Soapbox features allow our writers and individual contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve mulled over. TodayMichelle reads an incredible novel about the game, and argues that books and games should be on the same page…
Two hard-working children Super Mario Bros. in a hospital game room. One asked the other, ‘What’s the secret to landing high on a flagpole?’ This is the beginning of Sam and Sadie’s friendship, at the heart of Gabrielle Zevin’s novel, Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow.
For anyone who’s tried and struggled with hitting the top of flagpoles, jamming buttons, and sighing in frustration, it’s a lovely nostalgic nod to the NES game. For everyone, it was the beginning of a deep friendship that will unfold in the pages of this epic series.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was the first book I read that took the game seriously but still spoke to a general audience.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow denotes the friendship of these characters from meeting each other as children, to college students making amateur games, to world-famous developers. It offers insightful and humorous commentary on creativity and maturity. It is not a ‘gamer book’ but a book about games; You don’t have to be a capital-G gamer to enjoy it.
Zevin proves that a novel can favor characters that play a game and can be read by anyone. But why is this so unique? What are the books where a character comes home from a long day and relaxes with their Nintendo Switch? (Not based on my own life at all). Why aren’t there more books about the game?
Google ‘game books’ and you’ll see non-fiction books (Blood, Sweat and Pixels, Console warsart books, encyclopedias) and novels take over the sci-fi space (Ready to play one, Snow accident).
Novels that combine games into one story, like T&T&T, are few and far between. Ready Player One, the poster kid for the game novel, is filled with references that are integral to the reader’s understanding. Its sci-fi label is firmly attached, and it’s not really trying to make the game accessible or appeal to non-gaming audiences. There’s nothing wrong with that, in theory. But it’s often the first game novel that people think of, and this fact means that when it comes to books, the game is still in a ‘different’ place, in an arena with no players.
The way the mainstream media views games and ‘gamers’ hasn’t changed much since the Game Boy. Zevin against this cliché
I’m sure a lot of aspiring novelists are writing manuscripts like T&T&T, which deal with games in a way that is accessible to anyone. But publishers, like readers, might see such a manuscript, think it’s Ready Player One-A, and throw it in the trash. Real literature still doesn’t reflect how the game is played and consumed in real life. Maybe this is how the filmmakers used to see the game: a good medium, sure, but a medium too different to be presented as it is. However, even as the filmmakers improved their relationship with the game (more on that later), the authors objected. The ‘oldest’ medium has not yet accepted the ‘latest’.
That’s why Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow are one – ahem – game changer.
The literary world may raise its strongest shield against the realm of games, but whatever the reason, its defenses should be lowered. The game is more popular than ever. Around 3 billion people play mobile games worldwide. Nintendo Switch sales have been surpassing Game Boy and PS4. During the pandemic, the Switch has Sold outand our favorite lock island escape Animal Crossing: New Horizons fly off the shelf. Non-gaming articles might call it a ‘boom’ industry, but it’s already exploded.
However, the way the mainstream media views the game and ‘gamer’ hasn’t changed much since the Game Boy. Zevin is against this cliché. She gives gamer characters dimensions beyond their amusement.
Sam was raised by his grandparents and we were brought into this loving relationship as they cared for him, guided him and gave him life advice even into adulthood. They run a pizzeria, which is the setting of Sam’s first (and ‘greatest spirit’) game experience, on a Donkey Kong machines. In Sadie, we see a child caring for her sick sister/best friend, even as she is ignored by her parents and forced to grow up at a ripe 11 years old. The game became one of the few consolations in her life, even if she could only play an hour a week. Sam and Sadie aren’t just gamers – they’re people.
In the entertainment world, things are changing, even if only slightly. Games are on the screen more and more players are not just antisocial teenagers. In 2010, scott traveler vs world showed us that video game references can appear in a widely loved movie. Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest the first is a workplace comedy and a game show the second – that is Made to be watched by more than just gamers. Game adaptations have improved and appeal to people who have never touched a console (think Our last, witch, secretand coming soon jigsaw puzzle biography and Movie Super Mario Bros.).
Playing and reading also share a kind of intimacy. In T&T&T, Sam says, ‘There is no more intimate act than play, including sex’
Increasingly, games of all sizes are based on more complex stories with multidimensional characters. I see the plot as a main draw card to play and buy. For me, the emotional investment makes achieving the final boss fight, that final quest, that judgement from grandpa, even sweeter.
There are even games that reflect books, such as Elysium Discotheque (created by novelist Robert Kurvitz) and Signal tree. Both are largely text-based, sparking the reader’s imagination the way a novel does.
Playing and reading also share a kind of intimacy. In T&T&T, Sam says, ‘There’s no more intimate act than play, including sex’ (!) When you spend so much time getting to know the characters and sharing their interests, you can’t help but be interested in their lives and ambitions.
That proximity gives consumers an active role in story development. If you leave the room while a movie is playing, it will continue. But books and games need Friend to move the story – whether it’s by turning the page or pressing a button. And book readers like me do this for both, with the same just a little bit more enthusiasm.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was the first book I read that took video games seriously while also speaking to a casual audience. It also made me laugh, cry and google everything about it. The compelling story and broad appeal make for such a perfect blend of the oldest and newest mediums that it can influence the broader conversation about the game in the literary space. Now its acclaim is growing (and It’s being turned into a movieof course), we can see more of the game’s presence in the literary world.
It is a tomorrow I look forward to.
