Time Travel discussion

How to Stop Time


"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.'"

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

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. 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.

So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher--the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But 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 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.

Discussion opens January 1st. Please use spoiler tags since not everyone will be starting at the same time.

Whoot. I already have it, and I've already enjoyed several other books by the author. Ok I'll shut up now until January.

Cheryl wrote: "Whoot. I already have it, and I've already enjoyed several other books by the author. Ok I'll shut up now until January."

I really enjoyed The Humans so I am looking forward to this one.

Ooh, another Matt Haig! This one looks fun :) Will try to scrounge a copy...

This sounds good. Can’t wait to read it!

I just got it for the Kindle, and should be in a position to start by around mid January.

So many mixed reviews on this book..... I may trade in an audible credit and listen to it.

It’s on the overdrive app to borrow from my local library.
If you don’t have the app give it a try, it has ebooks and audiobooks.

Steven

(Overdrive is wonderful. I use accounts from my different out-of-state family members in order to have even more selection.)

Love overdrive!! Easy access to ebooks and audiobooks. Goodreads has a great plugin to allow you to check your library accounts for availability of a book!! Makes it so easy.

I probably won’t get to this one until the 15th.

I’m starting this tomorrow. So excited!

I'm looking forward to it, too. Soon!

Started reading it this morning. Writing reminds me of Neil Gaiman. Really enjoying it so far.

Got it using Overdrive from local library a few days ago. About 40% through it; a good read so far.

Will be starting next weekend, so glad others seem to be enjoying it so far.

I am 2/3 though the book as of last night,

I'm half way through and enjoying it very much. Although, it isn't really time travel.

Kinda reminds me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which this group read a few years ago.

Yeah, it's not TT in the sense that's more fun, zipping around different timelines or whatever. But it's def. part of the genre.

Cheryl wrote: "Kinda reminds me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which this group read a few years ago..."

I was thinking the same. I really like that book.

Based on these recommendations, just put Fifteen Lives on reserve at the library - while I’m enjoying How to Stop Time. A bit disappointed that it is not more time- travel-y - but enjoying the writing.

I finished last night!

Interesting that its being likened to 'Harry August' as I had that down to read in a few books time. I think if it is similar, I am best off spacing them out a bit so will put that off till the end of the year.

It’s not similar but has a similar feel to it. What happens to Harry (view spoiler)[ every time you die you are reborn as repeat your life (hide spoiler)] does not happen in this book.

I enjoyed it, lots of fun but it is a bit different. It seemed like the future and past were blended in his point of view at times, which pulled me out of the flow at times. I guess its because he is retelling it from future.

I thought it was sad but I have always thought that being able to live (view spoiler)[ for ever or have a very long life while everyone you know or love dies. It doesn’t seem worth the long live if you are constantly losing people (hide spoiler)].

The "Highlander Effect".

I totally forgot all about Highlander. 😂 The movies and shows.

Actually, I do not recommend Harry August.

I do recommend Tuck Everlasting, even if you read it when you were a schoolchild.

So, I finished this a few days ago and for some reason am having trouble focusing my thoughts on collecting a summary impression of it. I liked it, but maybe not quite as much as I wanted to. Not quite sure why.

Here are some passages that I marked with bookdarts:

Lady Greensleeves was the standard insult du jour for promiscuous women. Her sleeves were green because of all that outdoor sex she was supposedly having.

"Billie Jean" is the best pop song ever written. (according to one character, at least. Interestingly, after reading this I watched the movie of "The Little Prince" and Bob Fosse's snake looked and moved a *lot* like MJ in BJ.)

...important for her to read, to be able to broaden her mind and give her places in her thoughts to hide inside.

More:

"Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom." Søren Kierkegaard

"He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears." Michel de Montaigne.

(Common themes in Haig's work, including the memoir-ish and excellent Reasons to Stay Alive.)

I did wonder why, at the airport, Tom did not go ahead and buy the copy of Montaigne's Essays. After all, an author would plug the concept of buying books at perfect opportunities like this, for one cynical reason. And for another reason that's from the novel itself, this book was (mild spoiler) (view spoiler)[his daughter's favorite, and is philosophy, and is eminently re-readable in any era (hide spoiler)].

Just finished. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. There's no jumping around in time, other than the flashbacks, but time was still an important element. And it was an interesting story. I thought Marion gave in a little too easy at the end, but that's just me. All in all I would recommend it.
I've never read any of Haig's other works, but I like his style and sense of humor. One of my favorite lines from this book was :
"I have only been alive for 439 years, which is of course
nowhere near long enough to understand the minimal facial
expressions of the average teenage boy."
So thank you to whoever recommended this!

