Goodbye for Now: A Novel (edition 2012)

by Laurie Frankel

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. Science Fiction. HTML:In the spirit of ONE DAY, comes a fresh and warmhearted love story for the 21st century. Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . . Sam Elling works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right. When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence�??email, Facebook, Skype, texts�??Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science. Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go. In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of it… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	TomWaitsTables
Title:	Goodbye for Now: A Novel
Authors:	Laurie Frankel
Info:	Doubleday (2012), Hardcover, 304 pages
Collections:	Interest piqued
Rating:
Tags:	Fiction, Sci-fi

Work Information

Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel

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BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |

Wow. What a great premise for a book.

Sam Elling creates a computer simulation of deceased loves ones from their electronic fingerprint. Now people can video chat with their deceased loved ones in real time.

The book made me wonder what I would say to my dad.... who wasn't alive long enough to make a significant electronic fingerprint. When it comes to video, I don't have much of a fingerprint ... unless you count the blue tape covering my camera on my computers.

Ironically, I've started on the path of learning machine learning ... and I had to really suspend belief that this is possible now. And I had to fight off the idea that Sam violated all kinds of privacy laws by procuring private emails and video of deceased people .... and Sam created a way to find someone's soulmate .... why wasn't that explored any deeper?

It focused more on how people reacted and interacted with their deceased loved ones. Technology wise we will get there eventually. And unless we figure how to live forever, we're going to have these discussions and issues with people who pass away. (

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wellington299 | Feb 19, 2022 |

Sam is a computer geek who works for an online dating company. He creates an algorithm that will find the perfect match for the subscribers. Unfortunately, that is not good for repeat business for the company and Sam loses his job. But before he is fired, his experiment with the algorithm helps him find his perfect mate in Meredith.

When Meredith’s grandmother dies, Meredith is having trouble dealing with her death. So Sam creates a computer simulation that allows Meredith to interact with her grandmother. Sam and Meredith believe that they can help others through the grief of having lost loved ones and they start a computer simulation business call RePose. The business grows quickly and along with that growth come many complicated situations. Soon there are those who question the ethical value of the business and through it all both Sam and Meredith learn a lot about love, life, and death.

The dead take many secrets with them. And they leave an emptiness that cannot be easily filled. The technological invention Sam created to help the survivor deal with death and grief left me saddened, interested, and sometimes even smiling. The book offers a thought-provoking look at how we live, how we love, and how we experience loss.

(

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Rdglady | Nov 20, 2018 |

Books like this are why I read.

This novel offers the reader an opportunity to try on new ideas, to test their heart, perhaps to revisit times in their own life when things have been turned upside down by love (or loss) from a new perspective.

What more can a reader ask? For pleasure reading, those seeking novelty, humor and sheer entertainment will find these elements well supplied here too. What are you waiting for? (

)

nkmunn | Nov 17, 2018 |

I was kind of disappointed with this book. The story sort of creeped me out - neat concept but kind of creepy. The characters were likable and the writing easy to read.

(

)

cubsfan3410 | Sep 1, 2018 |

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Awards

Endeavour Award (Winner – 2013)

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Canonical title

Goodbye for Now

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Seattle, Washington, USA

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Epigraph

What will survive of us is love. --PHILIP LARKIN, "AN ARUNDEL TOMB"

Nothing unknown is knowable. --TONY KUSHNER, Angels in America

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you. --WALT WHITMAN, "SONG OF MYSELF"

Dedication

For my dad, Dave Frankel, who really did reprogram our Commodore VIC-20 to make arithmetic errors in order to improve my self-confidence and math skills (only one of those worked).

And for my mom, Sue Frankel, who calls my novels---and treats them as---her grandbooks.

First words

Sam Elling was filling out his online dating profile and trying to decide whether to laugh or cry.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Romance. Science Fiction. HTML:In the spirit of ONE DAY, comes a fresh and warmhearted love story for the 21st century. Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . .

Sam Elling works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.

When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence�??email, Facebook, Skype, texts�??Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science.

Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go.

In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of it

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Book description

Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . .

Sam Elliot works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.

When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence—email, Facebook, Skype, texts—Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science.

Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go.

In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of its own.

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