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Tomorrow
'Tomorrow I'm going to begin my novel...'
A would-be author has taken time out from life in the city to live in a cabin by a river and write a novel.
And not just any novel. A novel that will avoid all the pitfalls and limitations of other novels, a novel that will include everything.
At first these new surroundings are so idyllic that it's hard to find the motivation to get started. And then, in all its brutality, the outside world intervenes...
Ranging constantly backwards and forwards in time and space, Tomorrow becomes a restless search for meaning in a precarious and elusive world.
A would-be author has taken time out from life in the city to live in a cabin by a river and write a novel.
And not just any novel. A novel that will avoid all the pitfalls and limitations of other novels, a novel that will include everything.
At first these new surroundings are so idyllic that it's hard to find the motivation to get started. And then, in all its brutality, the outside world intervenes...
Ranging constantly backwards and forwards in time and space, Tomorrow becomes a restless search for meaning in a precarious and elusive world.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
10 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Chris Beckett
101Ìýbooks337ÌýfollowersChris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author.
Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).
He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.
Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.
Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov's, calling it "One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time..." Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it "a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures." Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: "Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible."
His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as "a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction".
Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela's Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).
Beckett comments on his official website: "Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me."
Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).
He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.
Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.
Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov's, calling it "One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time..." Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it "a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures." Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: "Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible."
His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as "a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction".
Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela's Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).
Beckett comments on his official website: "Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 12, 2021
I haven't read a novel as experimental in its narrative as this in a long time and it intrigued me. Bold, at times philosophical and at others visceral and raw, it was an interesting read that I certainly won't forget for a while.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley
November 15, 2021
I'd read two Chris Beckett novels prior to this one and found them fascinatingly different: , which I liked the concept of but found the execution rather underwhelming, and , which I found beguiling and absolutely loved. is a different experience again. The concept, of a writer trying to write some sort of ultimate novel, did not strike me as hugely promising. The execution is interesting, though, as the narrative is in first person, non-linear, and dilatory. As far as I could tell, the setting is the same as at different points in time. The naiads of appear identical to the duendes, yet do not have the same extraordinary effects on people. Although was shelved as sci-fi in the library, there are only the slightest of fantastical elements. I appreciated how reflective and atmospheric it was. The discussions on class issues and political change are thoughtful. I liked that the narrator is bisexual yet this is not made a big deal of. The wilderness landscapes that he struggles through are vivid and beautifully described, albeit nowhere near as weird as those in . His relationships are not shown with such a light touch, because he is exceedingly introspective.
I found Beckett's writing compelling, yet hoped for a resolution or twist at the end of the book which did not come. The acknowledgements mention that he began it during one of the 2020 lockdowns. There is a strong theme of seeking meaning and happiness in constrained circumstances and with a strong awareness of mortality. This makes for a slightly unsettling read, but one that doesn't reach any firm conclusions. The meta elements of a novelist trying to write a novel did not really work for me, despite my interest in the narrator. Beckett is definitely a writer I will continue to read, although I much preferred .
I found Beckett's writing compelling, yet hoped for a resolution or twist at the end of the book which did not come. The acknowledgements mention that he began it during one of the 2020 lockdowns. There is a strong theme of seeking meaning and happiness in constrained circumstances and with a strong awareness of mortality. This makes for a slightly unsettling read, but one that doesn't reach any firm conclusions. The meta elements of a novelist trying to write a novel did not really work for me, despite my interest in the narrator. Beckett is definitely a writer I will continue to read, although I much preferred .
July 28, 2021
A Novel for novelists...
It works best if you don't get hung up on the structure. If you enjoyed Beckett's more recent work then pick this up. There's a lot to unpack and I can't do it without spoilers, but I liked it a lot and I will think about it for quite some time. I might come back and rewrite this once I've had some sink in time.
It works best if you don't get hung up on the structure. If you enjoyed Beckett's more recent work then pick this up. There's a lot to unpack and I can't do it without spoilers, but I liked it a lot and I will think about it for quite some time. I might come back and rewrite this once I've had some sink in time.
December 14, 2022
Started off promisingly, but after a while the constant time changes and (maybe being harsh) pseudo philosophy aspects became a bit stale. Ended up losing quite a bit of interest in this. Nice and experimental and I like his other work, but this was a miss for me.
