The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North Review

Title: The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August

Author: Claire North

Publisher: Redhook

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Description:

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.

Review:

I have some pretty conflicting thoughts about this read.

First, let me say that is gets better. The first half reads like a bit of an information dump. Just so much description and history that it can prove a bit tedious to get through at first but just stick around for the second half because it definitely gets better; in fact it gets awesome.

Harry August has the ability to go through an entire life time, die, and be reborn over and over again. This is an account of his first 15 lives and the relationships he has formed and continues to form throughout his existence.

At one point he meets a man who has lofty ambitions to use technology he acquires throughout his lives, as he has the same abilities as Harry, to build a machine that will basically give him a God like view of the world.

This book is both about Harry's friendship with this man and his duty to stop him as his invention is causing the Earth to be destroyed faster and faster each life they live through.

This is part historical fiction, part science fiction, has spy elements to it, but it is ultimately a story of friendships and vengeance. 

I was very impressed by the writing style. It was detailed yet concise and had a great element of information and emotion that tied in together.

I would be interested to read more by this author in the future. Claire North has a great literary voice and I would definitely recommend this read. 

My Star Rating:

4 out of 5

Read this if you enjoyed:

      

Page to Screen Review: The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was a bit taken aback by this book.

I read the description for this story and thought that it sounded like a great piece of historical fiction.

I had just come off of reading a bit of a lengthier book that had pretty light subject matter so I wanted a powerful book that wasn't insanely long.

This fit that bill.

This is the story of a young German boy whose father is a high ranking officer in the Nazi military. Soon after the story begins they move to Auschwitz where his dad is the commander. The main character, Bruno, is naive almost to a fault. He reads a bit younger than 9 but I didn't think that aspect took away from the story.

The message was there. We have a lonely German boy living at a place where he doesn't understand why some people are on one side of a fence while he is on the other. For the most part his parents have shielded him from the atrocities taking place at the camp.

He believes what he is told the way a lot of young children do, blindly. He believes his father is a good man, his mother drinks medicinal cocktails, and the place he sees inside the fence must be a quick village of its own.

He thinks Hitler is a terrible dinner guest and he misses his old house because it provided more opportunity for exploring which is what he wants to be when he grows up, an explorer.

After nearly a year in the house he is still shielded from the situation in his own backyard but decides to go explore the fence for the first time. There he meets a new friend who he only sees as a thin boy who he might be able to befriend. They meet daily, sometimes to eat snacks but mostly to talk.

The story progresses with a lot of background story about the progression of the war, Hitler, solider's within the camp, and descriptions of the Jews in the concentration camp. It is difficult to read especially when it comes through the innocent eyes of a child who just wants to spend time with a friend.

I am still reeling a bit about the ending. I am not sure it was the best more for the story but it definitely makes an impact on the reader. After completing this story I watched the trailer for the film adaptation and plan to watch it soon and review both together.

I am not sure how much I loved it but it was an impacting and powerful read worth visiting.





View all my reviews

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (original title)

PG-13 | 1h 34min | Drama, War | 26 November 2008 (USA)

http://www.miramax.com/watch?v=BoaXBrYTr-cbVzw1-C12fVO7tPTHarZc

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914798/

I thought that the changes made to the film adaptation provided a more complete and powerful view of the story.

I don't often say that I felt the book wasn't as good as the movie but in this case I think it might have been true.

Asa Butterfield who played the main character Bruno was brilliant. I can't remember the last time I have seen a child actor play his part so well. (but then again I haven't seen "Room" yet)

Making the character slightly younger was a good choice as it helped with a bit of he overall naivety I felt was a little too prevalent in the writing of the character in the book.

I also felt like Schmuel and Bruno's interactions were fleshed out in the film and I felt like I had more emotional attachment to both characters.

It is not an easy film to watch. I don't think I have ever seen a film about the Holocaust that didn't make me think and that didn't make me cry. Its always difficult to visualize such a difficult time in history which I feel is true of all films involving war.

I thought the right amount of sensitivity was used for the subject matter.

Overall, I believe you could easily see the film without reading the book and get just as much enjoyment out of the experience. It was beautifully done and I will be looking out for more films staring Asa Butterfield as I was so impressed with the young star.