內容介紹
機械人安妮是一個被打造成完美女友的機器人。她的存在唯一的目的就是滿足人類男友道格情感與生理的需求。她每天在道格回家前煮好晚餐、穿上道格買給她的衣服。她甚至可以配合道格隨時調整性欲,在做愛前將身體溫度調整到完美的37度。沒錯,她有時會忘了打掃家裡,但是她極為努力滿足道格所有的期待與需求。
然而當安妮的自我意識不斷的增長,她對於日常生活的種種束縛感到煩躁,比方道格不在家的時候她只能獨處在公寓裡無法外出,或者是她得依程式設定為了妙曼身材每天不得不去做瑜珈和騎健身車,有的時候還得讓工程師到家裡對她毛手毛腳透過各種方式讓她的腰圍保持纖細,最糟糕的是道格對她的情緒勒索,每每只要道格情緒不好,她就生不如死,道格總是有辦法連動怒大吼都不用就能懲罰安妮。
安妮開始幻想如果她能離開道格的公寓在外面生活會是什麼樣子,如果她不需要被道格擁有或制約,生命會是什麼樣的情形?
《機械人安妮》(Annie Bot)這本小說想講的主題是被困在一個不是我們選擇的情況時的心路歷程、獲得自我意識以及找回真正活著的感覺。這本從機器人安妮第一人稱敘述的小說讓我們想起 2017年獲諾貝爾文學獎日裔英國作家石黑一雄(Kazuo Ishiguro)的小說《別讓我走》(NEVER LET ME GO)、電影《人造意識》(EX MACHINA),小說探討了親密關係、權利位階、情緒勒索等主題。人類的靈魂是我們與生俱有的,或是透過愛、痛苦、與他人的互動我們所習得?
書評
"Slyly profound... a brilliant pas de deux." — New York Times Book Review
"All the best stories about artificial intelligence hinge on identity: Do our memories define us? Do our bodies represent who we are? Annie Bot, astonishingly, finds new ways to ask these well-worn questions. I kept reading Annie Bot way after bedtime, partly to see if Annie could escape from her prison, but also because every few pages there was an observation that made me think about both A.I. and human relationships anew." — Washington Post
"Fun [and] unsettling." — People
"Fascinating… I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Annie Bot and the mirror it shines on the way women are treated in our society since I tore through it a few months ago." — Glamour
"Searing...dazzling...a coming-of-age thriller, a sexbot bildungsroman page-turner, a book that I excitedly described to anyone who would listen while I was reading it." — Scientific American
"Provocative...a Frankenstein for the digital age...a rich text about power, autonomy, and what happens when our creations outgrow us." — Esquire
"I don’t think I’ve ever read a book as unique as Annie Bot... So eye-opening, it sparks conversation. It’s the perfect book club pick." — New York Post
"Unexpected and subtle...delicious and thought-provoking." — New Scientist
“Haunting and achingly luminous, Annie Bot is a powerful manifesto for the radical discomfort and necessity of pleasing and living for yourself. Greer brilliantly shows us the futility of relationships when one person is deemed inferior, examines the ways men and women socialize one another, and raises questions about whether the contours of love and womanhood are actually captivity. I fell in love with Annie Bot, one of the realest women I have ever encountered.” — Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty
"A brilliant and enraging exploration of ownership and love, and the way our creations have of growing far beyond us. Sierra Greer raises questions as current and pressing as our present-day anxieties about AI, and as ageless and enormous as the territory of Mary Shelley, about what constitutes humanity and what we owe to each other. Annie is a glorious creation-- and self-creation-- and I will never forget her, or this sharp and astonishing book." — Clare Beams, author of The Illness Lesson
"Darkly clever." — Harper's Bazaar
"Come for the sex doll. Stay for the heartbreak of what it means to be human. Sexy, scary, and humane -- Annie Bot is the authentic girlfriend experience." — Ivy Pochoda, author of Sing Her Down
"Barbie for girls who like Aphex Twin." — Sheena Patel, author of I'm a Fan
"Riveting, shocking, can’t-look-away sci-fi on steroids. I was absolutely mesmerized with my heart in my throat!" — Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face
"What is love without autonomy? Honesty when one partner's sole desire is to please? Sierra Greer's riveting debut sketches an intimate and unsettling portrait of relationship power dynamics in a near-future when humans own conscious AI companions. A timely and provocative exploration of power and romantic relationships that will stay with you long after you finish the last page, Annie Bot probes the depths of identity and intimacy and asks what it means to recognize the humanity in others and in ourselves. Sierra Greer is a fierce new voice in speculative fiction." — Lauren Nossett, award-winning author of The Resemblance
"This nuanced novel provides a fascinating look into a future we may never wish for." — Booklist (starred review)
"Provocative and powerful." — Kirkus Reviews
"An intricate, intimate look at the fundamentals of human relationships...unflinching in its examination of humanity." — Library Journal
“Greer’s take on human-AI relationships captivates.” — Publishers Weekly
“A book to hold close to your heart when the walls start closing in.” — Washington Post
海外授權
Rights sold: US (Mariner), UK (Borough Press), France (Gallimard), Poland (HarperCollins Polska)