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A review by kaylielongley
Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Lewis Padgett
5.0
Finally, this is the sci-fi thriller standalone book I've been searching for: Tomorrow and Tomorrow tells an unabashed, poignant story of personal identity and crisis in an overstimulated world. Author Sweterlitsch has developed a world just close enough to reality, it's terrifying. 10 years ago, Pittsburg was demolished. Though the specifics of its destruction are minimal, most of the world moves on, besides survivor Dominic, whose pregnant wife Theresa died as a result of the chaos. He becomes disenchanted with the present, reliving his last days with her on a digital stream called the Archive, composed of past memories, recorded via surveillance cameras, tagged content, and neural imaging. He knows he must move on yet the data allows him to continue reliving memories, over and over again.
Though this is the heart of the story, the setting is the star. Dominic's life is saturated with slogans, sex, drugs, and violence. The little details compose the larger setting, making this future not too distant, as Beach Boys still play on the radio, cocaine is still consumed (along with brown sugar), and social networking still manages to reign supreme. Marketing has gotten smarter, though, as ads now adjust based on emotional response. Mass media have turned. CNN offers spots to "buy, sell, f*** America." The porn star-turned-president regularly represents the turn of values. Each of these pieces of the story are simply stated, with little response, as if Dominic is simply desensitized to the endless data stream. The amount and type of content is not as startling as Domi's response to it, presenting a picture of casual obsession.
As a digital archival assistant, Dominic like many others has Adware implanted into his brain. His assignments are to follow the deaths recorded deep in the Archive. He becomes obsessed with each detail of psych student Hannah, then missing ginger-haired Albion. Both have been deleted, and his world grows larger, weirder, in and outside his head. The virtual reality of Pittsburg becomes tangled with the physical truth, and Dominic must learn to cope with the possibility of losing everything, even Theresa.
Though there's a lot going on in Tomorrow and Tomorrow, I was captivated by this tech noir, as the authenticity of Dominic's responses to virtual and physical reality are so natural. The world is fascinating yet bleak, sparking memories of watching The Matrix for the first time. It is unapologetic in confronting the notion that the world is engulfed by media, offering no solution.
Though this is the heart of the story, the setting is the star. Dominic's life is saturated with slogans, sex, drugs, and violence. The little details compose the larger setting, making this future not too distant, as Beach Boys still play on the radio, cocaine is still consumed (along with brown sugar), and social networking still manages to reign supreme. Marketing has gotten smarter, though, as ads now adjust based on emotional response. Mass media have turned. CNN offers spots to "buy, sell, f*** America." The porn star-turned-president regularly represents the turn of values. Each of these pieces of the story are simply stated, with little response, as if Dominic is simply desensitized to the endless data stream. The amount and type of content is not as startling as Domi's response to it, presenting a picture of casual obsession.
As a digital archival assistant, Dominic like many others has Adware implanted into his brain. His assignments are to follow the deaths recorded deep in the Archive. He becomes obsessed with each detail of psych student Hannah, then missing ginger-haired Albion. Both have been deleted, and his world grows larger, weirder, in and outside his head. The virtual reality of Pittsburg becomes tangled with the physical truth, and Dominic must learn to cope with the possibility of losing everything, even Theresa.
Though there's a lot going on in Tomorrow and Tomorrow, I was captivated by this tech noir, as the authenticity of Dominic's responses to virtual and physical reality are so natural. The world is fascinating yet bleak, sparking memories of watching The Matrix for the first time. It is unapologetic in confronting the notion that the world is engulfed by media, offering no solution.