Book Review : How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

If you haven't heard about the movie 'The Man from Planet Earth', this concept of the book will be pretty new to you. To be honest, the same phenomenon that was applied in this book was what intrigued me towards it. How to Stop Time deals with a guy named Tom Hazard who has been alive for centuries and here is my take on how the author takes up this pretty complex idea and weaves a brilliant story. This was my first book by Matt Haig and in short it wasn't disappointing a bit.

Blurb :

'I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.'

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot and now craves an ordinary life.

Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom must not do is fall in love.

How to Stop Time is a wild and bittersweet story about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change and about the lifetimes it can take to really learn how to live.

My take on the book:

As already mentioned, the book pretty much reminded me about the movie 'The Man from Planet Earth', it had its own uniqueness in how it dealt with history. The author shifts through past and present so seamlessly that you keep asking for more on which century/which historical event or figure is he going to meet next. At times, you love when you see characters such as Shakespeare and Scott Fitzgerald and you cannot suppress your excitement when they come up.

The book is also filled with amazing quotes that made the book even more likeable. From quotes such as “Whenever I see someone reading a book, especially if it is someone I don't expect, I feel civilisation has become a little safer.” , to a poem like the one below, the book just couldn't stop its surprises.

I
Like
The Way
That when you
Tilt
Poems
On their side
They
Look like
Miniature
Cities
From
A long way
Away.
Skyscrapers
Made out
Of
Words.

What went wrong with the book though was it was initially difficult to grasp through but as you go along you find yourself very well adapted to the language. The book does drag a bit in its third-quarter that kind of felt as if those situations were just fillers and the climax turned out to be pretty predictable yet dramatic.

Also what I forgot to mention here are the amazing illustrations that Chris Riddell have come up. I have been a fan of his illustrations of his Neil Gaiman's books and this one is no less a beauty.

My Ratings : 🌟🌟🌟.5 out of 5

Book in Three Words : Unique. Fresh. Gripping.