In Find Me, Aciman explores the significance of the passing of time. Time is a major preoccupation of the human psyche. Acknowledgment of aging and mortality, emphasized by the fleeting nature of happiness in life, makes people hyperaware of time slipping by. For the older characters in this novel, time feels cruel. Though Samuel in Part 1, Michel in Part 2, and Oliver in Parts 3 and 4 aren’t elderly, they are at a point in their lives where they worry that the future will be devoid of adventure and passion. Such emotional extremes seem like a characteristic of youth. But in Find Me, Aciman emphasizes the message that one is never too old to fall in love, start a new chapter, and reinvigorate one’s life.

In Part 1, “Tempo,” Samuel Perlman worries that his best years are long behind him. He has a stable life, but that stability breeds a lack of fulfillment. He has a successful career as a classics scholar, a son who is grown and independent and with whom he is close, and a home in Italy. Samuel is at peace with his divorce and satisfied with his life.