February 15, 2022
The best endings in books are those which are completely leftfield yet completely perfect. They might surprise, but don't cheat. "Tomorrow" has one of those endings where one word (and I won't say which it is) in the final sentence threw me a curveball and made me re-evaluate the entirety of the previous text, yet which fits the story to a tee. The thing is, "Tomorrow" is a book about perceptions: how we see people and how people see us, how one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter, how tourists view indigenous races and cultures, how we plant reality over fantasy and vice versa. The reader's perception during the course of this book will also be subtly challenged.
Told in jumbled vignettes where a timeline seeks to impress itself upon the reader almost against its better judgment, "Tomorrow" teases and hints at interpretation but is gloriously undefined. We assume we are on Earth (but what of the pterosaurs and sky-monkeys), we assume we are getting to know the protagonist (but do they really know themselves). A reader will attempt to correlate information to impose their own interpretation on any given text (sometimes aligning with the author, sometimes not), and here Beckett strives to undermine that relationship, seeks to wilfully frustrate the reader to good effect.
Whilst "Tomorrow" is an experimental novel, it's not a difficult read. And whilst the main character isn't always likeable, their opinions on society and relationship interactions are thoughtful and erudite. There's an echo of Christopher Priest in how much Beckett is willing to give and how much you have to assume for yourselves (for those who need a comparison). As usual his characters are well-drawn, rounded human beings (Beckett's background in social work adds a level of examination that is never preachy but always provides detailed interest).
"Tomorrow" is a novel well-worth seeking out today.
Told in jumbled vignettes where a timeline seeks to impress itself upon the reader almost against its better judgment, "Tomorrow" teases and hints at interpretation but is gloriously undefined. We assume we are on Earth (but what of the pterosaurs and sky-monkeys), we assume we are getting to know the protagonist (but do they really know themselves). A reader will attempt to correlate information to impose their own interpretation on any given text (sometimes aligning with the author, sometimes not), and here Beckett strives to undermine that relationship, seeks to wilfully frustrate the reader to good effect.
Whilst "Tomorrow" is an experimental novel, it's not a difficult read. And whilst the main character isn't always likeable, their opinions on society and relationship interactions are thoughtful and erudite. There's an echo of Christopher Priest in how much Beckett is willing to give and how much you have to assume for yourselves (for those who need a comparison). As usual his characters are well-drawn, rounded human beings (Beckett's background in social work adds a level of examination that is never preachy but always provides detailed interest).
"Tomorrow" is a novel well-worth seeking out today.
July 23, 2021
3.5*
Wait a minute! What did I just read?? There at the end? Like literally the last line? I need answers and I don't know how to find them. I've combed the internet for reviews, glimpses of others and their understanding of this novel, but I've had no luck. Did you ever read a novel where you thought that you knew exactly was was going on and then something happens that leaves you in shock? No?! Just me? Well that's exactly how I've felt at the end of this: picking my jaw from the floor and wondering if there's a mistake somewhere, wishing to starting reading the novel again straightaway to see if I've missed something(the scene in the tower when the author met the Mason and talked about God - played on my mind at this point, but maybe there where others too?).
Anyway: the novel flows nicely despite the experimental time flow. There's a touch of strangeness created both by the play with time and the introduction of mythical & extinct creatures. Some fascinating reflections and debates on timely subjects that sure made for an interesting read. But all in all I wasn't that impressed until the end! And I am still unsure if that's not actually a trick , lol!
* Book from NetGalley with many thanks to the publisher!
Wait a minute! What did I just read?? There at the end? Like literally the last line? I need answers and I don't know how to find them. I've combed the internet for reviews, glimpses of others and their understanding of this novel, but I've had no luck. Did you ever read a novel where you thought that you knew exactly was was going on and then something happens that leaves you in shock? No?! Just me? Well that's exactly how I've felt at the end of this: picking my jaw from the floor and wondering if there's a mistake somewhere, wishing to starting reading the novel again straightaway to see if I've missed something(the scene in the tower when the author met the Mason and talked about God - played on my mind at this point, but maybe there where others too?).
Anyway: the novel flows nicely despite the experimental time flow. There's a touch of strangeness created both by the play with time and the introduction of mythical & extinct creatures. Some fascinating reflections and debates on timely subjects that sure made for an interesting read. But all in all I wasn't that impressed until the end! And I am still unsure if that's not actually a trick , lol!
* Book from NetGalley with many thanks to the publisher!
January 6, 2023
Yes, that's a good, very good one. His 'Two tribes' had bowled me over, not for its stylistic/novelistic qualities but for the questions he asked, and the uncomfortable position it put people like me in.
