The First 15 Lives of Harry August - Book Discussion

[Misty Cato]

Our current Sweet Read is The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. To participate, read the book between Jan and March 2015 and jump into the discussion below.

This thread is for book discussion and will contain spoilers. For non-spoiler discussion, see this thread.

Look for nominations and voting for the second quarter Sweet Read to open here in the Sweet Reads Forum mid-March.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Finished today...I have lots of things to say but I'll wait for everyone else lol

[LBickford63]

I'm nearly halfway through. SO much here to talk about! I guess I thought we might be discussing some as we are reading, not just waiting for the end?

[Misty Cato]

You are certainly welcome to discuss as you go along.

[LBickford63]

I'm just beginning Chapter 42, so spoiler if you aren't that far!



I find it very interesting how he goes back and forth between describing his lives, and decisions he makes, how he comes to them, who he speaks to about them, and his fervor, then his resignation, when he realizes his actions regarding 'linears' would have to be acted upon in every life. So much philosophical debate here, and every time I think of a "but wait a minute" he answers it shortly after.

[LBickford63]

Wow. Excellent read.

[luckyme]

I'm done! I'm ready to discuss and divulge big plot points -- who's with me so far? I thought it was a great book - the first half was interesting for establishing the premise and characters and in the second half the plot surged forward and kept me glued to the book!

[LBickford63]

Originally Posted by luckyme

I'm done! I'm ready to discuss and divulge big plot points -- who's with me so far? I thought it was a great book - the first half was interesting for establishing the premise and characters and in the second half the plot surged forward and kept me glued to the book!

I've just been waiting for a conversation partner!!

Wasn't it riveting? I kept wondering how he'd pull it all together, with the hints he was dropping about this life and that life. I cannot imagine how someone comes up with stories like this, and most of the time they aren't good about answering all of the lingering things, and he was masterful.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Ok I've been holding off on my feelings for this book b/c I didn't want to make anyone not want to read it or have them throw the book at me lol. I'm just going to copy/paste my goodreads review here..then I'm going to duck and hide

I will say this isn't a bad book..it was just a bad book for me. I needed much more emotion than was conveyed through the main character. There was way too much scientific information dumping and nothing makes me zone out when reading better than phrases like "paradigm-shifting" or "quantam mirror".

It was a confusing read. Not only does Harry die and then repeat his life from birth over and over again, but the narration skips around from his 2nd life to his 12th and back and forth and then add in the fact that everything in each life changes (in one he's married, in another he's not, etc) then it's just a lot of work that ended up making my brain hurt.

This story idea had so much potential...what would be the emotional effects of living your life over and over..of dying and being born all over again with the vivid memories of every life-span you've been through. How would your relationships be with those people in your life. Unfortunately the author went an entirely different route and it just didn't work for me.

Also..what's with all the torture? That just seemed odd.

[LBickford63]

Nikki, it's funny, I tend to skim or zone some when things get technical, but for some reason this one kept me fully engaged. I don't know what the difference was, but I noticed it even when I was reading it, that it 'held' me.

I agree, the torture stuff I didn't care for. I DO somewhat skim the gory stuff. It is why I can ready horrific books but would NEVER want to see the movie.

I did find it rather odd that he didn't marry the same person twice, things like that. I guess by your 4th life you kind of realize how little some things matter, as you'll have the chance to make a different decision, walk a new path, next time.

[breakingbrie]

I just finished. I did like the book overall, some parts I was so into, and some I had to talk myself into picking it back up. Every time something happened , it annoyed the crap out of me that, 'oh, let me tell you about a random person I met once in a different life, then I'll come back to the cliffhanger' Ooooh, that was frustrating!! Overall though, I liked, not loved it.

[Libby Pritchett]

I just finished today, and I agree with a lot of what has been said here already.

I think I had built this book up so high in my head because I'd heard such rave reviews about it. Honestly, I had set the bar so high that it would've been difficult to reach it. Part of my problem was that I had recently read a book on a similar topic that I thoroughly enjoyed (Replay by Ken Grimwood), so I spent a good part of the book comparing it to that.

