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The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by…
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The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (edition 2014)

by Claire North (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,0831794,451 (3.98)220
Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:Wildly original, funny and moving, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is an extraordinary story of a life lived again and again from World Fantasy Award-winning author Claire North.
Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.
No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.
Until now.
As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message."
This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
… (more)
Member:Anukrati
Title:The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Authors:Claire North (Author)
Info:Redhook (2014), 432 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
Rating:
Tags:to-read

Work Information

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

  1. 100
    Replay by Ken Grimwood (BeckyJG)
    BeckyJG: A protagonist who lives his life over and over, remembering the entirety of it each time, with the opportunity to do things differently, as well.
  2. 30
    The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (fannyprice)
  3. 42
    Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (sturlington, fairyfeller)
    fairyfeller: Explores the same concept of one person living the same over and over.
  4. 10
    My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (LAKobow)
  5. 00
    The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (LAKobow)
  6. 00
    Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (jordil2)
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» See also 220 mentions

English (169)  French (1)  German (1)  Spanish (1)  Chinese, traditional (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (174)
Showing 1-5 of 169 (next | show all)
Fantastic. Wonderful idea and execution, satisfying ending, great all around, would read again. ( )
  RaynaPolsky | Apr 23, 2024 |
Good medium weight Sci-Fi. Would describe the premise as "Groundhog Life". I liked the main character, and his relationship with the antagonist. The plot moved along well and I really enjoyed it! ( )
  evanmangiamele | Feb 29, 2024 |
Thoroughly enjoyed the unfolding story of Harry August's many lives. The subtly nuanced relationship with Rankis is enthralling and very satisfying. Full of great ideas and beautifully written. I look forward to reading other books by the author. ( )
  CraigGoodwin | Feb 19, 2024 |
Story: 9 / 10
Characters: 7
Setting: 8
Prose: 7

Pleasantly surprised by this "time-travel" book. The genre is not so pathetic when the time-travelling is justified. In fact, The 1st 15 lives of Harry August is more like a vampire epic, than another time-travel book. However, what really sets this one apart is that it actually has a compelling conflict. I definitely recommend this one, despite being a hater of all time continuum books. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
What a ride...WHAT A RIDE. This one hit too close to home for comfort. In essence while usual time traveler paradoxes apply, there are certain ethical questions that usually go nor asked nor answered. What is the point of time traveler? What is the point of individual who knows future? We are having a hard time answering this even for linear perspective of normal people in the real world... searching of a meaning of life and whatnot. Can you imagine this question literally becomes the core idea of your eternal life as time traveler? I can't.

There is no point in existence that can turn into line without becoming some kind of a vector. Every line have beginning and the end. A starting point and an end point. Every point becomes a line by moving. Some for real, some just in imagination. Like a stray thought can be a one thing, but its reenacting is completely different. Like a "world peace" can bring about world's destruction in the process. Like killing criminal before criminal commits an actual crime.

At some point (ahaha, I'm not sorry) any idea, any philosophy, any knowledge, science, story, information or doing becomes too incomprehensible for us - humans or whatever - we stop comprehending with our consciousness (and reason) and turn to coin toss emotional decision making. 50/50. Do-not-do. Yes, we can explain, dig and unravel many things that gone into such decision afterwards, but we NEVER can make the same analysis BEFORE it happens. The transition from thought to reality changes the very nature of this event. So what is the point? Where is the point? When is the point?

I love how in this book lifelong humanity ethical questions outlined from the perspective they could be discussed without hard attunement to the real world. In the book they are the same issues we have here, but here we can only name, shame, judge and execute them depending on what side of ideological war you happen to be. And war it is. With casualties, lost futures, perversion of ideas, tortures both psychological and physical, writing history by winners and all that jazz humanity got so proficient in last few thousand(s) years.

The world is ending. We cannot stop it. We are ending it now. We won't stop it. We all die someday anyway. Time, as a meme says, is a flat circle. So, what is the point of us?

It is an incredible book. ( )
  WorkLastDay | Dec 17, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 169 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Claire Northprimary authorall editionscalculated
Daniele, ValentinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Graswinckel, LisetteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kenny, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nickolls, LeoCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Troin, IsabelleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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I am writing this for you.
My enemy.
My friend.
You know, already, you must know.
You have lost.
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Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:Wildly original, funny and moving, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is an extraordinary story of a life lived again and again from World Fantasy Award-winning author Claire North.
Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.
No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.
Until now.
As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message."
This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

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