This is much more 'literary' in a way, that is, more intricately designed, where form and function are really inseparable. Yes, I like stuff like that :)
Bits of Two tribes in here too, but as distant echoes of ideas. Here, the accent is more on living, narrating, being, memories: sounds boring but I'm not saying it right!
Really, really good again.
This is much more 'literary' in a way, that is, more intricately designed, where form and function are really inseparable. Yes, I like stuff like that :)
Bits of Two tribes in here too, but as distant echoes of ideas. Here, the accent is more on living, narrating, being, memories: sounds boring but I'm not saying it right!
Really, really good again.
August 19, 2024
Having gotten the book for free at a 'take a book, leave a book' thing, I feel I owe Beckett some (for me) extremely rare stars-and-words-on-Goodreada in lieu of payment.
This was exactly my cup of tea: slow-burn drama, pointed political musing, self-referential clever-dickery on the part of the author, thoughtful and ambiguous imagery, and of course the pure 'I need to know what happens next' factor. I know I will be turning it all over in my head for weeks to come.
So, what about the story? An unnamed middle-class misanthropic asshole goes to love in a cabin by an unnamed South American jungle river for a few months to write a novel in peace. This turns out to be unproductive due to delusions of grandeur, perfectionism and a tightly-wound personality (oh look! It's every writer ever!), but it soon turns from stupor into nightmare when the would-be author is kidnapped by guerillas.
But keep the right expectations: takes the form and tone of a slow-burn drama rather than an incident-heavy thriller. This ain't James Bond.
The narrative weaves between scenes from different stages of the narrator's life, leaving the reader in constant suspense: we know the narrator's captivity ends, but how? How do the various relationships between the narrator and the other characters turn out? Will the narrator figure out how to stop self-sabotaging and be happy? And will that goddamn novel ever get written?
Imagine 'David Mitchell but with clean and un-showy prose' and you have the vibe. (Clarification: I *adore* Mitchell's showy prose - 'showy' here = high praise.) Both the clean prose and the switches between past incidents and an older narrator looking back on a past self are a bit reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.
I was at all times reluctant to put this one down. I haven't found a book this addictive in quite some time - bravo, Beckett.
This was exactly my cup of tea: slow-burn drama, pointed political musing, self-referential clever-dickery on the part of the author, thoughtful and ambiguous imagery, and of course the pure 'I need to know what happens next' factor. I know I will be turning it all over in my head for weeks to come.
So, what about the story? An unnamed middle-class misanthropic asshole goes to love in a cabin by an unnamed South American jungle river for a few months to write a novel in peace. This turns out to be unproductive due to delusions of grandeur, perfectionism and a tightly-wound personality (oh look! It's every writer ever!), but it soon turns from stupor into nightmare when the would-be author is kidnapped by guerillas.
But keep the right expectations: takes the form and tone of a slow-burn drama rather than an incident-heavy thriller. This ain't James Bond.
The narrative weaves between scenes from different stages of the narrator's life, leaving the reader in constant suspense: we know the narrator's captivity ends, but how? How do the various relationships between the narrator and the other characters turn out? Will the narrator figure out how to stop self-sabotaging and be happy? And will that goddamn novel ever get written?
Imagine 'David Mitchell but with clean and un-showy prose' and you have the vibe. (Clarification: I *adore* Mitchell's showy prose - 'showy' here = high praise.) Both the clean prose and the switches between past incidents and an older narrator looking back on a past self are a bit reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.
I was at all times reluctant to put this one down. I haven't found a book this addictive in quite some time - bravo, Beckett.
May 21, 2024
It's only the setting that makes this book SF (or, arguably, Fantasy), and that just barely (a contemporary but juxtaposed dimension with odd bits of flora and fauna (possibly prehistoric clingers-on), focused on a determinedly un-named and seemingly tropical country that appears to be farther south than anything extant on OUR globe... and that yet also featuring Christianity).
It's a Covid project, and so perhaps understandably self-indulgent. It's non-linear, told in the first person, and jumps backwards and forwards in the narrator's life. It takes in existentialism, solipsism, middle-class guilt for existing (and guilt for feeling guilty about it - there's quite a lot of this), social inequality, prevarication, procrastination (a lot of this, too), angst over the opinions of others, kidnapping, duckling stomping, the Holy Grail, communes, wind turbines, and more guilt. Overall, it seems to be asking the question, "What's the point of it all?" on about three or for different levels (including a meta one), and seems to offer the answer of, "Dunno, but just get on with it and stop arsing about." And the final twist, revealed in the very last sentence, doesn't really have much impact... yet somehow fittingly so.
