Saying Goodbye to Yang is a children’s book by Alexander Weinstein set in the future characterized by advanced technology. The book has thirteen stories, and most narratives talk about a society living in a world where technology has taken over everything. Each narrative focuses on one central narrator whose gender is unknown. However, other characters are significant because they coordinate very well. Despite the author, not indicating the year each story is set, the earliest starts in 2026, and the rest follows that sequential pattern moving forward. For instance, in the story “Excerpts from the New World Authorized Dictionary,” the author indicates that it was set in 2026. The author also hints that other stories are set between the late 2020s and early 2030s.
“Saying Goodbye to Yang” is the first story in the collection. The story introduces the reader to the futuristic society that heavily depends on technology in whatever it does. The story follows the life of Yang, a robotic son bought by the narrator to help his daughter learn and navigate around and be happy. Yang becomes a real brother to the daughter because he is programmed to perform the intended functions. Many people in this society initially depended on robots, but as technology advances, they shift their allegiance to virtual reality to get comfort. However, when Yang malfunctions, everything in the narrator’s daughter almost comes to a standstill.
In the story “A Brief History of the Failed Revolution,” scientists are taking advantage of technology and want to use innovations to intrude into people’s consciousness. For instance, scientists want to understand how the human soul works, creating societal controversy.
In “The Cartographers,” the narrator talks about how the inhabitants of this futuristic world use virtual reality to help them remember things that took place many years ago that they never witnessed. Later, engineers start creating virtual children, and many parents embrace them because they are intelligent, focused, and smart. In the story “Moksha,” the narrator talks about negative interactions between people and virtual reality. In the story “Children of the New World,” the reader encounters a childless couple who enjoys spending their time online for pleasure. The couple creates virtual children to keep them company.
Most of the stories in this collection follow a chronological order and tone because they are centered on how a futuristic society lives. The only story that takes a different trajectory is the "Ice Age,” where the futuristic society does not have the technology it enjoyed in the previous days. Since no heating technology exists, many people have died, and only a few have survived. The reader realizes that the futuristic society in the "Ice Age” slowly goes back to ancient hunting and gathering activities. Consequently, Weinstein takes readers to the future to show them what to expect in a fictionalized world and takes them back into the old days of hunting and gathering to emphasize the significance of technology and its effects.
