A review by ericfheiman
My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru

4.0

A good case of how an innovative narrative structure can enhance the experience of a story rather than dilute it. "My Revolutions" is a fictional account of the making, unmaking and then remaking of an English radical in the 60s, and the fallout thirty years later, but it's told in a non-linear format, sometimes piling flashback upon flashback, that reflects well the unsettled nature of the main character, Michael Frame/Chris Carver. While the ending might feel a little pat and unfinished, it at least feels earned by the time we and Michael/Chris reach it. Nice to see a contemporary book grapple with the issues of that time in an evenhanded way—-neither celebrating the subversive (and often damaging) activities (like Bill Ayers' "Fugitive Days" memoir) nor completely condemning them either. It leaves the reader with both a disdain for the almost fascist leanings these movements emboldened in their followers (even as they claimed to be fighting just that) but also how passive towards our governments we've become in contemporary times.