Beckett's writing is clear, but is yet imbued with an effective dreamlike quality (very reminiscent of Christopher Priest's Dream Archipelago stories). Everything is familiar, but ever so slightly off-kilter - vague, surreal.
So, as the experiment it seems to be, Tomorrow is not entirely successful. But it is thoughtful, affecting, and will linger on the mind.
It's a Covid project, and so perhaps understandably self-indulgent. It's non-linear, told in the first person, and jumps backwards and forwards in the narrator's life. It takes in existentialism, solipsism, middle-class guilt for existing (and guilt for feeling guilty about it - there's quite a lot of this), social inequality, prevarication, procrastination (a lot of this, too), angst over the opinions of others, kidnapping, duckling stomping, the Holy Grail, communes, wind turbines, and more guilt. Overall, it seems to be asking the question, "What's the point of it all?" on about three or for different levels (including a meta one), and seems to offer the answer of, "Dunno, but just get on with it and stop arsing about." And the final twist, revealed in the very last sentence, doesn't really have much impact... yet somehow fittingly so.
Beckett's writing is clear, but is yet imbued with an effective dreamlike quality (very reminiscent of Christopher Priest's Dream Archipelago stories). Everything is familiar, but ever so slightly off-kilter - vague, surreal.
So, as the experiment it seems to be, Tomorrow is not entirely successful. But it is thoughtful, affecting, and will linger on the mind.
August 8, 2021
A slightly odd book that I enjoyed less as it went on, Tomorrow is about a man who decides to live a reclusive life and write the perfect novel, one which has no real plot. He falls in and out of love, gets kidnapped and considers his progressive, left wing views and some of the hypocrises of the middle classes. The book itself is plotless to a certain extent, it also zips about all over the place time wise, to the point that the latter stages become underwhelming as they're set in earlier periods than we've already read. For a while I really enjoyed this, the characters are interesting and it's quite thought provoking, but the last quarter became a bit of a struggle and I finished it feeling quite underwhelmed. Not too sure what I made of it in truth!
October 7, 2022
I recently finished a book which I quickly claimed to be the best book I had read, but now I believe it to have competition. I adore Chris Beckett's writing like nobody else I have read, he has a way of truly opening a mind to explore itself the world and around it.
The final line in this book made me break out in an uncontrollable chuckle, though it is far from a joke. It's left me wanting more and reeling in my own thoughts. Loved it!
The final line in this book made me break out in an uncontrollable chuckle, though it is far from a joke. It's left me wanting more and reeling in my own thoughts. Loved it!
November 2, 2021
Ghost Writer
An unnamed writer in an unnamed country in an unnamed world, very like our own, but subtly different, sits in a hut on the banks of a great river and contemplates the novel to be written tomorrow (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) which appears never to be started, but bears a close resemblance to the novel which the reader is reading.
It’s as though Carthage defeated Rome all those centuries ago, that certain prehistoric creatures never died out, that world history has developed in a deceptively similar but disconcertingly different way. The reader is constantly lulled by the similarities and shocked by the differences.
The issues that characters face, that society faces, have a discordant echo in our own world and societies. Terrorism, freedom, youth and age, corruption, and betrayal. A narrative which is a shattered mosaic, ranging back and forward, mind-twisting and provocative. A novel where the reader is on constantly shifting ground, struggling with an unreliable narrator who defies categorisation right to the last sentence of the final page of the story.
An unnamed writer in an unnamed country in an unnamed world, very like our own, but subtly different, sits in a hut on the banks of a great river and contemplates the novel to be written tomorrow (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) which appears never to be started, but bears a close resemblance to the novel which the reader is reading.
It’s as though Carthage defeated Rome all those centuries ago, that certain prehistoric creatures never died out, that world history has developed in a deceptively similar but disconcertingly different way. The reader is constantly lulled by the similarities and shocked by the differences.
The issues that characters face, that society faces, have a discordant echo in our own world and societies. Terrorism, freedom, youth and age, corruption, and betrayal. A narrative which is a shattered mosaic, ranging back and forward, mind-twisting and provocative. A novel where the reader is on constantly shifting ground, struggling with an unreliable narrator who defies categorisation right to the last sentence of the final page of the story.
August 31, 2021
What an excellent novel! Tomorrow follows the life of an unnamed protagonist, through his student days debating left-wing politics, to his isolation in the wilderness to write 'the book', to his kidnapping by left-wing guerrillas and his escape, and finally his demise. 'Following' isn't entirely true, as the narrative jumps throughout to different times of his life.
