Author Matt Haig celebrated the U.S. release of his best-selling novel, "How To Stop Time", with a launch party at Warwick's Books on Tuesday, February 6th. The evening commenced with a talk by Haig, followed by a reading from the book, a Q & A, and then a book signing. Haig joked that he was not used to giving presentations, so said he had prepared a list of 10 words to help remind him of what he wants to cover, ie: the first word was "about", to remind him he needed to say what "How To Stop Time" is about.
Haig said that "How To Stop Time" is about memory and place - how memories are attached to places, and how places can trigger memory. It is also a book about time. The main character of the novel is a man named Tom Hazard. Hazard looks like a typical middle aged man, but he is really 439 years old. His unusual longevity is attributed to a rare genetic condition called “anageria”. Anageria manifests at puberty, and causes the afflicted to age 15 times more slowly than normal people. Haig said that he came up with idea for anageria - a fake disease - as the opposite affliction of the very real disease, progeria. Progeria is a rare genetic disorder characterized by accelerated aging in children. It's name is derived from the Greek, and means “prematurely old.”
"How To Stop Time" tells the story of Tom Hazard's experience of, and through, time - the loneliness, good times, bad times, memories, etc. Haig said that he wanted to write a book about time because, "I wanted to convey something I felt when I was younger. I had a breakdown at the age of 24. I had a difficult 3 years with panic disorder, anxiety, and depression. Since then, I have often reflected on the paradox of time. Time can be perceived as being both a blessing and a curse. It’s a cliché that time heals, but it's true. Not a lot of things feel bigger than depression, but the knowledge of time, and knowing that it won’t last, that’s what gets you through – the awareness of yourself in time. When I was ill in my twenties I definitely thought that was it forever. So, one thing time has done is to make me reflect on it's (time's) nature. Writing the book was like taking a magnifying glass and looking at the problems we all have. Tom experiences all of these things, but stretched out, because he lives such a long time. I thought I'd put this person {Tom Hazard} into this sad and difficult place, but then show how he finds hope."
Haig wrote a memoir entitled, "Reasons to Stay Alive", which talks about that period of his life when he was struggling with mental illness. During the Q & A, SDLS asked him what motivated him to write the book and reveal so much personal information. Haig said that he started "Reasons To Stay Alive" as a blog. "I was actually asked by a friend to write the book. I was hesitant to write it because I'm not a celebrity, or anybody that people would care reading about. Besides, I told her, depression is common. But my friend said that this was the whole point - it is common, so people will relate to it. So, I wrote the book. I wanted to write about depression without being depressing. I also didn't want to write it as if I were some expert, imparting wisdom from on high. Really what I was doing was writing the book to my 24 year old self. I went to the really dark place, but then showed the way out. That there is hope."
"How To Stop Time" was originally released in the U.K. in July 2017, to immediate acclaim. During his presentation, Haig revealed that Benedict Cumberbatch had purchased the rights to the book after he had only written the first few chapters. Haig said he was shocked when his publisher told him, "because I wasn't even thinking about the book as a film or anything. I didn't know how Cumberbatch even knew about the book. It wasn't until later that I found out my publisher had started shopping it around after receiving the first drafts."
Haig said that, once he knew Cumberbatch was going to play Tom Hazard (the main character of the novel), it was hard not to start writing Tom as if he were Cumberbatch. During the Q & A, SDLS asked Haig if he were going to be actively involved in adapting the book for the big screen. "No, I'm not really interested. I mean, when they first approached me, they said all the right things: 'We would love your input', 'Would you like to be involved?', etc., but I told them no. I mean, Anthony McCarten is attached to the project. He did the Stephen Hawking film, The Theory of Everything, and the Churchill film, Darkest Hour. I'm not going to do a better job than he is. No director has been hired yet, but I have complete trust that the movie will be fine." No word on when the movie might be released, but you can read the book now.
Additional information here:
http://www.matthaig.com/
Labels: Author Appearances
