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jodar's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story is well-written, its prose straightforward without being a simplistic ’airport read’ and the frequent time-jumps flow coherently. It is a didactic novel, but with a kindly, rather troubled teacher who endeavours to share his wisdom about the human condition from the vantage point of his unnaturally long life. By the end I realised that the reader’s role is equivalent to that of one of the pupils in the 21st-century, London school in which the MC as a history teacher relives his life “now”.
Some of the key things the MC seeks to teach us:
Some of the key things the MC seeks to teach us:
- Life isn’t perfect, but if could be worse – one of my favourite passages:
No one I knew in the 1600s wanted to find their inner billionaire. They just wanted to live to see adolescence and avoid body lice. (Part 5, “Dubai, now”)
- We can’t control everything, but we aren’t entirely at the mercy of fate either. And what you choose to do matters:
‘You can’t choose where you are born, you can’t decide who won’t leave you, you can’t choose much. A life has unchangeable tides the same as history does. But there is still room inside it for choice. For decisions.… Just one wrong turn can get you very lost. What you do in the present stays with you . It comes back. You don’t get away with anything.’ (MC to pupil, Part 3, ”London, now”)
- People are often annoying and can cause you mental anguish while you live with them and intense grief at death. But avoiding close relationships, although seductive for a time, is not the answer in the end, as without other people life is lonely and joyless. Various passages throughout the novel, for example:
‘Love is where you find the meaning. Those seven years I was with her contained more than anything else.… You simply can’t fall in love and not think there is something bigger ruling us. Something, you know, not quite us. Something that lives inside us, caged in us, ready to help us or fuck us over. We are mysteries to ourselves.…’ (Omai to the MC, Part 5.“Byron Bay, Australia, now”)
- What will be will be, and it is fruitless and self-destructive to fear the future:
I understand that the way you stop time is by stopping being ruled by it. I am no longer drowning in my past, or fearful of my future. How can I be?
The future is you.
(MC’s final thoughts at the very close of the novel, having finally, after over four centuries,succeeded in reconciling with his daughter and also begun a new intimate relationship )
All well and very good, but to me there’s a strange, gaping hole in the narrative and MC’s exploration of meaning: religion. Religion is noted as the reason for his Huguenot family’s forced late 16th-century departure from France to England. The MC and his first love attend church in early 17th century England, until his unchanging appearance makes it untenable to continue. And the MC continues to live through periods of religious ferment. So it’s not as though the MC wasn’t exposed to contemporary Christianity, at least. And yet the MC doesn’t seem to consider, grapple with or argue against any religious understanding of life’s broader meaning. At all. At any time. Nor as far as I can recall do any of the other characters in the book. It’s almost as if every character in the novel, purportedly through centuries of time and across wide geographical areas of the earth, were all 21st century, English secularists all along. I find this weird and unbelievable!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
satsukiq's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
bash5617's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
therobinjoyce's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Fantastically gripping and moving. Matt Haig has a way with the written word that both informs and invokes emotion from his readers. How to stop time is no different. Following the story of Tom throughout his century long lives and the interesting perspective of seeing his past self alongside his current life was a thrilling and intriguing way to relate his story. This book is such a. Brilliant tale of life and humanity, and a beautiful read for absolutely anyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Forced institutionalization