A theme throughout is why we do what we do. You may want to help others, but is talking about it helping, or is even doing something helping, or is it just what it is and nothing can and ever will change. You may have your plans, but in the end, whether we sabotage it or not, the world just trundles on with or without you.
Intelligently written, and gorgeously plotted, this is highly recommended!
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
A theme throughout is why we do what we do. You may want to help others, but is talking about it helping, or is even doing something helping, or is it just what it is and nothing can and ever will change. You may have your plans, but in the end, whether we sabotage it or not, the world just trundles on with or without you.
Intelligently written, and gorgeously plotted, this is highly recommended!
Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.
July 18, 2022
I was set to be disappointed with this book and the author about some of the views expressed, but the ending threw me for such a loop i had to read it again. Politically this book was all over the place, It's experimental storytelling where things are happening in flashes and you have to piece it together. BUT, there were some very interesting themes in there. Here and There, Us and Them, Today and Tomorrow, Good and Evil. A lot of exploration of duality. Exploration of religion, class, and indigenous people. Also it seems like it was sort of an experiment around plot, and how linear stories we have are when the reality is much different.
February 6, 2024
The title page lists no less than four alternative titles all scored out as follows:-
Our Lost Atlantis
Here and There
The Captive God
The Distant Tower
This in accord with a degree of tricksiness in the text. The narrative moves forwards and backwards in time and from location to location. Our narrator, while superficially accessible, remains unidentified till the last line and on occasion has conversations with gods of various sorts (one of whom says to Jesus, “Heaven forbid that human beings should just quietly enjoy the experience of being alive,�) - and at one point meets a knight/god called the Mason who guards the Holy Grail - but is not mad. The main setting is in what appears to be the Amazon (but could be any South American river) though it too is unspecified. This leads the reader to perceive similarities to a previous Beckett novel Beneath the World, A Sea, but Tomorrow is a different beast. While character names like Amanda and Guinevere are not noticeably South American, the flag of the country the book is set in has the same colours as Colombia’s, Bolivia’s and Venezuela’s but, unlike theirs, has a chequerboard design and is intended to represent a united continent. Despite the lack of any advanced technology this is clearly a future of some sort (or an altered history � the jungle has pterosaurs in it and creatures called naiads swim in the river) which makes the book, for all its non-genre appurtenances and treatment, its quotidian feel, a work of Science Fiction.
Said narrator is holed up someway upriver from the nearest sizable habitation (which could be Manaus but then again may not be) in a riverside cabin in the jungle having taken a break from a comfortable middle class existence in order to write a novel. (It is tempting to assume it is this novel but that would be to jump to too quick a conclusion.) This novel’s first line is in any case “Tomorrow I’m going to begin my novel,� a novel that is going to be about everything, with no story, beginning or end, where things happen and fit together (yet not conventionally,) but things - procrastination, idling, smoking joints, life - get in the way.
Some time after meeting and beginning a relationship with a woman called Amanda who lives in that sizable habitation our narrator is kidnapped by a guerilla group called FRENALAT. One of them Guinevere, really a misfit as she is middle class in origin herself, tells her captive that powerful people are just grown up babies with people running round doing things for them and making sure they’re comfortable, shielding them from upset. Middle class folk tell themselves they’re ordinary and are the good guys because they compare themselves with their friends and against rich people. But with their material comforts they are far from ordinary. They live well because it’s at others� expense and could do much to alleviate that. It was to try to make amends that Guinevere joined the group. Their conversations lead to reflections on unspoken assumptions about behaviour, relationships and societal expectations and the difficulties of going against these.
During the captivity and after a fortuitous escape which leads to a harrowing trek through the jungle and down various mountain streams till a stumble upon a village and that meeting with the knight/god, Amanda and the narrator’s famous father carry out a campaign for the army to find the FRENALAT group’s hiding place and release their captive.
There are also ruminations on the uses and meaning of fiction (the narrator is a budding novelist after all.) Modern novels are written to flatter and valorise whatever class of people is their intended audience. Clever ‘difficult,� allusive ones flatter those readers who ‘get� the references even more. Is Beckett here not perhaps biting the hand that feeds him? Tomorrow’s structure and concerns are just such as to flatter said readers but might not a statement like this offend them?
We have ruminations like the past tense is a lie as it pretends the book’s events actually took place outside the book. On the other hand, setting a novel in the present tense means that the only place where the events are happening is in the reader’s mind.
Tomorrow is an ambitious, accomplished, artfully constructed novel which asks various questions of the world and its assumptions. And that final line may cause a reader to reassess the way in which they read what came before.
