Impressions of The Windup Girl

The setting and atmosphere of The Windup Girl reminds me of Casablanca.  The city seems to be that same melting pot of individuals, that same combination of conspiracies and tensions that feels eternally on the verge of exploding into utter chaos. Every character seems to be wearing a mask and never really reveals their true objectives.  The location is described just enough and at the same time taken for granted enough that we aren't forcibly draw to any one detail but allowed to let it all wash over us.  Everything comes to life around us.

The setting doesn't really fit within the confines of a dystopia.  Sure, there is some obvious corruption and hints of tyranny in the government, but that isn't really too different from some nations today or in our past.  If anything, the world has regressed to a kind of 17th century blend of colonialism and monarchy only with modern corporate politics and power struggles. 

There has obviously been an ecological apocalypse and the loss of major energy sources has had some devastating effects on society, but human ingenuity under pressure has led to some interesting technological developments.  By genetically engineering stronger and larger beasts of burden in the form of these megodonts and perfecting high energy capacity spring technology to store kinetic energy, people have been able to come up with new ways of powering their world; and much more attention has been given to efficiency with regard to our energy usage. 

Sure things are difficult and a bit chaotic, but I think that this would be a challenging and exciting world to live in.  I don't feel like things are on the brink of collapse as they are in some of the other stories we have been reading, just in the process of starting to rebuild and figure itself out.  It would be a fascinating environment to live in.