . There were five tanneries all in close proximity, just after you crossed the bridge. And the reason they stank, I would later learn, was because tanners steeped the leather in faeces.
As I walked on, the smell fused into others. The animal fat and bones from the makers of glue and soap. And the stale sweat of the crowd. It was a whole new world of stench.'
By having a plot with a meandering timeline we are reminded that history isn't just something that happened long ago, we are history too. Tom may use social media now but he recognises how we are linked to the past, how the conflicts, superstitions and oppressive regimes from previous centuries are lessons we never really learn from. He has seen people repeat the same mistakes over and over, the contemporary setting providing a sharp reminder that we still haven't learnt and still allow our differences to divide us.
How to Stop Time is a beautiful book, it's not a word I would use often to describe a novel but it's completely charming. From the simple wish to prepare breakfast for a loved one ('Toast. Blackcurrant jam. Pink grapefruit juice. Maybe some watermelon. Sliced. On a plate.') to the description of 19th century New York ('But I looked at the New York skyline and felt like the world was dreaming bigger. Clearing its throat. Getting some confidence.'), to the heartbreaking despair of loss ('I did not know how to be me, my strange and unusual self, without her. I had tried it, of course. I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been.') I fell in love with it within the first few pages, it's a book that celebrates the things we all need to make us feel human - music, art, food, love. Haig's writing of what happens inside heads though gives How to Stop Time its heart. He writes with his soul which gives the book a touching honesty and although it may be a fantastical story of a 400 year old man, it's actually telling a universal truth, that life needs to be lived. For all the hurt, the losses along the way, we can't allow fear of grief to prevent us from experiencing the joys of living, to allow ourselves to hope and to love and be loved.

There's so much to say about this book, and yet it all comes down to one simple sentence: Go read How to Stop Time by the amazing Matt Haig as soon as it is released.

Tom Hazard suffers from a condition which means he ages at a remarkably slow rate. His story follows a dual narrative strand, a modern day storyline where he is working as a history teacher in London, and various scenes from his past, from Elizabethan England to exploration in the South Seas to jazz age Paris. How does a person cope with living that long? What happens when Tom lives a normal lifetime, then another, and another? When most people are aging at a normal pace and he isn't?

Reading this book was a remarkable experience. I both wanted to keep reading avidly until the end, but also to savour each sentence and make the journey of reading the story last. Even now I've finished, though, the reading voyage resonates. The book as a whole explores the profoundness of being human, and the story and thoughts of Tom are written in such a way as to provide the reader with an accessible insight into the range of human emotions.

There's a tenderness about How To Stop Time, a tolerance and acceptance of the frailty of the human mind, the different stages of growth and learning that individuals undergo.

And it's a damn good story! Haig's writing distils Tom's story down in a style that is beautifully simple, and resonates with the reader, tapping into the hidden and not-so secret emotions that fill the lives of humans.

I've never read anything of Matt Haig's before, and admittedly I requested this because of curiosity of his writing and the fact it's already been accepted to be made onto the silver screen (with Benedict Cumberbatch, no less)

I became immediately immersed in this world and the albas. The writing style was intricate and moving, and at many points the mystery of it all sank me deeper into the story. I really enjoyed Tom's perspective, while stiff at times it fit someone with so much history on his shoulders.

I'm definitely looking forward to this being adapted.

This is one for fans of The Time Travellers' Wife, or anyone who enjoys fiction without a linear story. Part reflection on what it is to be human, part love story, How To Stop Time is a reminder that despite the horrors that humanity likes to inflict upon itself, there is still hope and beauty to be found in love, in life, and in friendship.

Review Fantastic premise and can see why it has been snapped up as a film, however I didn't love it which I thought I would. could not really immerse myself in it.