Our Lost Atlantis
Here and There
The Captive God
The Distant Tower
This in accord with a degree of tricksiness in the text. The narrative moves forwards and backwards in time and from location to location. Our narrator, while superficially accessible, remains unidentified till the last line and on occasion has conversations with gods of various sorts (one of whom says to Jesus, “Heaven forbid that human beings should just quietly enjoy the experience of being alive,�) - and at one point meets a knight/god called the Mason who guards the Holy Grail - but is not mad. The main setting is in what appears to be the Amazon (but could be any South American river) though it too is unspecified. This leads the reader to perceive similarities to a previous Beckett novel Beneath the World, A Sea, but Tomorrow is a different beast. While character names like Amanda and Guinevere are not noticeably South American, the flag of the country the book is set in has the same colours as Colombia’s, Bolivia’s and Venezuela’s but, unlike theirs, has a chequerboard design and is intended to represent a united continent. Despite the lack of any advanced technology this is clearly a future of some sort (or an altered history � the jungle has pterosaurs in it and creatures called naiads swim in the river) which makes the book, for all its non-genre appurtenances and treatment, its quotidian feel, a work of Science Fiction.
Said narrator is holed up someway upriver from the nearest sizable habitation (which could be Manaus but then again may not be) in a riverside cabin in the jungle having taken a break from a comfortable middle class existence in order to write a novel. (It is tempting to assume it is this novel but that would be to jump to too quick a conclusion.) This novel’s first line is in any case “Tomorrow I’m going to begin my novel,� a novel that is going to be about everything, with no story, beginning or end, where things happen and fit together (yet not conventionally,) but things - procrastination, idling, smoking joints, life - get in the way.
Some time after meeting and beginning a relationship with a woman called Amanda who lives in that sizable habitation our narrator is kidnapped by a guerilla group called FRENALAT. One of them Guinevere, really a misfit as she is middle class in origin herself, tells her captive that powerful people are just grown up babies with people running round doing things for them and making sure they’re comfortable, shielding them from upset. Middle class folk tell themselves they’re ordinary and are the good guys because they compare themselves with their friends and against rich people. But with their material comforts they are far from ordinary. They live well because it’s at others� expense and could do much to alleviate that. It was to try to make amends that Guinevere joined the group. Their conversations lead to reflections on unspoken assumptions about behaviour, relationships and societal expectations and the difficulties of going against these.
During the captivity and after a fortuitous escape which leads to a harrowing trek through the jungle and down various mountain streams till a stumble upon a village and that meeting with the knight/god, Amanda and the narrator’s famous father carry out a campaign for the army to find the FRENALAT group’s hiding place and release their captive.
There are also ruminations on the uses and meaning of fiction (the narrator is a budding novelist after all.) Modern novels are written to flatter and valorise whatever class of people is their intended audience. Clever ‘difficult,� allusive ones flatter those readers who ‘get� the references even more. Is Beckett here not perhaps biting the hand that feeds him? Tomorrow’s structure and concerns are just such as to flatter said readers but might not a statement like this offend them?
We have ruminations like the past tense is a lie as it pretends the book’s events actually took place outside the book. On the other hand, setting a novel in the present tense means that the only place where the events are happening is in the reader’s mind.
Tomorrow is an ambitious, accomplished, artfully constructed novel which asks various questions of the world and its assumptions. And that final line may cause a reader to reassess the way in which they read what came before.
August 5, 2024
This is the most meta book I’ve ever read. It’s a book that transforms space and time into a single bird’s-eye view and is about an author who wants to write a book that transforms space and time into a single bird’s-eye view.
I think Beckett actually mostly achieves everything his protagonist sets out to do, which is quite impressive. However, in achieving that goal, I personally felt like the book lost something. By telling the whole story in asynchronous episodes, I felt the plot lacked drive. I very much enjoyed reading it but I wasn’t itching to pick it up again to see what happened next. I suppose it took the excitement out of it. Perhaps that was Beckett’s intention: to show that life feels a bit flat if you don’t live it in chronological sequence. Regardless, although a fascinating work, it wasn’t exactly gripping.
The book is full of, what I assume is Beckett’s own, sociological, political and psychological musings. But, by being so self aware, it manages to be pretentious without actually being pretentious. Very clever.
An interesting story, presented in an interested way, that really makes you think. To be honest, I’ve never felt so called out while reading a book! It’s a work that has stayed with me after finishing it.
