Book 5: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Immediately I started reading this book, I knew I was going to love it, I enjoyed it from the very first page and it lasted till the end, although things didn't go as I expected, but that's part of life, at least it didn't end up ugly.
A few days, after I finished it, I stumbled on a thread on Reddit about the book, and a lot of people were talking it down, I felt pained and started to wonder if I just have a subpar taste or understanding of literature, but as I talked with more people about, I found out that I wasn't alone in my sentiments and when I thought about it, I remember a comment on the thread.
The person said, that the thread is filled with people on the one side full of love for the book and the other side people talking it down. The person added that when a book has such a polarising effect, then it's a good book. I don't entirely agree with the generalisation, but I get the point and agree that it was a great book.
S.A.M is the protagonist you just have to like, he has faults but you have a good defence for him, life has been hard for him, he had experienced too much loss and pain too early in life. In games, he finds comfort and solace and then he meets Sadie, but she's an eleven-year-old who wants some validation and struggles to do the right thing and her care for Sam appears like charity.
They don't talk to each other for six years which was disappointing, but I was heartbroken when I found out that they stopped talking again for years this time, the offender this time was Sam.
People say the Marx character was unrealistic, too good to be true, yeah, he seemed way too kind at the onset to Sam, but for the business, I think he did what a lot of people have done even in our present world. Your friend is building an app, a game whatever, you have the organizational skills and money to support the venture, knowing that you'll get something from it, it's common sense that you give it your best except you have a well-defined path for your life which your passionate about, but that's not the case with Sam.
I want to fault Sadie for a lot of things, first her relationship with Dov, for blaming Sam for making her go back to Dov, for claiming that Sam claimed the game as his, for not seeing through Sam's cover that he was in pain and suffering and for not taking the initiative to get Sam to talk about his feelings for her or hers for him and then get romantically paired, but I also understand her too, she had it a bit better than Sam, but it doesn't mean she did not suffer from insecurities, fear, burnout, a lack of attention and care, and gender discrimination which shaped a lot of the wrong I would have accused her of.
One thing, I kept saying to myself while and after reading the book was, I will not be in a position where I feel a certain way about someone I do care about and not talk to the person about it. It may not work out as I want, but it's so much better you say and communicate that, it helps both parties.
Because he loved Sadie. It was one of only a handful of things that he knew to be a constant about himself. The greatest pleasures of his life had been when he was by her side, playing or inventing. And how could she not feel that as well? There would never be another Sadie, and now this one was lost to him. It wasn’t her fault. He had had years to figure out the solution, but he’d wasted his time making games with her instead. He had had years to contemplate the puzzle of himself. And now the old puzzle would be replaced with a new puzzle: How do I go on when the person I love most in the world is in love with someone else? Someone tell me the solution, he thought, so I don’t have to play this losing game all the way through.
I never expected the Marx and Sadie relationship, I suspected that it may happen at the onset but with Sam's word to Marx about it, and my devotion to seeing Sam and Sadie together, that picture never came to mind. I'm sorry Marx died but I wished Sam and Sadie would start their love story afterwards. But they never did, instead, their relationship went into a downward spiral.
This book was quite an exposure for me to the world of gamers and game development, but it had such an exceptional display of true friendship, love, failure and communication. Communication stands out for me because it was the biggest challenge in Sam and Sadie's relationship, they never said enough to each other. Sadie's words to Sam when he asked why they never got together made me smile.
Sadie sat next to Sam on the bed. “Sammy,” she said. “We were together. You must know that. When I’m honest with myself, the most important parts of me were yours.”
“But together together? The way you were with Marx or Dov.”
“How can you not know this? Lovers are…common.” She studied Sam’s face. “Because I loved working with you better than I liked the idea of making love to you. Because true collaborators in this life are rare.”
Regardless of how sweet this is, I'm not satisfied, I wanted more.
Sadly, the writer was in no way trying to fulfil my fantasies, nevertheless, this was an excellent book, loved it to the very end despite the heartbreak.
It's a beautiful book, I'll give it a 5 star.