Only Revolutions
{{Short description|2006 novel by Mark Z. Danielewski}}
{{About|the novel|the album by Biffy Clyro|Only Revolutions (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Only Revolutions
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Only Revolutions.jpg
| author = Mark Z. Danielewski
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Literary fiction
| publisher = Pantheon Books
| pub_date = 12 September 2006
| media_type = Print (Hardcover)
| pages = 360
| isbn = 0-375-42176-9
| dewey= 813/.54 22
| congress= PS3554.A5596 O55 2006
| oclc= 64427527
| preceded_by = The Fifty Year Sword
| followed_by = The Familiar, Volume 1: One Rainy Day in May
}}
Only Revolutions is an American road novel by American writer Mark Z. Danielewski.{{cite web|title=Only Revolutions (review)|url=http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/mark-z-danielewski|publisher=KCRW|accessdate=17 August 2014}} It was released in the United States on September 12, 2006 by Pantheon Books. It was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.{{cite web|title=2006 National Book Award Finalist, Fiction|url=http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2006_fict_danielewski.html|publisher=NBA|accessdate=17 August 2014}}
Plot summary
The story alternates between two different narratives: Sam and Hailey, and Hailey and Sam, wild and wayward teenagers who never grow old. With an evolving stable of cars, the teenagers move through various places and moments in time as they try to outrace history.
As the story proceeds, one can note that many events are perceptual and not certain. By reading both stories some sense can be made from this poetic styled puzzle. The words written are a vague mix of poetry and stream of consciousness prose. Both Hailey and Sam depict their feelings as well as ideas and thoughts towards one another.
Reception
Critical reception for Only Revolutions has been divided,{{cite news|last1=Moore|first1=Steven|title=Spin Cycle|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/19/AR2006101901283.html|newspaper=Washington Post|accessdate=17 August 2014}} with many reviewers commenting that the book's appeal would greatly depend on the reader.{{cite web|last1=Piegsa|first1=Oskar|title=Roman "Only Revolutions": Sex, Musik und Raserei mal zwei|url=http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/roman-rezension-only-revolutions-von-mark-z-danielewski-a-821645.html|publisher=Spiegel (in German)|accessdate=17 August 2014}}{{cite web|last1=Patterson|first1=Troy|title=Complete 360|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/books/review/Patterson.t.html?_r=0|work=New York Times|accessdate=17 August 2014}}{{cite web|title=Only Revolutions (review)|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mark-z-danielewski/only-revolutions/|publisher=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=17 August 2014}} In a review for The Guardian, Steven Poole praised Only Revolutions and wrote "The book is to be admired for its sheer zest for invention, the kind of faith in ambitious literature so rare among contemporary novelists. And though it can often be baffling and tiresome, it also has enough flashes of expressionistic brilliance and sustained deliriums of invention to justify the reach."{{cite web|last1=Poole|first1=Steven|title=O how clever|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/sep/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview16|work=The Guardian|accessdate=17 August 2014}} In contrast, Sean O'Hagan criticized the book as being "dense and overly-complicated" and commented that "There is enough experimentation here to keep academics and cyber-geeks satisfied for years to come, but long before the end—wherever that is—I was left longing for the lull and sway of a classic tale well told."{{cite web|last1=O'Hagan|first1=Sean|title=I wouldn't say this is unreadable ...|website=TheGuardian.com |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/sep/24/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.features|accessdate=17 August 2014}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.onlyrevolutions.com}}
- [http://markzdanielewski.info/ Exploration Z]
{{Mark Z. Danielewski}}