“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
OFF THE SHELF
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a novel that explores the enduring power of love and guilt. Sadie and Sam, bond over video games when the pair meet in a children’s hospital; Sadie as the sibling of a cancer patient and Sam while enduring ongoing treatment for a crushed foot following an accident. We see this childhood relationship renewed and the bond cemented when the couple meet up again during their university years. The novel continues as the couple develop their gaming genius in partnership with Marx a failed actor and student friend of Sam’s as they conceive of, and programme, a game about a young boy named Ichigo, which becomes famous and lucrative. We see the partnership’s well-being impacted as they strive from developing one game to the next. The plot unfolds with various relationships along the way including Sadie’s abusive affair with her tutor Dove. Although the couple were never romantically involved, Sadie’s character in a game ends up married to Sam’s avatar.
Marx was a favourite character with our readers as he grounded the couple and mended relationships. His death devastated both Sadie and Sam. It was he who coined the title of the book based on Macbeth’s speech but with a positive twist. It’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent because nothing is permanent, ever.
The story immerses the reader into the world of gaming culture which some of the group found novel and interesting, but the gaming aspect was too consuming for some. Although we enjoyed the book, we all agreed that it involved too many unnecessary side events and personalities which added to the length of the story line.
Our Book Club rated it 6 out of 10
Anne Gill