The Fifty Year Sword is a novella written by Mark Z. Danielewski. Only 1,000 first edition English books were released. 51 of those copies are signed in marker with a "Z" (varying in color and number to coincide with the 5 colored quotation marks that signify different speakers in the text), while the first copy is signed "Mark Danielewski" in ink. A second English edition of 1,000 was released in October 2006. A trade edition--slightly revised--was published by Pantheon in October 2012.
The Fifty Year Sword uses strange formatting and colors throughout the book, much like Danielewski's previous work, House of Leaves. However, unlike House of Leaves which only contained three colors (blue, red, and purple), The Fifty Year Sword contains 5 colors which are used on quotation marks. The colors indicate which of 5 characters is speaking at the moment, according to the introduction of the book.
Read more about The Fifty Year Sword: Plot Summary, Live Performance
Famous quotes containing the words fifty, year and/or sword:
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915)
“The year growing ancient,
Not yet on summer’s death, nor on the birth
Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o’the season
Are our carnations and streaked gillyvors.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“With a pen in my hand I have successfully stormed bulwarks from which others armed with sword and excommunication have been repulsed.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)