Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: As teens, Sam and Sadie bond over videogames in the unlikeliest of places. As we learn over the next 30 years, life won’t always be easy for these aspiring — and later successful — video game developers.
Expectation: A romance novel rooted in the world of tech and gaming.
Reality: Nuanced and gorgeous writing, paired with a genre-melding plot made this one of the most immersive and surprising stories I’ve read all year.
Recommended For: Fans of character-driven stories set in a high-stakes world.
Why I Read It: It was a “stop what you’re doing and read this novel” request by one of my close friends. She was right – it’s worth picking up immediately.
My Take:
Since finishing Gabrielle Zevin’s immersive story that had me completely enraptured, I’ve been asked by multiple people if it’s something they would like. So, let’s clear a few things up:
Yes, it focuses on the video game industry, but it’s about starting and maintaining a business and how relationships evolve, not another “Ready Player One.”
Regardless of what the title might lead you to believe, it is not a time travel novel. Although we do see our characters at various points in their lives. (note: the title is in reference to a speech in “Macbeth.”).
Sometimes the book of the moment arrives overhyped, but if you like character-driven stories that pack an emotional, but not manipulative, punch this will 100 percent hit the mark for you.
Introducing a trio of strong characters, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” spans a few genres successfully — drama, romance, business, fantasy and historical fiction — and uses well-placed video game metaphors to keep the novel rooted in the core plot while not alienating non-gamers.
It’s difficult to talk about Sadie, Sam and Marx without giving away spoilers. Each of their stories is incredibly well-developed and the primary pleasure of this novel is seeing how Zevin plays with the readers’ perception of them as time goes on.
For example, Sadie begins as a norm disruptor but ends the novel as a misanthrope. Sam elicits sympathy but later becomes a proxy for everything wrong with tech personalities (ala Musk and Zuckerberg). Marx feels like a throw away character — he’s even jokingly referred to as a non-player character (NPC) — before becoming the emotional center of the story.
I’ve never read something by Zevin, so I don’t know if these types of character evolutions — or waves of active disgust or sympathy for them at various points in the story — is a hallmark of her storytelling or a one-off, but it’s not easy feat to pull off.
The decision to follow our main characters from 1980s childhood through 2010s adulthood was also a masterstroke by the author who likely knows most of her readers are elder Millennials or GenXers that played video games during the time period our characters make their mark on the industry. It’s much easier to grasp what’s happening — and the impact — when the points of reference are “Donkey Kong,” “Oregon Trail” and “Myst.”
“Tomorrow” is the type of novel that if you ask people what they liked best about it, everyone will likely say something different.
The standouts to me were [minor spoilers]:
The boomerang nature of Zevin’s storytelling, meaning she references an idea or situation briefly in the present tense, but later flashbacks help the reader fully understand the impact it had on the character(s). It made the story of Sam and his mother more meaningful as well as the journey to Sam’s amputation.
How Sam and Sadie never had a romantic relationship but were far closer and more intimate with one another than most spouses.
The balance of world building, and buzzy tech experiences, paired with small details and quiet gestures that made Sam, Sadie and Marx feel wholly real.
I also love it when a specific chapter is so strong it could be a standalone novella. Previously the exemplars of this were: “A Body for Each of Us” in Nathan Hill’s “The Nix,” “Part IV” in Fatima Farheen Mirza’s “A Place For Us” and “Moroccan” in Andrew Sean Greer’s “Less.” Zevin shows up her esteemed colleagues by including TWO of those sections in “Tomorrow”: “Part VII: The NPC” and “Part IX: Pioneers.” Each contained some of the finest writing I’ve heard all year.
I’ll admit that it did drag a little in the middle (but the last third makes up for it in spades), some of the ancillary characters are grating (looking at you Dov) and there were occasions where Zevin went too deep into the process of video game development. Still, the sum of its parts — yes, even the shooting that has divided several readers — created something truly special.
[spoilers ended]
As an audiobook, it does require a fair bit of concentration because of the timeline shifts and little details. If you prefer this format, you’re in for a treat with the narration, which also included one of the most surprising production decisions I’ve ever heard.
Almost the entire novel is narrated by Jennifer Kim, who does fantastic work embodying the characters, but in Part VII Julian Chin takes over for Marx, giving a poignant and heartfelt performance — a soliloquy reminiscent of the novels’ namesake — that gives this NPC top-billing. I was lulled into the status quo with Kim, so the narrator shift for this just section helped underline its importance to the story, and the beauty of its words.
Personally, “Tomorrow” affected me more than I could’ve have anticipated.
At the time my listening started, I didn’t know we were only days away from putting down one of our beloved cats. This novel became my distraction and comfort while also providing catharsis as the characters dealt with their own grief.
This inextricably link to my own sorrow isn’t usually how I’d like to remember one of my favorite reads of the year, but there’s a reason this book came to me when it did. I’m glad it was there when I needed it.
Rating (story): 5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 5/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: August 3 – August 9, 2022
Multi-tasking: Okay. Oftentimes Zevin casually mentions details that will later have large importance. If you aren’t paying close enough attention to pick up on them (or see what info is being teased for later), you probably won’t like this novel as much as I did.