I thought Marion gave in to easily as well. But maybe that penny was proof enough that she had been lied to.

I had a feeling the whole book, though that Henrich had found Marion all along and was using Tom.

M.J., you might enjoy The Humans.

I just started but it is a breeze to read so I can’t imagine it will take me long to finish it. So far I am intrigued by the main character, this society he belongs to of others like him, and just the general melancholy. I have driven through my own hometown many times and looked in regret at new buildings that covered the spaces where happy memories were made, or abandoned ones that are now a shadow of what they once were. That would only intensify the longer you lived. At least now I have friends and family who remember the good old days and help to keep them alive.

Nancy wrote: "I totally forgot all about Highlander. 😂 The movies and shows."

Surely the best thing about the film was the song "Who wants to live forever". A haunting masterpiece.

📂Documents
└📁Music
└📁Queen
└📁Bad Songs
└⚠This folder is empty

Samantha wrote: "I just started but it is a breeze to read so I can’t imagine it will take me long to finish it. So far I am intrigued by the main character, this society he belongs to of others like him, and just ..."

Yes, I have done the same thing and it makes me sad to see how things have changed. It’s never in a good way it seems.

Dean wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I totally forgot all about Highlander. 😂 The movies and shows."

Surely the best thing about the film was the song "Who wants to live forever". A haunting masterpiece.

📂Documents
└📁..."

Tee here hee..I love Queen. Guess who’s going to see Queen +Adam Lambert this summer with some GRs besties?

That sounds like it should be amazing Nancy. Best I can claim was that we saw a Queen tribute band, though to be fair they were very good.

Nancy wrote: "I thought Marion gave in to easily as well. But maybe that penny was proof enough that she had been lied to.

I had a feeling the whole book, though that Henrich had found Marion all along and was ..."

Yes, I've been trying to get The Humans from my library, but it's not available until Feb 1. I like Haig's writing a lot, and the small sample I read of The Humans sounds really good too. Thanks for the suggestion!

This wasn't for me. It was my second Haig book, but will almost certainly be my last. There's just something about his writing style I don't like, and I found his characters bland and plot uninspiring if not virtually non-existent. I'm in the middle of a Robin Hobb trilogy, so granted he had a lot to live up to, but by comparison, this 300 page book was a slog to finish whereas I cant wait to pick up Hobbs next 800 page tomb.

I did have Humans on my To Read list, but it has come off as I am fairly convinced I won't enjoy it. This really wasn't TT for me, though I get it's part of the genre. This was the least of my complaints though, as I did find the concept really interesting, but he completely failed to explore all the possibilities that were available and it was just a whole load of missed opportunities.

I have so many issues with the book; (view spoiler)[ one off of the top of my head - pining for a first love for 400 years - really? I have the odd pang of regret about my first love 20 years ago, but I suspect in another 380 years, I may be over her...

and meeting Shakespeare, and travelling with Captain Cook, etc. Really? Just because he has lived a long life doesn't mean this is at all likely (hide spoiler)]

This has made me want to re-read The Time Travellers Wife even more though, because that was a TT romance done properly.

So you're going to like to know that Audrey Niffenegger is going to launch a sequel to "The Time Traveler's Wife" this year!

Dean wrote: "...I suspect in another 380 years, I may be over her..."

*snerk*

I don't have a problem giving this the tag 'time travel' but if folks were expecting science fiction they're sure going to be disappointed. Don't expect typical SF from The Humans either, but enjoy it for what it is.

(Or don't, if you just don't like Haig... we all know some authors, I'm sure, that we don't like even if our friends do like them. For me it's LeGuin.)

I feel like a bit of a grump. Other than Hyperion, the four group reads I have taken part in have amassed a total of 8 stars from me...

Interesting to hear about a follow up to The Time Traveler's Wife though!

Dean wrote: "I feel like a bit of a grump. Other than Hyperion, the four group reads I have taken part in have amassed a total of 8 stars from me...

Interesting to hear about a follow up to The Time Traveler's..."

Time to start thinking about the March/April nominations. I will get a post up soon.

I thought this was an easy read but not a very satisfying one. The idea was interesting, not quite time travel, but I felt the climax and big finish seemed rushed and underwhelming.

I liked this book well enough, but the ending was rather a let down. I think I was expecting something more - I don't know, melancholy or historical, and less frivolous. That said, I did enjoy it. I will shelf it under the 'not quite sure if I liked it or not, but may read again to see if I change my mind', pile. :-)