I found it very difficult to follow all of the back and forth, the random mention of events that didn't seem to further the story at all, and as Nikki pointed out, the lack of emotional connection to the characters along with all the science mumbo jumbo was almost too much for me. I found myself skimming large sections.

Admittedly, it started out really interesting, but I was soon having to force myself to get back to it. It was seriously SO slow going until I hit about the 60% mark. I read from there through the end of the book pretty quickly.

The ending was mostly satisfying, I think. It wasn't the best ending of any novel that I'd ever read, but I felt that the author tied the story up nicely.

All in all, I agree with Brie that I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I don't regret reading it, but it won't be one that I ever feel the need to reread.

Now I'm off to read something fluffy that requires no thinking whatsoever. LOL

[Robin Carlton]

Well... my library loan expired today and I still haven't finished it, I'm just under the half-way mark and while I've requested the book again so I can finish it, I'm not that motivated to LOL.

When I first started reading, I was super into it. "This is neat".. "what a cool premise for a book"... "OMG this is going to be good" but I honestly feel like it's a little bit redundant at this point. The same things feel like they're happening over and over again (which makes sense since it's a book about a guy who lives his life over and over again) but I dunno... I guess I was just hoping for more.

Now... keep in mind that I haven't gotten to the second half of the book which some of you have said is much better, but my initial impression so far has been kinda "meh".

I'll keep plugging away at it and hopefully come back with my full thoughts though.

[abm234]

Honestly, I did not like this book. I consider myself a fairly avid reader and I had to force myself to keep reading. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I agree with Nikki's post completely. I couldn't have said it any better!

On a side note, I didn't really love Goldfinch either which was one of other picks that we voted on for this book club.

I'm thinking I need to take a break from this heavy stories and find myself some no brainer beach story or something.

I'm exhausted by these last two books (Goldfinch and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August).

I don't think I would recommend either to a friend.

[LoriJ]

I finished it too and I felt the same way, what a slog to get through it. I love time travel or replaying your life types of stories but this one was just not catching me at all. I was so disappointed because I had been holding on to it for when I wanted a really good read, I thought it was going to be great, but meh.

Oh well, at least I can now say that I read it!

[Libby Pritchett]

I'm with you girls. I LOVE time travel and replay types of stories. I'd heard so many reviews on how great this book was - another book club that I join in sometimes had read it last fall and raved about how amazing it was. I was SO looking forward to reading it.

But it was SO hard to get through. It just seemed to drag on and on and on with nothing really pulling me back and making me want to read more. I AM still glad I read it, but it's not a book I can say that I enjoyed. I've moved on to lighter and more entertaining things for now. LOL

I do feel bad for having nominated this one though! Yikes. I'll let someone else take the fall next time! LOL

[abm234]

So you're the one to blame Libby? I didn't know.

Just kidding!

I nominated Goldfinch which lost, and that is fine with me!

I was surprised that First Fifteen Lives got 4/5 stars on Goodreads. I'm surprised it appeals to that many people.

[Misty Cato]

Just finished and really enjoyed it. Often after a bit of reading, I'd just think about stuff, mostly about social responsibility which I found to be the most interesting theme of the book.

In a book filled with rich, supposedly brilliant people with the wisdom of the ages behind them, my favorite bit of wisdom came from the Russian prostitute's lecture to Harry on the importance of heart and kindness.

There were so many interesting characters that popped in and out of the story that I wanted to get to know better.

What did you all think of Harry? Good guy? Bad guy?

[caliten]

Originally Posted by Libby Pritchett

Admittedly, it started out really interesting, but I was soon having to force myself to get back to it. It was seriously SO slow going until I hit about the 60% mark. I read from there through the end of the book pretty quickly.

So there's hope? I'm about 30% of the way into this one and have already put it down twice (in one week) to read other things. Guess I'll finish up the most recent divergence and then jump back into this one.