Only Revolutions

I am sure by now, if you have read all the other reviews, that I love books by Mark Z Danielewski. Now I am only one book short of having read everything and then having to wait for something new of his to someday pop up. Only Revolutions follows Sam and Hailey as they find each other and fall in love through time.

I will say that Only Revolutions was probably the most challenging for me to read mostly because of the flow. For those who do not read poetry, that includes myself, it was hard to know when to pause and keep going. I think that affected a lot of the actual understanding of what was going on in the plot. To be honest, the only thing that I was catching on was the continual change of time based off of the vehicles they used and the obstacles that they were facing.

Like all other Mark Z Danielewski books, every one is based from a form of media. Only Revolutions is in the form of a song. There is also a catch, because this is a Danielewski book after all. There are two different points of view; like you can read either Sam’s or Hailey’s. You start on one side and, if you have not seen pictures of the layout, the type starts out really big and goes to pretty small by the end of the book. Then if you flip the book up side down you can read the other point of view. There are a couple ways to read this. I personally just read all the way through one then flipped it and read through the other way. Along with the main story, there are sidebars of historical dates and events as Sam and Hailey go through their lives.

Based off of reading other reviews from Amazon, this is a love it or hate it kind of book. If you have read any of his other books, then you might struggle with this one. I know that I would like to try it again one day.

I apologize if this review does not seem helpful in deciding to read Only Revolutions. If you are looking to expand your horizons, I would recommend it. Having experience in poetry would really help. If you want to go on this poetic adventure, you can find it here.

8/10