The Windup Girl
| 12 August 2010
I have just finished The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, a novel up for the Nebula award for Novel. It was quite well written, complex and intriguing in the play of the characters. The story is post-apocalyptic set in Thailand in the city of Bangkok and is quite dark. One of the main characters is an employee of a mega-corporation that deals with genetic engineering. Evidently, before the novel opens there has been some wars and then collapse of the economic system as we know it. The Thai have managed to stay more or less close to what they were, but the rest of the world collapsed. It seems the evil corporations let the bioengineering go to their heads and used the techniques to produce plagues on plants that caused starvation. I liked the references to different plants and the characters interest in possible re-emergence of certain species. In this new world, the old seed stock is gold and highly sought after.
Mixed up in all this is the idea that Global Warming has come to fruition and the result is a real mess in a tropical setting. Hot, Hot, Hot!!! I felt it, even though I live in Tucson, it is nothing like the heat of the tropics with the humidity. While I am not convinced of the theory especially in the light of such blatant obliteration of data and politics involved. But here, there is no attempt to convert, it is just a fact with the rising ocean. The world is truly horrible with this development and the author does a good job of blending it into the scenario.
The characters ring true and I like most of them even though they are flawed in certain areas beyond what I could live with. The poor Windup Girl is a product of genetic engineering for the purpose of being the ultimate "geisha" with the inherent need to "please". When she is abandoned in Bangkok she ends up in the lowest circumstances where her genetic "gifts" are used as torture to show what a "monster" she is. This mostly deals with obedience and sexual response no matter what. In true Crichton fashion the created has unexpected consequences as she tries to escape and then defend herself. That part, at least, was satisfying.
This book was written by a man and while most of the characters rang true to form, I don't think the Windup Girl would consider sex with her 'own kind' if she escaped. That I think is from a male point of view. Instead, she may have briefly thought of it, but in the end would consider sex at the very least a job and more likely a horror.
Overall, the book was dark and not to my liking. I prefer to read something where people learn lessons and come out better off. The climax dealt with a re-visit of horrible politics to take control from another equally devious group. The innocents again paid the dear price, when all they want is to survive and make a living. To be left alone seems to be something 'leaders' often cannot abide. They must fiddle to the point of tragedy.
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