Iulia's Reviews > The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

I went in expecting to love this book. The premise is definitely mysterious and intriguing, and the first chapter sets up the story beautifully, with just enough vagueness to keep you interested. However, I ended up just mildly enjoying it, thus the 3 star rating.

Harry August is a "kalachakra", a person who relives their life from birth to death multiple times, while keeping the memories and knowledge gathered during their previous lives. There are some other kalachakras in the world, most of them organized under a secret society. We get from the title that Harry August lives at least fifteen lives, which makes him over a thousand years old (even though all those years are spent in the 20th century)

(view spoiler)[ Harry is also a mnemonic, meaning that he remembers everything that has happened in his previous lives perfectly. It is logically evident that this particularity is bound to make most of its recipients crazy and grandiose after a few centuries of self-reflection. This book is simply presenting what would naturally happen if someone, especially an intelligent and ambitious person, would have this ability. Vincent's development is very predictable in this regard. His "immortality" is bound to make him a megalomaniac after a few centuries. On the other side, Harry's ability develops differently, allowing him extreme patience and meticulousness in his purpose of stopping Vincent. However, the book is titled "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August", which might not be such a long time when compared with other kalachakras. The main question that stuck with me in the end was: How many lifetimes would take for Harry to go crazy himself? It is revealed that mnemonics are not susceptible to Forgetting, so Harry's fate after a hundred, thousand, ten thousand lifetimes is certainly food for thought. (hide spoiler)]

The main drawback of this book is that it is very slow-paced. The first half, which I understand was important from a character development point of view, was however pretty boring. Once the action started, it was a bit cliche and predictable. I kept expecting a twist which I never got. Furthermore, what probably contributed significantly to my lack of enthusiasm was that the setting and the time period are already not my favorite.

On the plus side, both Harry and Vincent are well-developed characters, and their relationship is the highlight of this novel. There is also a philosophical dimension which arises from the immortality of the kalachakras, especially in the context of a fixed time period. What is the purpose of these people? Do they live in a universe where there is an infinity of alternate realities and they are simply able to access the memories of their counterparts from other realities? If so, do the universes where they mess everything up are destroyed after their death? If there is an infinite number of universes, what does it matter if a few are destroyed? These questions, while confusing, are definitely thought provoking.

This book is definitely well written and decently thought out, especially since it features time travel, whose ramifications and complexity are notoriously hard to get right. The characters are well developed and interesting, and if you don't mind the slow pace, you might be in for a treat. I would have honestly preferred to see something similar but without the "living the same life over and over again" dimension. While interesting in its own right, this setup is very limited and can easily get repetitive.