The first of the three “textured” words that I found was the word “honey.” It is used in both Sam and Hailey’s section a total of 15 times. In several instances it is used to accompany a happy scene to provide a feeling of sweetness. For example, it is used when Hailey says, “Sonneyastounded kisses my mouth. Mistletoe whisks: Consume only this. HONEY!” (Hailey 42). The word “honey” in this instance represents a feeling of bliss or elation. However, throughout the novel, the word “honey” is used with a numerical value. The further into the book it is used, the less the number of “jars left” continuously decreases, implying that the sweetness is depleting. I thought this was interesting because it suggests that there is an end in sight, which contradicts the circular structure of the novel.

 

The next word that I investigated was “feer.” It is used in place of the word “fear.” For example, when Sam thinks Hailey is lost he says that “feer begets every regret.” I tried to find the definition of “feer” to determine its meaning in the context of Only Revolutions, but my results were minimal. One site even said that “feer” is not commonly included in the English dictionary but the definitions that I did find ranged from “to mark off land for plowing” to the adjective “correct.” I was unable to determine Danielewski’s intention for using this word, but it is worth noting or further investigating.

 

The final word that I looked at in the Search Inside the Book feature was “kiss.” I searched this word because I haven’t been able to read for more than 15 minutes without coming across another sex or intimate scene between Hailey and Sam, so I was curious about how many times the word was used. My search found 30 results. I actually would have expected it to occur more than just 30 times. Perhaps this number represents the typical number of days in a month, which would reinforce the theme of time moving forwards, but this is just speculation.

 

The process of searching for these words was confusing at first. After searching for the words and using the page numbers from the site to locate them in the book I could not find some of the words. I read the pages over and over again, and still nothing. Then I realized that the word could be on the upside down part of the page and still count as being on that page. Technically, if I have to flip the book, then I am now on a different page number, but the Search Inside the Book feature did not seem to recognize that.