Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I had heard almost zero criticism of this book prior to reading it, so I went into it with high hopes, and expected to enjoy it. Not only did I enjoy it, but it's one of the best books I've ever read, and it's the type of book I could see myself doing annual rereads of. It was that good, and it had its hooks in me from the start.

Despite the three main characters being about a decade older than me, I found myself easily identifying with them, and feeling like they could have been friends of mine. The camaraderie the three of them shared was a delight to behold, as they navigated their 20s and 30s and dealt with the normal issues 20 and 30somethings deal with, in addition to their own demons. Sam and Sadie's relationship is especially turbulent at times, and they sometimes made me want to scream, but their friendship and love for each other always won out in the end. Marx was the glue that kept it all together, and for me was the star of the story, the hero that Sam, Sadie, and others in their orbit needed.

I could go on and on, but it's best if you just read it for yourself. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is many things. It's smart, funny, empowering, nostalgic, and even tragic. To me, the word that describes it best is masterpiece.

But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.

This book perplexes me. It started off with a slow pace but I was engaged. I enjoyed the book but I wasn't sure where it was heading. However, I felt my reading speed was equivalent to a story with twice as many pages. I also wondered if the story was going to be a slightly less entertaining retelling of Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid but for video games.

I never considered stopping but it was as if I was treading in quicksand with the progress I made, and then something changed.

Either the character stories coalesced, the story became more enjoyable to me, or I was able to read for longer in a single session. Whatever happened it flipped my thoughts about the book around and I understand why this book was a Goodreads 2022 winner and has such a high rating.

The knowledge and experience we have - it isn't necessarily helpful, in a way.

I like video games. I haven't played as much as I did when I was younger but I recall a certain joy and nostalgia with the games that shaped my youth. The book has a heavy focus on video games, but not blatant on references like Ready Player One. Rather the story is a homage to the evolution of games, the struggles of an artist and realizing that you will have failures in your life.

Considering my many concerns about credit, it turns out that no one remembers who's responsible for anything.

Video games are a heavy focus in the beginning but then the story shifts to the characters, their friendships and complications. The relationships are complex. The characters hide their traumas and unintended slights cause a crack to appear that causes people to drift apart. Nothing is straightforward and nothing is easily repairable.

I liked how the video game development mirrored the narrative (eg: the development of Both Sides showing a compare and contrast with Sam and Sadie). I was reminded of how Fonda Lee wrote the characters in the Jade Wars and how the most unlikeable or insignificant character could have an emotional impact. What Gabrielle Zevin did for Sam, Sadie and Marx is stunning.

The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.

The story is about friendships over the course of their lives, through the highs and lows. I was frustrated by the actions of Sam and Sadie in one chapter and then deeply moved in the next. Zevin did a wonderful job on developing these characters and maturing them over the course of the book and I was a little sad to see the book end when it did.

At it's best moments, this book does a really great job of being both about games and evoking the if-then logic of games and game decision points. It also has interesting stuff about game engines (how they shape and constrain creation) and collaboration (the Jobs+Woz dynamic of a salesperson and a designer). It also feels like it was written for late Gen-X or early Millenials - references to Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Everquest, etc.

I think I would've liked it more if it were shorter...I liked the first half much better than the second, and some of that is because the latter half ends up pulling in mass shootings and 9-11 in a way that didn't feel like it connected with the core of the novel.

I should add that I listened to this, and I do think reading it would provide even more of that if-then logic. It's hard to pay close attention to structure (the book does some interesting stuff with chapter titles and branching logics at one point that doesn't translate as well in an audiobook).