Don’t be scared
"The greatest damage caused by this technology is that people can no longer concentrate, can no longer enjoy concentrating. Reading a long novel is one of my greatest sources of pleasure. But most people refuse to do it because reading a long novel isn’t fun if you’re constantly interrupted."
— William T. Vollmann
What William T. Vollmann says can be seen as a manual for reading the 1,232 pages of Tom's Crossing. And if you apply it, you’ll experience the joy of diving into one of the greatest sources of pleasure.
So, reader, don’t be scared and earn this "western" that will repay you a hundredfold. The quotation marks above are important, and we’ll come back to that.
Mark Z. Danielewski is primarily known for House of Leaves, an extraordinary novel, a work of art in its own right, published in 2000, which, even 25 years later, has not aged a bit, still arousing interest, intrigue, to the point where it is read, reread, and gives rise to all sorts of theories — each reader with their own theory, one might say; in other words: this is definitely for you.
We won’t revisit the other projects/works of Mark Z. Danielewski, all equally interesting and innovative.
Tom’s Crossing. "Western" (again, note the quotation marks)
We won’t revisit the story summary, which is very brief, unlike the novel itself. Just know that you’ll find all the ingredients of a "western" here: Stetsons (including on the cover), horses, poker games, legends passed down orally by the campfire, "duels," villains, the mountains of Utah, etc. Nothing is missing.
But it goes much further than that. The structure, the words used, their double meanings, their sounds, the poetic beauty of some descriptions, the rhythm (Clop-Clop-clip-Clop), the cinematography of the scenes, the musicality — all of this, and more, pulls you in, forcing you to devour these 1,232 pages while, yes, forgetting everything around you.
The characters? Some are endearing, so much so that you’ll shudder, laugh, and even get teary-eyed. Others are despicable, violent, liars, killers — you’ll want to clench your fists and wish them a horrible death.
And there are secondary characters whose names sometimes sound very Pynchonian, stepping in like the timeline in Only Revolutions. Not to mention... the ghosts. (Don’t flinch, it’s so well done that you’ll believe in them too).
Is that the Mark of a good novel?
Certainly.
But Danielewski goes further. Nothing is left to chance in Tom’s Crossing: from the alteration of certain words to mythological references, and much more.
Everything.
Has.
Meaning.
Even the Easter eggs for HOL, Only Revolutions and The Familiar’s readers.
And it will require a second reading.
Because Tom’s Crossing will haunt you long after you’ve finished it.
We almost forgot: why the quotation marks around "western"? Because if it is one, it’s much bigger, it goes much deeper on the inside than on the outside.
So: don’t be scared.
And read!
[side note: even for a non native English, don’t need a dictionary to read Tom’s Crossing, its “music” is largely speakable]
Spécial thanks to Pantheon Books for the Teaser Edition (paper) and the e-version of the full book.
And of course: thanks to Allways sixteen Mark.
#NetGalley
"The greatest damage caused by this technology is that people can no longer concentrate, can no longer enjoy concentrating. Reading a long novel is one of my greatest sources of pleasure. But most people refuse to do it because reading a long novel isn’t fun if you’re constantly interrupted."
— William T. Vollmann
What William T. Vollmann says can be seen as a manual for reading the 1,232 pages of Tom's Crossing. And if you apply it, you’ll experience the joy of diving into one of the greatest sources of pleasure.
So, reader, don’t be scared and earn this "western" that will repay you a hundredfold. The quotation marks above are important, and we’ll come back to that.
Mark Z. Danielewski is primarily known for House of Leaves, an extraordinary novel, a work of art in its own right, published in 2000, which, even 25 years later, has not aged a bit, still arousing interest, intrigue, to the point where it is read, reread, and gives rise to all sorts of theories — each reader with their own theory, one might say; in other words: this is definitely for you.
We won’t revisit the other projects/works of Mark Z. Danielewski, all equally interesting and innovative.
Tom’s Crossing. "Western" (again, note the quotation marks)
We won’t revisit the story summary, which is very brief, unlike the novel itself. Just know that you’ll find all the ingredients of a "western" here: Stetsons (including on the cover), horses, poker games, legends passed down orally by the campfire, "duels," villains, the mountains of Utah, etc. Nothing is missing.
But it goes much further than that. The structure, the words used, their double meanings, their sounds, the poetic beauty of some descriptions, the rhythm (Clop-Clop-clip-Clop), the cinematography of the scenes, the musicality — all of this, and more, pulls you in, forcing you to devour these 1,232 pages while, yes, forgetting everything around you.
The characters? Some are endearing, so much so that you’ll shudder, laugh, and even get teary-eyed. Others are despicable, violent, liars, killers — you’ll want to clench your fists and wish them a horrible death.
And there are secondary characters whose names sometimes sound very Pynchonian, stepping in like the timeline in Only Revolutions. Not to mention... the ghosts. (Don’t flinch, it’s so well done that you’ll believe in them too).
Is that the Mark of a good novel?
Certainly.
But Danielewski goes further. Nothing is left to chance in Tom’s Crossing: from the alteration of certain words to mythological references, and much more.
Everything.
Has.
Meaning.
Even the Easter eggs for HOL, Only Revolutions and The Familiar’s readers.
And it will require a second reading.
Because Tom’s Crossing will haunt you long after you’ve finished it.
We almost forgot: why the quotation marks around "western"? Because if it is one, it’s much bigger, it goes much deeper on the inside than on the outside.
So: don’t be scared.
And read!
[side note: even for a non native English, don’t need a dictionary to read Tom’s Crossing, its “music” is largely speakable]
Spécial thanks to Pantheon Books for the Teaser Edition (paper) and the e-version of the full book.
And of course: thanks to Allways sixteen Mark.
#TomsCrossing #NetGalley
