Sunday, March 12, 2023

Books Set in North America: United States, Massachusetts and California

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin (2022)

 

Sam Masur and Sadie Green met as young children when Sam was in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident, that will leave his disabled.  Sam was traumatized by the accident that killed his mother and had been non-communicative.  Sadie, who was bored visiting her sick sister, went into the hospital’s game room.  There she met Sam who was playing a video game.  They quickly bonded over video games, and she got him out of his depressive state.  Years later, they ran into each other again when Sam was attending Harvard, and Sadie was at MIT.

 

As young college students, they renewed their love-hate friendship and their love of video games.  They created their first video game, Ichigo, which quickly launched them into the gaming industry.  The game, however, required a platform created by Sadie’s former professor and lover.  While taking a course in computer gaming, Sadie entered into a destructive relationship with a married professor, who comes in and out of her life.  During a particularly painful breakup with the professor, Sam pulled Sadie out of her depression.

 

Sam and Sadie established a computer game company with the help of Marx, who had been Sam’s college roommate.  At this point, the novel’s focus explained in detail the creation of various games the company created.  Sam and Sadie’s relationship also went through many periods of ups and downs.  Marx is the glue that keeps their gaming company from exploding.

 

The first part of the book kept my interest, but I got bored by the final third.  Sam and Sadie’s relationship began to drag.  They were never romantically involved, but they were constantly feuding.  I ceased being interested in their exploits.  The novel then delved into politically correct issues by creating games where the characters could enter into same-sex marriages.

 

The title of the novel comes from a soliloquy in Macbeth where Macbeth discussed the futility of life.

 

Read:  March 11, 2023

 

3 Stars




No comments:

Post a Comment