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A review by okiecozyreader
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Young Jane Young and The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, so I have been excited for her next book. I am very much NOT a video game fan though, so I wasn’t sure about this one. I thought I might just read the ARC or listen to audio and then I saw this copy with the blue edges and I realized the cover was based on the painting The Wave - and so I ordered this one from Waterstones.
And now, I am so glad. Reading it was such a joy (I enjoyed every moment of the pretty blue page edges) and the book was so much more than video games. It’s the relationships centered on a boy Sam (who is half Jewish/half Korean like the author) with a destroyed foot (background of which is told later in the book), and his college roommate and a girl, who visited him in the hospital and who shared a love of video games. Sam runs into Sadie by chance by his campus at Harvard. She is at MIT and created a video game in a course that she shares with him. After playing the game, he decides they were destined to make video games together.
I loved these friendships so much, and the ride they had together. I loved glimpses here and there that let you know a little of what was coming. Even though I am not a gamer, I do have a degree in computer science, so I enjoyed the background of their work. I also have a background in art and loved the references to Japanese artists and musicians. I could see how their own coming of age was similar to the coming of age of technology/gaming.
I also enjoyed her chat with the B&N bookclub. Some of my favorite take-always were about health being a great equalizer / how it rises above class. And also -
You can’t guarantee what kind of love you will have in life / or which love will be the most important - that of colleagues and friends were both like family.
I think this one will stay with me for a long time - one of my favorites of the year.
“She started walking toward the train, and Sam tried to figure out a way to make her stop. If this were a game, he could hit pause. He could restart, say different things, the right ones this time. He could search his inventory for the item that would make Sadie not leave.” P9
“To design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it.” P22
“There is a time for any fledgling artist where one’s taste exceeds one’s abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.” P68
“You can watch if you want. I’m going to play until the end of this life.”
“That’s a good philosophy.” P110
“At first, she felt nothing, but as she kept moving ahead, she felt a spaciousness in her chest. She realized what a gate was: it was an indication that you had left one space and were entering another. …
She had thought she arrived. But life was always arriving. There was always another gate to pass through. (Until, of course, there wasn’t).” P228
I love the moment you get the title of a book. This one is at the end and is credited to Shakespeare and Macbeth and his play, in the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
All of our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Our, our, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Because
“What is a game? … it’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing bc, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” P335-336
And now, I am so glad. Reading it was such a joy (I enjoyed every moment of the pretty blue page edges) and the book was so much more than video games. It’s the relationships centered on a boy Sam (who is half Jewish/half Korean like the author) with a destroyed foot (background of which is told later in the book), and his college roommate and a girl, who visited him in the hospital and who shared a love of video games. Sam runs into Sadie by chance by his campus at Harvard. She is at MIT and created a video game in a course that she shares with him. After playing the game, he decides they were destined to make video games together.
I loved these friendships so much, and the ride they had together. I loved glimpses here and there that let you know a little of what was coming. Even though I am not a gamer, I do have a degree in computer science, so I enjoyed the background of their work. I also have a background in art and loved the references to Japanese artists and musicians. I could see how their own coming of age was similar to the coming of age of technology/gaming.
I also enjoyed her chat with the B&N bookclub. Some of my favorite take-always were about health being a great equalizer / how it rises above class. And also -
You can’t guarantee what kind of love you will have in life / or which love will be the most important - that of colleagues and friends were both like family.
I think this one will stay with me for a long time - one of my favorites of the year.
“She started walking toward the train, and Sam tried to figure out a way to make her stop. If this were a game, he could hit pause. He could restart, say different things, the right ones this time. He could search his inventory for the item that would make Sadie not leave.” P9
“To design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it.” P22
“There is a time for any fledgling artist where one’s taste exceeds one’s abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.” P68
“You can watch if you want. I’m going to play until the end of this life.”
“That’s a good philosophy.” P110
“At first, she felt nothing, but as she kept moving ahead, she felt a spaciousness in her chest. She realized what a gate was: it was an indication that you had left one space and were entering another. …
She had thought she arrived. But life was always arriving. There was always another gate to pass through. (Until, of course, there wasn’t).” P228
I love the moment you get the title of a book. This one is at the end and is credited to Shakespeare and Macbeth and his play, in the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
All of our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Our, our, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Because
“What is a game? … it’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing bc, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” P335-336
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma