Book #01: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
(This post contains an affiliate link for Bookshop. org, an online company that supports independent brick-and-mortar bookstores.)
Hello, and welcome to the first official book review of Aisling Valley Editing’s book blog! Review might be something of a strong name for it, as I tend to enjoy every book I read, even the bad ones. I can always find something to like in a book. (Maybe I just like reading.) And these are more just lightly organized thoughts anyway.
Today’s book: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. (Affiliate link!)
The awkwardly long-titled Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of two childhood best friends, Sam Masur and Sadie Green, who reconnect during their last year of college and decide to make a video game together. The book spans decades, covering the ups and (frequently) downs of their relationship as their careers as game developers take off. Something always seems to keep Sam and Sadie from really understanding each other—even though they both wish they could be closer.
The book is told alternatingly from Sam’s and Sadie’s perspectives, often showing their completely different interpretations of the same events. Sam is troubled by disability and chronic pain from a childhood injury, as well as an unspoken trauma that makes him keep everyone at arm’s length. Sadie has anxiety and chronic depression that keeps her from fully trusting anyone. Both of them are kind of a nightmare, to be honest. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book where the main characters were so lovable and yet so insufferable. The supporting characters are equally interesting, too—from Sam’s endlessly positive college roommate to Sadie’s endlessly awful boyfriend, who somehow manages to be both supportive and abusive at the same time. Most of the conflict in the book is driven by the characters’ inability to communicate their feelings until they are shouting at each other.
While you don’t need to know anything about video games to enjoy Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow—Zevin does a great job explaining the references without going into unnecessary detail—I don’t think someone who wasn’t a gamer would enjoy it as much as I did. Most of the book takes place in the mid-90s to early 2000s, so there’s tons of nostalgic references to the games of that era. It’s almost science fiction, depicting an alternate universe where the game studio Sam and Sadie eventually start—Unfair Games—affected the course of video game history.
(Some spoilers ahead, but here are my interpretations of the real-world analogues to some of Unfair Games’ games. There is apparently an acknowledgement section to this effect in the back of the book, but since I listened to the audiobook, I’m not sure which games are actually listed there. This is just for fun:
Ichigo= Undertale
Ichigo 2= every disappointing, half-hearted sequel
Both Sides= What Remains of Edith Finch (mostly in the vibes)
Maple World / Pioneers= Stardew Valley, if it were an MMO, or Terraria
Counterpart High= Persona (it’s actually compared to this in the book)
Our Infinite Days= The Last of Us
Master of the Revels= Dishonored, or maybe Assassin’s Creed?
Dead Sea= Silent Hill
In most instances, the fictional games from the book came out significantly earlier than their real-world counterparts, which avoids the issue all of Unfair Games’ games being knockoffs. I don’t think this aspect of the book would’ve been as enjoyable for someone completely unfamiliar with games and their history, but it was really fun for me.)
Likewise, though, I don’t know how much Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow would appeal to gamers who weren’t really into books. It’s very much a literary fiction kind of book—by which I mean it is a stone cold bummer. I was upset for days because of things that happened in this book. These characters are awful to each other, and it never really works out. I specifically had to choose something nice and light and happy to listen to after this one. I liked this book a lot, but I also kind of hated it a little—just like the main characters. It’s not the sort of easy entertainment that’s associated with video games. The ideal audience is, like me, located in the center of the Venn diagram between video game people and book people.
Like most literary books—which try to emulate real life—the ending left a lot of the story unfinished. We don’t really know what happens to most of characters after the book is over, because we were only ever supposed to see just this one piece of their lives. The ending, which mirrors the beginning, only with the characters older and wiser, could be read as hopeful—or they could be headed right down the same path again. It bothered me, because I really wanted those two idiots to work it out and just be happy, but that’s books, I guess. They never give you the ending you want.
Happy reading, and see you in the next one!
Hello, World!
Welcome to the inaugural post of Aisling Valley Editing’s Book Blog!
This is simply going to be a blog where I share my thoughts on books that I have read (there are quite a few of them.) I’m typically reading at least two books at any time: one on paper, one audiobook, possibly yet another ebook, and occasionally a graphic novel, too.
I gravitate toward fantasy books (usually super-long ones) and science fiction, but I have recently been enjoying nonfiction books about science and nature, and also memoirs specifically about hiking (and there are an awful lot of them.)
I’m not a fast reader at all, but I am fairly consistent about it, and that’s the important thing. My goal is to write at least one post on this blog every week—to help me get back in the habit of writing, which I’ve sadly fallen behind on, and because the business class I took last year said it would help with SEO, which is apparently a good thing?
P.S: For full disclosure, I’ve just applied to Bookshop.org affiliate program! Any links I post on this blog will lead to Bookshop.org (who seem like a nice company, even if they aren’t quite as scarily convenient as certain other big name online retailers) who will pay me a small commission if anyone buys a book from the link (and they’re all good books!) I am not a salesperson by nature, but it seemed like a good idea, supposing they let me into the program.
Anywho, happy reading!