Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
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I’m very down with the premise of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It follows childhood friends who undergo a dramatic platonic break-up and then reconnect as adults to create a video game that launches them into success and stardom. As someone whose gaming knowledge doesn’t extend past Mario Kart Wii (shout out Boo, you’re a real one), I appreciate that this novel guides me through the world of gaming, explaining things and opening up my eyes without insulting my intelligence. I’m also very down with the breadth. It spans thirty years, so us readers are swept into a world. For me, intimately following a character’s life over a long period of time is something that gives a book a certain sticking factor. Books like The Goldfinch and Demon Copperhead have staying power because I lived with those people. I watched them age! I was immersed!
I am less down with the characters of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow themselves. I think that maybe this book suffered from trying to do too much at the same time. It spanned three decades and had three main characters, so it was difficult for me to connect with them individually. It’s one thing to be opaque to yourself and others (coming of age classic, duh) but don’t remain opaque to me, the reader desperately trying to get to know you. I never really felt emotionally invested in them (except maybe Marx…but even then, I feel like I don’t really *know* the real Marx. Like I couldn’t describe Marx to you right now. Yikes). I am also less down with the moments that felt overly contrived. Sometimes the gaming metaphors seemed forced. We get it– they’re immortalized by their technological creations, plz don’t continue to hammer me over the head with this notion.
So, it appears I’m 50% down and 50% not down, which brings me to 3 out of 5 flames, correct? That rating feels right, although I do feel like I must have missed something here and I might be doing it a disservice. It won Goodread’s Best Fiction of 2022 and made the top ten list of Amazon’s Best Books of 2022, so people clearly like it. It was also glowingly recommended to me by my friend Sewell (hey, Sewell!) and she introduced me to Demon Copperhead, so I know she’s a trustworthy reader. That’s all to say that I thought this book was fine. Not particularly stand out but also good enough storytelling to keep me engaged for 400 pages. Take from that what you will.
