Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
By Gabrielle Zevin
Introduction by Librarian
“The world of infinite restarts. Start again at the beginning, this time you might win.”- “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
I like playing video games since they enable me to travel around the journey into the imagination. The term “video game addiction” is often used, which means people who lose control over gaming habits, resulting in negative consequences in various aspects of their daily lives. What is the attractiveness of video games? Despite the excitement from the interesting game characters and story, gaming is considered to be a method for escaping from reality. The virtual world creates a shelter for players that they can pretend to be exploring into the virtual world. Also, the “infinite restarts” nature enables players to experience unlimited chances.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” is a story about friendship. Two lifelong friends first met with each other in a children’s hospital. They played video games together and later on created games on their own during their adulthood. The story illustrated the ups and downs of their friendship, their creativity, how they navigated their career for the professional journey towards the gaming industry, and the diverging paths of their lives. The story also touched on the impact of historical and social events, i.e. 9/11 and Covid-19 and the role of video games during those challenging periods. It also examined the cultural and social significance of video games in our daily lives. Moreover, the part on the exploration of partnership and collaboration was impressive. The story stated that “to allow yourself to play with another person is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back”. It reflected the strong bond among the main characters of the story which made it worth reading.
You may wonder “What is a game?" The story tells that "It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” The core message from “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” is “endless possibilities of rebirth and renewal”. We should keep a positive attitude and mindset when facing difficult situations. Hard times will not be long lasting hence we should not give up but keep on surviving tough times by building resilience. Similarly, we should get prepared for accepting challenges at all times since good times is also not permanent.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” is a New York Times Bestseller novel. No matter you are a video game lover or not, you will be impressed by the story.