How to Stop Time
Books | Fiction / Historical / General
4
(1.4K)
Matt Haig
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library.“A quirky romcom dusted with philosophical observations….A delightfully witty…poignant novel.” —The Washington Post “She smiled a soft, troubled smile and I felt the whole world slipping away, and I wanted to slip with it, to go wherever she was going… I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words.” Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom 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. Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life. Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present. How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages—and for the ages—about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
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More Details:
Author
Matt Haig
Pages
352
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2018-02-06
ISBN
0525522883 9780525522881
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"3.75/5 ⭐️ I truly enjoyed the stories of a man who had been alive since the days of Shakespeare, but ultimately the story fell short when it came to romance and the main plot of finding his daughter. The main character was certainly immature given how "old" he is meant to be. It's not a bad book, just not great. "
"Like The Midnight Library, this one gives you a lot to think about. And, like The Midnight Library is also really well done.
Tom was born in 1581, yet is still alive in the modern world due to some quirk of genetics. A lot of good introspection and reflection built on centuries of perspective. And who could be a better history teacher? Thoughtful, tender and humorous. "
"I absolutely loved The Midnight Library, in comparison How to Stop Time was....fine. This is a very nicely written meandering story. Halfway through the story still didn't seem to be going anywhere. There are some fun name-dropping flashback scenes (Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc). Honestly think this one would be better as a movie."
"Although I absolutely loved The Midnight Library, it was one of the best books I’ve ever read, I couldn’t even finish this book."
C B
Chris Brown
"This is my second read from this author and I was a little let down. The concept of the book is amazing. I love the time traveling and incorporating so many different aspects of history as he is developing the main character. However, the ending was weird and not what I expected, given the layout of the book. Not a terrible read, just felt incomplete."
B F
Brittany F
"This was the second book I read from this author, and gotta say he is a great story teller with great attention to detail. But it was a bit hard to calculate the times and at the last chapters, everything happened really fast and without enough details in my opinion. Although I enjoyed reading it a lot."
"Excellent! Matt Haig reminds us of the joy of living ♡♡♡"
S D
Sarah Duff
"This book is so profound. It really makes you think about life & what we do with it. "
T
Tabitha