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 Haig's 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.
With Booky Love,
Patty
