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The Windup Girl

Paolo Bacigalupi

Why we're reading this: Recommended by Kelsey
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Oct 18, 2014 Leonardo Etcheto rated it it was amazing

Wow. Great book, with a ton of interesting themes and some really fantastically rendered characters and world. The best is it all rings true, is internally consistent and is explained just enough to make you ponder. Quite depressing in a way because it shows quite clearly how crappy and self-involved people are in times of scarcity. Hock Seng actions are almost pulled right out of Fukuyama’s “Trust” book, with the expected results. Generosity comes from strength after all, but there is redemptio ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Agathafrye rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary, scifi, steampunk

Wow, this book took me a LONG time to read. Very dense, detailed, unique, thoughtful and masterfully written first novel. Mr. Bacigalupi managed to craft a story without a main character to speak of, and there were a whole lot of characters to keep track of, but somehow he made it work. Set in the future, in Thailand, in a world where genetics companies a la Monsanto (ironically based in Iowa) with names like AgriGen and PurCal have taken control of the world's food supply by creating viruses th Wow, this book took me a LONG time to read. Very dense, detailed, unique, thoughtful and masterfully written first novel. Mr. Bacigalupi managed to craft a story without a main character to speak of, and there were a whole lot of characters to keep track of, but somehow he made it work. Set in the future, in Thailand, in a world where genetics companies a la Monsanto (ironically based in Iowa) with names like AgriGen and PurCal have taken control of the world's food supply by creating viruses that only the genetically modified foods they provide can withstand. The Windup Girl tackles issues of ethics, class, race, politics, religion, science, and greed in a way that I haven't seen in a work of fiction in a long time. My only critique of this book is that there are so many characters that it is at times hard to follow the storyline, and the addition of many new words (Bacigalupian, Thai, and Chinese) make for a lot of three-pages-forward, two-pages-back action. I'm glad I persevered- this book takes you places you've never been before.

Anderson Lake is sent by AgriGen as a spy of sorts to sleuth out the new virus-resistant fruits that are popping up in Thailand despite AgriGen's concerted efforts to prevent them from existence. Lake, under the guise of a factory owner, meets and becomes fascinated by Emiko, a manufactured windup girl. The windups, also called "heechy keechy" or "new people," are obedient androids created in Japan to serve in the work force as secretaries, servants, and sometimes military assassins. Windups have become the newest ethnic minorities in Thailand, lower even than the "yellow card" Chinese immigrants that populate the slums of Bangkok. Emiko is forced to perform in a nightly sex show where she is humiliated in front of an audience to earn her keep. Anderson, against all good judgment, enters into a relationship with Emiko; their union starts a chain reaction which culminates in a sudden and vicious civil war.

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