One of my favorite college professors was Susanna Engbers and she taught Humanities courses at KCAD. In Dr. Engbers’ Places in Literature class, we read and discussed stories with dystopian societies. We came across an unusual word in one of the stories. None of the students knew the meaning, so Dr. Engbers described the exterior of buildings in Downtown Grand Rapids that had painted advertisements on them. But that paint had worn away over time, been painted over or built over, then exposed again years later. I thought it was an interesting term but forgot the word over the years. That was 2007 or 2008.
Fast forward to December 2023. In need of a new book to read poolside, I visited my local library. I browsed the special “Lucky Day” section near the entrance. When searching for a new book, my initial search is based off of the cover design or the title on the spine. If my interest is piqued by the cover or title, I read the book blurb. If the story sounds good, I flip through the pages to see the font size and make sure it’s not too small. Short chapters help too.
On this random day in December, I picked up Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. The cover design featured Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai overlaid with 1990s video game typeface.
The book blurb described friends, video games, different cities and love and loss, all spanning thirty years. I didn’t care about video games, but I gave the book a try. The first bit was wordy and a little boring, but then the author began making connections between different time periods - tiny, charming moments that made me smile. I wanted to keep reading.
When I’m reading and come across new-to-me vocabulary, I write the words down on scrap paper. One of the many words I wrote down from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was “palimpsest.” After finishing the chapter, I typed the word into the Merriam-Webster app on my phone.
1: writing material (such as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased
2: something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface
And from a blog I Googled:
“The word palimpsest descends from the Latin palimpsestus, which in turn comes from the Greek palimpsēstos, meaning ‘scraped again.’ This refers to the ancient practice of scraping the writing off a piece of parchment or vellum so that it might be reused. Likewise, the remains of old painted advertisements are referred to as palimpsests because of their resemblance to old, scraped manuscripts that here and there, beneath their surfaces, reveal traces of earlier words.”
Wait. What?!?! That was the word I had forgotten all those years ago in Places in Literature! Immediately, I Googled the stories we read in that class, along with “palimpsest” and connected the dots. The word was used in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. “The billboards had been whited out with thin coats of paint in order to write on them and through the paint could be seen a pale palimpsest of advertisements for goods which no longer existed.” I had come full circle by accident.
Back to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Overall, I recommend it. It was pleasant and fun and kept my attention. I wanted to know which relationships lasted. I cried a few times while reading it. If a story (book, TV show, movie) has me emotionally invested in characters, that’s a good sign. Was it the best book I’ve ever read? No. Did I know there was so much hype around this book? Nope.
I’m a slow reader. I’ve grown accustomed to the library generously auto-renewing each book I checkout. I never start and finish a book in two weeks. With this book, the first reminder email arrived from the library. “We are unable to renew this title.” (I didn’t understand the concept of “Lucky Day.”) The story was good but I still had a couple hundred pages left, so I decided to keep the book and pay the late fees. At work on overnight shifts, I read a lot. Two guests commented separately. “Oh! You’re reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Great book. Amazon’s book of the year.” News to me. I Googled the hype and learned rights were purchased to make the story into a movie before the novel was even published.