Book Review: The Revisionaries by A.R. Moxon
I don’t do a lot of reviews on this blog, but as I occasionally do my utmost to bore you with my thoughts on the craft of writing, and as this book is something of a masterclass in certain facets of that craft, I thought I’d offer my two pennies on how it struck me. So that being said…
Oh, man. What do I even say about this book? Whoof. How do I describe it?
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries isn’t a time travel story, yet reading it is undoubtedly what it feels like to get hopelessly lost while travelling through time.
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries is Infinite Jest, if Infinite Jest were actually good. And had a compelling story.
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries offers a classical narrative … exploded into an metamodern fever dream, in which no individual piece makes any sense at all … but by the end, you realize the story had been wholly accessible all along.
…A.R. Moxon’s debut novel—well, you get the point.
The fact is, I really liked this book. I can’t say, I’d recommend it to everyone. There are those who probably won’t like it right from the outset. The story drops you into a world that doesn’t quite seem right—not as in -something’s wrong and our heroes must fix it- but more along the lines of -these characters, these events, this setting, don’t quite line up with how You feel stories are supposed to go. The obstacles as they appear don’t make a lot of sense, seeming random and out of place. But the writing is crisp and smart and sharp, the characters are complex and interesting, and an elegant narrative pulls you forward faster than you’d believe.
The novel begins in this way, and you think, ‘Yeah, I could see getting into this.’ But this only the beginning, not the book you’re reading at all. You don’t even know yet.
Because, you must understand, A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries offers a narrative that begins in the middle. Not the middle of the story, mind you; the middle of the book. An ontological paradox splinters its structure halfway through, reaching way back to the first page, and all the way forward to the last. As a reader, you’re compelled to be aware of, not just what’s happening in any given scene, but what’s ACTUALLY happening, and not just what’s actually happening, but what’s REALLY actually happening. It gets pretty messy.
Yet through it all, the story doesn’t fail you. As much as you want to know what’s happening you desperately want to know what’s GOING to happen. In the end both questions satisfy.
A.R. Moxon’s debut novel, The Revisionaries is a book I’d recommend if you’re a patient reader, if you don’t mind not always knowing what’s going on, if you’re looking for a narrative that will challenge you as much as it surprises you, and will probably surprise you more times than you can count.
If that’s the sort of reader you are, you should probably read this book. You might even decide it’s a masterpiece.
4.5 / 5