How to Stop Time

Haig, Matt. How to Stop Time New York: Viking 2017. Print.

First Sentences:

I often think of what Hendrich said to me, over a century ago, in his New York apartment.

"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....

Don't attach yourself to people, and try to feel as little as you possibly can for those you do meet. Because otherwise you will slowly lose your mind ..."

Description:

Most people probably would want to live as long as they can if they could retain a youthful appearance, abundant energy, and a sharp mind. Well, in Matt Haig's How to Stop Time
Tom Hazard, the novel's narrator, is living this ultimate(?) dream. Due to a genetic disease, Tom is currently over 400 years old, looks like he is in his 30s, is still quick-witted, and retains his memory of incidents throughout his four centuries of living. 

There wasn't a change in the world order that didn't echo other changes in the world order. And the news stopped being new. The very word "news" became a joke. It was all just a cycle. A slowly rotating downward one.

Born in the 1500s, he found that after puberty, he aged about one year for every fifteen calendar years. Tom remembers performing with Shakespeare, sailing with Captain Cook, drinking with F. Scott Fitzgerald, playing the lute and later jazz piano, seeing witch hunts up close, and a host of other historic incidents. But strongest are his memories of his mother, his wife Rose, and their infant daughter Marion, from his earliest years. Interestingly, Marion possibly had inherited his longevity gene, so Tom feels she might still be living after all these years.

Spiraling in and out of Tom's life for better or worse are a few other ageless people (nicknamed "albas" taken from the supposedly long-lived albatrosses), including the mysterious Hendrich. Hendrich helps Tom understand how to survive for decades without rousing suspicion when people around him notice he doesn't age: (e.g. "Keep changing where you live every eight years" and "Don't fall in love"). Hendrich seeks to discover and organize all those other people who live lengthy lifes, hoping to protect all of them from discovery and then falling prey to the fears, superstitions, and murderous intent of the general population.

Tom faces many choices. Should he continue to hunt for his daughter Marion and trying to stay one step ahead of his identity and power being discovered? Should he join Hendrich's organization of fellow ageless wonders in exchange for enforcing Hendrich's rules of behavior? Should he consult with doctors who want to study his genetic makeup and possibly recreate it? Or should he just live independent from his past, regardless of the consequences.

It ocurred to me that human beings didn't live beyond a hundred because they simply weren't up for it. Psychologically, I mean. You kind of ran out. There wasn't enough self to keep going. You grew too bored of your own mind. 

Tom is a thoughtful man who ponders his fate and decisions on every page as new situations, people, and changes cross his path. His time is to make his decisions is short as others come to know of his longevity trait and respond to it in life-altering ways.

All you an do with the past is carry it around, feeling its weight slowly increase, praying it never crushes you completely.

I was transfixed by Tom and his unconventional life and the situations he faces due to his longevity. The outcome is in doubt until the final pages, always a plus in my reading experience. Enjoy.

Maybe that is what it takes to love someone. Finding a happy mystery you would like to unravel for ever.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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