I mean rating things on a numeric scale from 1 to 5 is of course silly and non-objective. I think, in many way’s, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is in fact a great book! Well-rounded characters in an engaging narrative focused on the notion of a life-long friendship, a relationship dynamic that is underemphasized and too-often overlooked in novels. I had to apportion my readings carefully, because it was obvious that this was the sort of book that would cause me to stay up too late to finish - and in the end I finished it in 3 sittings, separated by 2 weeks each. I am more likely to recommend this book than many other books that I have rated higher, and probably technically it is in fact better than many of those books!

For me I think it was missing a bit. Maybe, from the start, it argues too much? It is too desperate to say Video Games Are Art and throws in words like Weltshmertz to lend I suppose some cultural cachet to the argument, but to my eye that is counterproductive - the fact that one can be pretentious about something does not lend it credence. Video games are of course a form of artistic expression. Readers who suspect this can I guess justify and clarify their opinions here, and readers who are dubious may be persuaded (although I’m not sure that this would do much to change their mind).

But! I mean after all that is just the backdrop, the window dressing of the book, which is in the end about a couple of friends being pals and then sometimes struggling with being pals, and that is a fundamentally cool thing! Something about the voice, though - the frame of the story, while not explicit and maybe more of a gesture, is that of a magazine article(s?) about the video game company, the type of article that I doubt I would read in real life. It approaches the characters, their despair and successes, from this slightly elevated angle hidden behind a glossy page at an emotional distance from what happens, leaving them a bit emotionally stunted. Upset at criticism of her storm (I like this! I like exploration of emotional investment in 3d modeling and simulation), Sadie retreated into her room and “once she was alone, she effortlessly made a storm with her eyes.” The writing sacrifices pathos for ludic resonance, and I just found that a bit disappointing.