I think Beckett actually mostly achieves everything his protagonist sets out to do, which is quite impressive. However, in achieving that goal, I personally felt like the book lost something. By telling the whole story in asynchronous episodes, I felt the plot lacked drive. I very much enjoyed reading it but I wasn’t itching to pick it up again to see what happened next. I suppose it took the excitement out of it. Perhaps that was Beckett’s intention: to show that life feels a bit flat if you don’t live it in chronological sequence. Regardless, although a fascinating work, it wasn’t exactly gripping.
The book is full of, what I assume is Beckett’s own, sociological, political and psychological musings. But, by being so self aware, it manages to be pretentious without actually being pretentious. Very clever.
An interesting story, presented in an interested way, that really makes you think. To be honest, I’ve never felt so called out while reading a book! It’s a work that has stayed with me after finishing it.
July 13, 2021
The footnote to this mentions not having written anything for a while, and it smacks of the blurting out of something � anything � to overcome writer's block. We have a writer demand of themselves they set to with their novel in the morning, in their idyllic and utterly off-the-grid riverside shack, but we also get the writer locked up in an underground cavern by socialist insurgents, we get scenes of innocence � and we get scenes of a now-elderly narrator, basking in the success of their capture-and-escape memoir, planning a get-away-from-it-all visit to a riverside shack to start writing a novel in the morning. From a noted sci-fi author it must be said it really doesn't read as part of the genre, even with the approach of putting the whole plot through a maze of Schroedinger's Boxes. "If this bit of the narrative happens, then this or this can happen � but not necessarily in that order" seems to be the thinking. Like I say, blurting.
January 15, 2023
The narrator of 'Tomorrow' is determined to soon commence writing their novel. So determined that they have arranged a stay at an isolated riverside cabin, owned by a politically well connected aunt in the vast nation in which the action occurs.
The country seems vaguely to resemble the lands of South America, with jungles, broad rivers and high plains, but also ports in chilly sub-antarctic regions. The fauna and flora though are perhaps otherwordly, with gliding golden monkeys in the trees and pale naiads (which may or may not be sentient) found in the rivers. The politics is volatile, the poor and huddled masses are yearning to be free (and more prosperous). Revolution and revolutionaries are indeed in the air. It is described as 'science-fiction' but any fantasical elements are at best peripheral to the plot.
Our narrator/writer is of the privileged wealthy classes, and stuggles with the mission they have set themselves. The lure of smoking pot, exploring the landscape and a fraught relationship with Amanda from the nearby small town on the river are nearly inescapable distractions.
The direct first-person narrative is introspective and ranges indiscriminately across times and places. Scenes from a privileged youth in the city shift to the suffering of illness in old age. An idyllic riverside meditation morphs to the terror of capture and imprisonment by revolutionaries, then to miraculous escape and arduous jungle flight. A romantic tropical holiday with Amanda flits to an alternative assignation in a cold southern port. So it goes. Like Billy Pilgrim the writer has become unmoored in time. But there are no Tralfamadorians in evidence, just a prophet in a mountain tower.
Not much is resolved, but the experimental format of the novel works well. Beckett's writing is sincere and thoughtful and effectively sketches the narrator's struggles and satisfactions.
The country seems vaguely to resemble the lands of South America, with jungles, broad rivers and high plains, but also ports in chilly sub-antarctic regions. The fauna and flora though are perhaps otherwordly, with gliding golden monkeys in the trees and pale naiads (which may or may not be sentient) found in the rivers. The politics is volatile, the poor and huddled masses are yearning to be free (and more prosperous). Revolution and revolutionaries are indeed in the air. It is described as 'science-fiction' but any fantasical elements are at best peripheral to the plot.
Our narrator/writer is of the privileged wealthy classes, and stuggles with the mission they have set themselves. The lure of smoking pot, exploring the landscape and a fraught relationship with Amanda from the nearby small town on the river are nearly inescapable distractions.
The direct first-person narrative is introspective and ranges indiscriminately across times and places. Scenes from a privileged youth in the city shift to the suffering of illness in old age. An idyllic riverside meditation morphs to the terror of capture and imprisonment by revolutionaries, then to miraculous escape and arduous jungle flight. A romantic tropical holiday with Amanda flits to an alternative assignation in a cold southern port. So it goes. Like Billy Pilgrim the writer has become unmoored in time. But there are no Tralfamadorians in evidence, just a prophet in a mountain tower.
Not much is resolved, but the experimental format of the novel works well. Beckett's writing is sincere and thoughtful and effectively sketches the narrator's struggles and satisfactions.
