Did you know that there is an entire day dedicated to video games? Every year, the nation celebrates National Video Game Day on July 8, and recently, I read a book that would be perfect to talk about on such an occasion. One of the most popular books of 2023 was “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin, but I’ve only recently come across the debate of whether the book should be praised or hated by the masses, so I decided to take a Pac-man sized bite out of this novel to celebrate the world of video games.
About the Book:
There is a lot of controversial inventory to unload about this book, and author in particular, that I will be saving for the second section of this review, but for now, let’s talk about how this book came to be. Gabrielle Zevin is a Jewish American author with 9 previous titles, with the subject of today being her most recent and popular of the bunch. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” takes place in the 1980s and follows three friends as they develop games and a successful company together.
Sadie, who we follow mainly through the story, meets Sam at a hospital where he is being treated for childhood leukemia. The two play many video games together while Sam is hospitalized, but soon fall out of touch. Later, when the two are older, they meet again in university, as well as introducing the third leg to their trio, Sam’s roommate, Marx. The three of them form a strong bond and form a gaming company called Unfair Games alongside Sadie’s old professor, Dov. Only about halfway through this novel by this point, the story further progresses as their relationships and company grow, here is where I share a spoiler warning for the rest of the novel as I move into the next section and talk more about my opinion of the book.
Reviews of the Book:
As stated above, this book has faced praise and backlash from all sides, one of these comes from claims that during Gabrielle Zevin’s research, she met with many video game developers and allegedly stole their ideas for this novel. Stemming from the overarching debate of fair use and reusing ideas through literature, after all this novel is influenced strongly by authors like Shakespeare, it is difficult to back either side of the creative debate. As a writer myself, I find myself influenced by media that I’ve consumed, whether I realize it or not, but beyond that, there is a much more impactful critique of this novel that I could not overlook.
A major issue with this book for many readers, especially in today’s climate, branches from Gabrielle Zevin’s Zionist beliefs. Dov, a character I mentioned earlier, is an Israeli War Veteran and heavily praises Israel throughout the novel. I honestly found Dov to be one of the worst characters in this book, which says a lot in my opinion, as he manipulates the main characters and constantly gets away with it, being praised as one of the creators of many successful video games. Furthering this point, I also found Sadie, especially with her obsession with Dov, to be a horrible main character and negatively effects the stereotypes of women in the gaming world.
On top of many, many, other issues I had with this novel, from the extremely unnecessary length of it to the horribly unlikeable characters, I truly do not understand the obsession. Do not take my words as a deterrent from reading this novel, as I found the immaculate imagery of the video games and the process of their creation to tell a fascinating tale, but I would give great warning to anyone reading this book for the extremist tone it takes. I hope you find a wonderfully immersive way to embrace National Video Game Day, whether that be reading a book about games or playing games about books, GG Player 1!
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