5 stars.
I wobbled between four and five stars for this book, but I decided I liked it enough to give it five. Among the many things I liked:
For one, Gabrielle Zevin is very good at writing banter. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has examples of this too numerous to cite, and I forgot which I chose to cite in this review, but there's a lot of good back-and-forth. Not just between the two lead characters, but between other characters as well.
I found the book somewhat similar to the book I wrote in 2018, especially since one of the main characters went to MIT and the other to Harvard, which is exactly what happened in my book. There are some other similarities as well, such as telling the story of a relationship over many years.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was full of wonderful and insightful observations, for example: "There were people with whom you might have a decent conversation with for twenty minutes. But to find someone you wanted to talk to for 609 hours - that was rare." (64). About illness, it is said, "This dissociation was something Sam had experienced many times - the feeling that your body, when it was sick, was no longer your own." (185). And my personal favorite, on page 217, "There were some many people who could be your lover, but, if she was honest with herself, there were relatively few people who could move you creatively." Zevin makes many more such observations.
The title is derived from a famous soliloquy in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, which is cited in its entirety on page 336. I got the feeling Zevin was trying to subvert what Shakespeare was trying to say in that passage, which takes courage for any author to do with any Shakespeare passage. I give her credit for that.
But here are the two things I liked about the book most: First, it is able to reconcile literary and commercial aspects in a way few books do. It is not meant only as serious literature, nor is it only meant as mindless entertainment. In that sense, it does what it claims to be impossible: "It is worth noting that greatness for Sam and Sadie meant different things. To oversimplify: for Sam, greatness meant popular. For Sadie, art." (69).
Furthermore, Zevin is willing to dabble in the realm of the experimental. Part IX of the novel is set almost entirely in a video game, which does not detract from the main narrative at all.
Second, if I knew more about video games, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the kind of story I would write. I could see a film being made out of this story (it has probably already been optioned, who knows), and I think I'd have a good sense of how to write the script (though I'd probably never be chosen). Because it's my kind of story.
A few minor things I didn't like:
The book can sometimes be confusing with several timelines, especially in its early parts. By part IV, the story seems to converge on one main timeline, but there are still some flashbacks and flashforwards.
Also mostly in the early parts, the story is kind of slow, more contemplative. I am sure some people appreciate that; however, I felt there could be more action. It picks up as it goes on, but I can see why someone would not finish this book if they like more active stories.
Lastly, I found that there was a lot of tragedy for a story that was ultimately hopeful. Several peripheral characters die (no spoilers!), not to make the story overwhelmingly sad, but more so than in most stories of this nature.
Ultimately, though, Zevin wrote a wonderful book which I highly recommend. I enjoyed every minute of reading it, and it was just a story that resonated with me.
Total time spent reading: 8 hours, 35 minutes.
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