Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

I forgot to take a picture of the book while my library loan was still valid, so you have a chance to admire my artistic talents. Here is my concept: I took the background image of the book cover and put it in the background of the picture of the book, trying to get the two of them to line up just right. And I'm pretty proud of it, which is saying a lot.

That said, if my artistic talent is questionable, Gabrielle Zevin's is not at all. I loved this book, and it even made me want to play video games, which I never do unaccompanied. For once, my opinion aligns pretty well with others; this is the book I've heard the most about this year, and it won the Goodreads award for best fiction in 2022.

Summary

I warn you, I will try to summarize the story and you will find that the book sounds boring.

A little boy who has just lost both his parents and the use of his foot in a car accident meets a little girl, who comes to visit her sister who has cancer in the hospital. The two get into the habit of playing video games together, and soon become best friends. Many years later, the boy meets the girl again and suddenly develops a desire to make a game with her. They will be a huge success together. But their friendship, as deep as it is, will not come out of their business relationship unscathed.

Impressions

This book is not perfect, but I loved everything about it.

I loved the main characters, and found their friendship believable and adorable. I loved their interactions, they flowed and exuded love. I found it refreshing to read about a friendship between a guy and a girl in which not a trace of sexual attraction was visible (not until a long time, anyway).

I loved the descriptions of video games, which suddenly made me realize that this is just as rich and valuable a branch of entertainment as, say, cinema. I also loved that the author decided to include so much detail about the development of the games. She managed to make it fascinating, and I now have a newfound sympathy for my gamer boyfriend or my friend who works in video games. Since I read this book, by the way, I've been playing myself. (I played Life is Strange and The Dark Pictures Anthologies, in case anyone is interested).

I also agree with the values that come through in the book. I liked the way the author manages to break down gender stereotypes simply by putting women in traditionally male jobs and vice versa. There is nothing like, for example, and English is great for this, talking about "a nurse", and bringing in a man, letting us see for ourselves that we are surprised. I also liked the way homophobia was dealt with, and I liked the characters' talk about cultural appropriation. I saw several people complaining that the book was too "woke," but I suspect they are the same who are complaining about the fact that there are black actors in the new Lord of the Rings series. I kindly invite people who are uncomfortable with the slightest social comment or even the slightest reference to a social reality, no matter how sensible and well done, to turn to a practice like meditation.

And when I was talking about the flawed aspects of the book, I was talking about the incredibly hot-headed temper of the girl who got on my nerves, and the character of Marx, who literally has no flaws. But hey: tiresome people are part of life. As for the sexy, funny, brilliant, incredibly kind, loyal and lovable Marx, well personally he didn't bother me.

For all these reasons, I add this book to my favorites.