June 25, 2024
I'm really not sure what rating to give this - in terms of how much I enjoyed it, 1.5/5. I - hated- this book. I hated the main character, the pomposity with which the story was told, what a shitty person the protagonist was in my opinion, and how little they seemed to care about other People, whilst caring very much about what other people thought of them.
But I still kept reading, it still kept my attention. I liked the flow(?) of time and how the story was so broken up. It was a good book, but I'm left feeling like I've just broken up with a judgemental, holier - than - thou ex 🤣 I really didn't like the book, but it kept me reading, and I felt like it was well written.
But I still kept reading, it still kept my attention. I liked the flow(?) of time and how the story was so broken up. It was a good book, but I'm left feeling like I've just broken up with a judgemental, holier - than - thou ex 🤣 I really didn't like the book, but it kept me reading, and I felt like it was well written.
July 1, 2021
I'll admit, I had my doubts about a story that jumps backwards and forwards in time, but I was curious. "Tomorrow" isn't just a great story that's written brilliantly, it's one of those rare books that's an experience in itself. There's a little section within the book that answers (for me) the question of why the format is the way it is, and it was like a light going on! I can see this becoming a classic.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
July 29, 2021
I really liked this! It was unlike pretty much anything I’ve read and I thought it did a good job of jumping between times/places, while still making it easy to keep track of which part belonged where in the timeline while keeping that organic, stream-of-consciousness feel. I liked the meta of the author’s inner monologue and that we didn’t know their name or gender. My only gripe is that I wish it could have been left more ambiguous at the end instead of the author feeling the need to have every question wrapped up neatly. 3.5 stars.
March 18, 2025
This book felt truly unique. I am obsessed with an non-linear timeline. Felt myself hope for the narrator's future/present to be different, despite knowing the truth. Felt fear and anxiety, despite knowing the character lives on. Reading this book felt like filling the gaps to a puzzle, slowly.
This was a different read. And, now I feel myself trying to find books that imitate the uniqueness of this one. Also, a beautiful front cover - helped me to imagine the setting of this book greatly.
This was a different read. And, now I feel myself trying to find books that imitate the uniqueness of this one. Also, a beautiful front cover - helped me to imagine the setting of this book greatly.
September 27, 2022
4.5 stars, maybe even 5 stars. 🤩 Strange, and unconventional....I can see why so many people have reviewed it negatively. I was a bit hesitant to start it given the negative reviews, but I'm so glad I gave it a read. The last sentence makes me want to read the book again to see it from this new perspective. I will re-read it at some point.....I think it will be fascinating the second time around.
January 29, 2022
It can be difficult to follow a book that plays with its timeline, but when it works it can be a really moving experience. ‘Tomorrow� is like that, the scenes are not in chronological order but it was always clear, subtly but deliberately, when each scene was set. There was an overarching direction the scenes were heading into, and that built up the emotion and sense of a life in front of us.
August 22, 2022
Interesting concept. I liked the themes it explores. Melancholic at times and sometimes frustrated by the main characters flaws - though very human of course. Last line did have me confused for a good few minutes wondering if id missed vital clues and almost wishing I could reread in a different headspace - but alas, I’m finished now.
February 1, 2023
I struggled a bit with this one as it felt more like an experiment than a novel.
The protagonist, a genderless, mainly ageless, writer recounts various points of their life through vignettes and thinks about time, space, existence, writing, class and legacy.
Lots of ideas but sometimes frustrating to read.
The protagonist, a genderless, mainly ageless, writer recounts various points of their life through vignettes and thinks about time, space, existence, writing, class and legacy.
Lots of ideas but sometimes frustrating to read.
July 29, 2021
I really couldn't get into this book at all. The only reason I finished it was because I had nothing else to read and it was relatively short. The kindle version doesn't come with page numbers which I always find infuriating.
March 2, 2022
2.5 stars, felt a lot of the sentences were super long winded and difficult to read. Found myself rereading so much of this book to understand what each sentence was discussing and describing
Interesting overall structure, ending was nothing of excitement
Interesting overall structure, ending was nothing of excitement
June 4, 2022
Gave up about halfway through. I struggled to figure out when the various scenes were happening in relation to each other. I was a bit bored by the liberal guilt and the would-be novelist with writer's block. Disappointing because the Dark Eden series by the same author is fantastic.
January 9, 2024
I've just read this, good characterisation and an evocative back and forth point of view by the main protagonist, I found this under 'science fiction' but can't for the life of me see it as science fiction! Did I miss something
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