A few months ago, I read Gabrielle Zevin’s hit novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on recommendation from several friends. I’d heard amazing things about this book, but I wasn’t convinced to actually read it. until I realized that everyone who’d told me about it came from vastly different backgrounds, ages, and nationalities.
If a book had this broad of an appeal, I figured it must be worth reading. (Spoiler: it absolutely was! In fact, the book has proven to be so popular it’s already in talks for a film adaptation.)
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It seemed like everyone had a different point of admiration for the book: its portrayal of platonic friendship, its exploration of prestigious institutions and academic elitism, its depiction of popular culture, and particularly the pocket generation between Generation X and Millennials.
I had no idea what to expect going in, especially as Zevin is most famous for her work in young adult, or YA, novels.
So you can imagine my surprise when, after finishing the book, I found myself particularly moved by its depiction of old-school video games. But why?
~ Spoilers Ahead ~
The Presence Of Video Games
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow tells the story of two friends, Sam and Sadie, from their shared childhood love of video games to their meteoric rise as two of the world’s most famous video game developers. Set from the 1980s to the present day, from Los Angeles to Boston, the novel is really a story about grief and the limitations of our physical bodies. One character, after a tragic accident kills a loved one, is left with a crippling physical disability. Video games become his escape from the pain of mourning and the frustration of being seen as “different.”
One of the most relatable aspects of this book was, for me, the presence of video games. When, in the novel, Sam and Sadie spend hours playing Donkey Kong at his grandparents’ pizza restaurant, I was reminded of my own memories of playing Ms. Pac-Man at the pizza parlor in my mom’s hometown. Even if the specifics or timeframe might have been slightly different, this book spoke to my experience of growing up in 1990s America in a very real way.
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It doesn’t stop there, though. The characters in the book are constantly playing video games, both real and fictional. They’re a means to bond, to connect, to communicate with one another without the societal pressures of conventional conversation.
Whether or not you consider yourself a gamer, most millennials and younger generations can relate to the experience of passing the time with a friend or family member, wordlessly in front of a screen. Even if your elders didn’t get it—I know mine certainly didn’t — it was like a secret bond that you shared, a way to come together.
Sam and Sadie, the novel’s protagonists, first meet in a hospital recreation room playing video games. This silent means of collaboration enables Sam to speak for the first time in weeks, and the doctors are amazed. The two gamers’ friendship blossoms through the years, held together by their common love of gaming.
Gaming As An Adult
Video games are a thread that runs throughout the book, and throughout the lives of its characters. From childhood to maturity, gaming is a point of connection, escape, and understanding for them. Sam and Sadie use gaming to cope with grief, with change, with uncertainty.
And to see this experience represented in a best-selling novel was, well, vindicating.
While it’s rare that I find myself playing video games at this stage in my life, I have spent countless hours gaming as an adult. Building cities, escaping scientific testing facilities, defeating monsters… these are all experiences I’ve melted into at some point or another in my adult life. It was rare that I spoke about gaming to the people around me; my elders often found it immature and tedious, and many of my peers thought it a nerdy waste of time.
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So to see the beauty and power of gaming reflected back to me from the pages of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was satisfying in a way that is difficult to describe. It was as though the novel was giving power to my lived experiences of gaming, and legitimizing my passion for games like The Legend of Zelda, Portal, and Resident Evil.
Sam and Sadie, the book’s protagonists, were telling me that it’s even cool to enjoy video games. It may seem obvious, but this was a revelation for me as someone who was taught to view gaming with a certain level of derision.
(I’m pleased to say that this book suggests a greater societal shift in the way we view video games, with a Legend Of Zelda film adaptation also in the works. Heck yeah!)
For The Non-Gamers
While I found this book moving for its exploration and treatment of video games, it is a book that has so much more to offer than a celebration of gaming. As I mentioned up top, this novel came recommended to me by individuals from all walks of life. Even if you really, deeply don’t identify as a gamer, I still recommend this novel. Its rich, flawed, lovably human characters are incredibly well-drawn. Zevin has a flair for developing emotions and relationships, and this book is a testament to that.
And perhaps, more profoundly, it’s a love letter to nostalgia. While this novel was particularly resonant to me as someone who is fairly close in age to its protagonists, its exploration of memory and the past goes far deeper than a simple celebration of the 1990s. It is a book that will make any reader, from any city, of any age, look back on the past with a renewed sense of wonder.
For that reason, regardless of your feelings about video games, I highly recommend that you read Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
