In Ian McEwan's The Child In Time time is not linear; on the contrary, time changes. Time can flow like water, constantly and steadily. Sometimes the flow is slower, like vodka that has just been taken from the freezer and slowly stretches into the glass. Now and again, time freezes and everything seems to stand still; you are stuck in a moment. And then, suddenly, time may also disappear into the air like vapour. It almost seems that time has three (or possibly more) states of matter. But time is not a matter nor a substance. We cannot touch it, while we might feel it slipping through our fingers. What is time?
It is quite funny how some things seem so long and others like few days ago. When I look back to the days I lived in Viljandi, it feels like ancient history. Yet, it seems to me that I began the life of a student in Tartu only a while ago. In the linearity of time, those things should follow one another but in my mind, there is some gap in between. It is funny and I think McEwan's book describes it just wonderfully. There's somekind of magic in that book, impossible to put into words, but you feel overwhelmed by it as soon as you've reached to the end. The main character Stephen experiences the fluidity of time when he sees a scene from the past: his mother and father as a young couple. Moreover, since his daughter, Kate, is kidnapped, the time concerned with her seems to stand still. When in a car crash, every seconds seems to last forever for Stephen and he is fascinated by that. He learns about time through his friends wife, a quantum physicist, and thus the reader feels educated by those philosophical conversations as well. The whole narrative of the books seems to have different speeds, just like time has for Stephen.
I feel that in some relationships, time can do magical things. I have a wonderful friend who unfortunately lives in another town. At times, she has even lived in another country. And for a long time as well. Yet I still feel, when we meet, that our time has stood still while we were apart. We can continue from where we left off without having to make up the 'lost time'. No time is lost actually, it is all there somewhere but we just don't need it. We can skip units of time and be in the same spacetime. How wonderful is that!
I'm sure we have all felt that time goes by really fast when we are having fun but seems to be oh so slow in a boring lecture or when taking a bus home. I think in this case, we can say that time exists in our head. It is our perception of it that makes the clock go faster or slower. When you have a lot to do, the week seems be over in a blink of an eye. The more fully we employ our time, the faster it goes. It feels as if a tight schedule gives energy to time to push onwards with greater speed. Is it good or bad? I think neither... When we stop to smell the roses, the time slows down as well.
Yes, the clock keeps on ticking but, more and more, I come to believe that I actually do have all the time in the world. I just need to figure out how to reach it. Until then I am going to enjoy the little spectacle that it offers me.
Time must be the magic in McEwan's book.
McEwan, Ian. 1988. The Child In Time. London: Pan Books Ltd
It is quite funny how some things seem so long and others like few days ago. When I look back to the days I lived in Viljandi, it feels like ancient history. Yet, it seems to me that I began the life of a student in Tartu only a while ago. In the linearity of time, those things should follow one another but in my mind, there is some gap in between. It is funny and I think McEwan's book describes it just wonderfully. There's somekind of magic in that book, impossible to put into words, but you feel overwhelmed by it as soon as you've reached to the end. The main character Stephen experiences the fluidity of time when he sees a scene from the past: his mother and father as a young couple. Moreover, since his daughter, Kate, is kidnapped, the time concerned with her seems to stand still. When in a car crash, every seconds seems to last forever for Stephen and he is fascinated by that. He learns about time through his friends wife, a quantum physicist, and thus the reader feels educated by those philosophical conversations as well. The whole narrative of the books seems to have different speeds, just like time has for Stephen.
I feel that in some relationships, time can do magical things. I have a wonderful friend who unfortunately lives in another town. At times, she has even lived in another country. And for a long time as well. Yet I still feel, when we meet, that our time has stood still while we were apart. We can continue from where we left off without having to make up the 'lost time'. No time is lost actually, it is all there somewhere but we just don't need it. We can skip units of time and be in the same spacetime. How wonderful is that!
I'm sure we have all felt that time goes by really fast when we are having fun but seems to be oh so slow in a boring lecture or when taking a bus home. I think in this case, we can say that time exists in our head. It is our perception of it that makes the clock go faster or slower. When you have a lot to do, the week seems be over in a blink of an eye. The more fully we employ our time, the faster it goes. It feels as if a tight schedule gives energy to time to push onwards with greater speed. Is it good or bad? I think neither... When we stop to smell the roses, the time slows down as well.
Yes, the clock keeps on ticking but, more and more, I come to believe that I actually do have all the time in the world. I just need to figure out how to reach it. Until then I am going to enjoy the little spectacle that it offers me.
Time must be the magic in McEwan's book.
McEwan, Ian. 1988. The Child In Time. London: Pan Books Ltd
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