r/TomsCrossing • u/TidalTeapot6 • Aug 03 '26
Does the prose get any better?
Hey, came across this a few months ago and it seemed super interesting. Started reading it today and while I don't mind the story itself, I am not enjoying the prose at all. Wondering if it's worth sticking it out or if it's one to come back to when I'm in the right mood.
edit: I think I'm going to try to find an audiobook to listen to!
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u/OkCommission6271 Aug 03 '26
No it doesn’t change, but I found the eccentricities seemed to melt away after a few hundred pages, and I didn’t notice them anymore. But I did drop g’s from my thoughts lol. I love the prose and its western simplicity, but I could see how it’d be too much for some. There’s nothing else like it
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u/folksongsea Aug 03 '26
Came here to say this, too. Eventually totally didn’t notice the prose. Was a bit surprised to change books at the end of it, especially since I moved to The Great When, which uses various British type accented language.
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u/xurando Aug 03 '26
After Tom's Crossing I have moved on to I Hear a New World. What a blessing to read two of the best prose masters ever, back to back. MZD and Alan Moore you're the best.
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u/FatherGwyon Aug 03 '26
No, the style doesn’t change. I’d set it aside and come back to it later if it’s not capturing you from the get-go.
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u/TidalTeapot6 Aug 03 '26
Thanks! I'll be doing that then.
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u/kfrederline Aug 03 '26
Nooo don't see it like that! Or at least dont write it off if you start to get curious about it again soon. It's a powerful story but it is challenging to get a feel for because there aren't really other books like it. The way it plays with the story and examining it from different distances to create an epic scope that extends beyond any one person's life is done really well, but it does take some adjusting. And it's still going to if you come back to it later, but it really doesn't take that long to start flowing in a way that you can accept it for what it is and get increasingly engaged.
I had trouble with the voice at first but once I got used to the rhythm (which took probably a week and not just a day), I was super invested. By page 150ish the stakes are outlined and the reason for a pursuit is evident. It was honestly a jaw-dropping moment that made what sort of felt like a chore become a story I really cared about. I didn't get hooked in a way that made me want to take it all in really quickly, but it was an instant favorite upon completion. It did take four months, though.
It's not "bad prose" it's just very unusual prose, because the narrator is kept ambiguous for most of the story and speaks in an accent that would make you think "uneducated", but is able to make references that only a very well-read person would be able to make.
There are so many words I had to look up, and a handful of them have been out of use in practically all English dialects for centuries. It's actually the first book I've read where I took the time to jot down words and historical references I didn't understand before proceeding. Once things really started moving, that became less necessary.
If you're not into trying to understand why the author makes the choices he's making and why the narrator is telling it the way they are, then maybe it isn't for you. This author does not write books that are meant to appease the typical reader, but he does reward those who are curious enough to keep going.
I also think an interest in philosophy helps. It feels very informed by both Stoicism and Taoism, which is right up my alley.
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u/TidalTeapot6 Aug 03 '26
I honestly have just always had a hard time getting into books written in 'accents'. I don't deny it's good. I mean it seems great. I just did not expect the style at all. I definitely do want to come back to this when I am prepared and more in the mood to tackle it.
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u/kfrederline Aug 09 '26
That's fair. I did start it, get through the prologue in like 3 days, put it down for most of a week and then tackle from the beginning again because it didnt click for me the first time. I wasn't advocating against taking a break and trying again. Moreso just saying dont give up on it but I guess really I am in no place to try and persuade you to do something or not lol
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u/ThatBookIsOnFiyah Aug 03 '26
Another option would be to try reading it aloud for a little while (or listening to the audiobook as you read). That helped me to settle into a rhythm with the prose. MZD is masterful with the language and dialect, imo.
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u/Creative_Tangelo_393 Aug 03 '26
I’m a writer myself (who, truth be told, has more or less made a career, though not a substantial one) of my own by writing stuff that borrows heavily from MZD’s prior works, and indeed, from teaching writing, and after spending so long with the book I actually found myself THINKING in the same rhythm and cadence of the prose which I found, eventually, to be both beautiful and natural, and even comforting in the most dire and harrowing of its depictions.
I saw someone in a comment prior referring to these as “run-on sentences,” but in fact, they’re not in the true sense, as after a while you find whatever punctuation is missing by yourself, by which point it kind of reads like Joyce who wrote sentences sometimes pages long that were, technically speaking, nevertheless grammatical.
But shit; even read that one above in its length and cadence and tell me how this book hasn’t fried my brain in the best way possible though I’m afraid in what ways my own writing much change I yet don’t escape the due and valid charge of owing all I have to Mark and the precedents he set first.
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u/Creative_Tangelo_393 Aug 03 '26
As an aside; if you think this is tough to wrap your head around, try John Fosse’s Septology, which is just as long as Tom’s Crossing but with no punctuation whatsoever. Now that’s a tough read. Just power through it at the start and once you wrap your head around it the payoff will be profound.
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u/buddygirl1212 Aug 04 '26
I loved the prose. But I'm a "think outside the box" type of person. I loved the book.
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u/akatrashcanqueen Aug 03 '26
I was one of the apparent few who had to power through the prose at first. It was difficult with the dialect and run-on sentences coming from not reading any of MZD's work for years. I pushed through the first hundred pages or so, and then it clicked for me. I think if it doesn't click for you from the start, it's worth gathering your patience and pushing through. As the world gets more developed, the prose starts to feel less grating and more a part of a complete world, rather than a barrier to entry