How To Stop Time, by Matt Haig (Audio version narrated by Mark Meadows)

Publication date: 6 July 2017

Published by: Cannongate Books

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy

Synopsis

The story begins with the protagonist, Tom Hazard, telling us, first and foremost that, although he looks about 40, he is very old.  Tom has a rare 'condition' that severely slows down the aging process, so that he ages by about 1 year for every ordinary person's 10.  

Tom has lived for over 400 years.  He spent his teens in Elizabethan England and his twenties in 1920s Paris.  After that he continued to move around the world throughout the centuries, changing his identity and reinventing himself so as to avoid raising suspicion.

In present day, Tom wants nothing but to live an 'ordinary' life among 'ordinary' people.  He takes a job as a history teacher at a secondary school in London, where he hopes to be able to make a difference, educating and influencing young minds in a positive way. That he was actually present for the events he teaches brings the subject to life for his students.

Tom knows he must not get too attached to ordinary people, and most importantly, he must never fall in love.    

My Review

I used to listen to audiobooks quite a lot, but stopped some time ago.  I decided it was time to get back into them, since I have so many in my library waiting to be listened to.  I chose to start with How to Stop Time.  I was aware that this was a popular story but I had no idea what it was about.

First impressions:

I did not read the synopsis and not knowing the story made it a pleasant surprise for me.  I also found that I got into it immediately.  More often than not, I have to read (or listen to) a few chapters before I can normally do so, but this one got me hooked from the beginning.  

The upside:

I have read stories where the protagonist is immortal before, but this is the first time as a reader I really gained an insight into what it would be like to exist for hundreds of years.  Tom's outlook on life is very different to mortals.   He is carrying so many memories, and often the slightest thing can trigger a memory that can take him back centuries.   It is exhausting and often both emotionally and physically painful for him (headache inducing).  I got the sense that time is no longer linear for him, and we experience it by having the events of his life revealed in a jumbled way.  Nothing surprises him anymore, because he's seen it all before.  It is only the mystery that is his existence and certain unanswered questions about his personal life that give him the will to keep living.

I am not going to delve into the story.  Suffice to say, I really enjoyed it.  This kind of fiction appeals to me.  It is sci-fi/fantasy, but only just - there is a strange phenomenon at play, but the story is very much steeped in reality.  I would liken it to Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife.   It is quite philosophical and holds a mirror up to humanity - particularly demonstrating how human beings continue to make the same mistakes over and over again throughout the centuries - history repeating itself.

The downside:

The conflict in the story takes place too late, almost nearing the end, and the resolution is rushed.

The Verdict:
I would say the story has a melancholic undertone running through it, but it is also hopeful.  

The narrator, Mark Meadows, did an excellent job of bringing the story and characters to life for me.  (I am sometimes put off audiobooks because the narration is so bad.)   

The story has made me interested in Matt Haig's work and I will definitely be reading (or listening to) more by him in future.