The House Of The Scorpion (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
Initial reaction: I'm pretty much at a loss for words at this point in time because I didn't expect this story to grip me as much as it did. Following Matt's journey in the course of this book was one full of many ups and downs, tragedies as well as triumphs, and I honestly haven't come across many MG/YA dystopian novels that were as well done as this.Full review:Nancy Farmer's "The House of the Scorpion" was a story that took years for me to pick up since its original publication date. Seriously, I think I had every barrier there was trying to pick up this book to read because it was either that I'd had other reading in an academic measure to do over it, or somehow it was always checked out or unavailable at my library or bookstore. Yet on a spontaneous trip to the library one evening when browsing the shelves, when I wasn't even looking for it, I found it.Picking it up and reflecting upon it now has me kicking myself mentally for not reading it sooner, because...there are relatively very few novels I can say that blew me away in the reading of them. In the sense of taking my attention, gripping me along for the journey in the eyes of the perspective character, and running the gauntlet all the way until the last page. And there are relatively few narratives that I stop to savor every page because the writing and the characters connect with me so much that I don't want it to end.This novel was one of those books for me personally.The main character of this novel, Matt, has a difficult journey for him from the very get go of things. He's the only clone to survive in the batch of cells cultivated from a very powerful, but elderly drug lord. The story follows him from birth to the age of 14, and it's hard not to be taken by his respective development over those years and experiences. He's a fascinating character to watch in the duration of this novel - for how funny, charming, sincere, and even in the moments where he feels the heaviest sense of pain. The amount of hardship he endures, the hatred put against him for what he is and what he represents, the conflicted feelings he has about his own identity and learning about the world and the family he's wrapped up within all are quite palpable. Even for the characters who have a darker presence in this novel, it's hard not to be charmed or taken into their perspectives and experiences because Farmer creates them so carefully. There were certainly moments when I chuckled at the interactions between characters (Matt and Tam Lin certainly had a few of those moments for me personally - and gah, I loved Tam Lin even with his respective conflicted background), but there's a darkness to this story as well, and it deals with some very heavy themes that leave an indelible impression with respect to the characters it involves. Things like cloning, slavery, the drug trade, prejudices, the hierarchy and power struggles of family, belief systems, among other matters. There are also quite many characters to keep up with in the spectrum of the story. Yet, Farmer makes the narrative and those characters' experience flow so smoothly and with ease that it just comes naturally in the duration of the work. Even now, as I'm reflecting on the whole of it, this story, its respective players, conflicts - none of it has left me, and for me that's a mark of a strong story: when it can immerse you, have a range of emotional resonances that keep you engaged with the work, and leave you thinking about it even after you've finished it. This is the kind of story that I expect from strong MG/YA dystopian works - when it can give me a clear picture of the world it takes place in, the characters and the stakes they face, and keep one firmly rooted in those respective conflicts and engagements. To say that I was impressed with this novel is rather an understatement.Having said that, I'm not going to pretend that this novel didn't have a few stumbles. The first 2/3 of this story pretty much had me devouring pages to see how Matt would deal with some of the costs, mistakes and hardships he had to face, but there was a time in the last third where the narrative did slow a bit, and I think that was because the story had taken a transitional point from the family that Matt had left behind to the orphanage where he meets the other boys. Having to introduce those particular players in that part of the story was a bit of another beginning that took a bit to find the flow of before it steamrolled to the end. Even with that consideration, I really enjoyed the journey this took me on. I'm certainly looking forward to reading the next chapter in Matt's journey and I think this is a novel that does so many things remarkably well. It's one I won't forget, one I think many MG and YA readers as well as those beyond that audience will enjoy, and it gets my highest recommendation.Overall score: 5/5
As seen on The ReadventurerFlannery made me do it and I am pleased that she did. I have no idea why I've been avoiding The House of the Scorpion for so long. Just look at its accolades - National Book Award Winner, Printz Honoree, Newbery Honoree. It practically has my name written on it.But, is The House of the Scorpion worth such an overwhelming acclaim though?I'd say, its first 215 pages and the last 20 are (ebook edition).The first two thirds of the book are riveting. This story is not just a clone story. (For some reason, the majority of stories about clones focus on exactly the same things.) Yes, it is horrifying in how it examines the (familiar) debate about a clone's humanity and soulless(ful)ness. Matt is a clone and is defined by people around him as livestock, a source of body parts, and not a human being. (How can he be human if he was grown in and harvested from a cow?) Nancy Farmer takes Matt's character on a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness that allows him to accept that he is not what he is told he is, that he is as much of a human being as any person around him. It is a compelling journey, even though its sentiment isn't particularly new to me - I've read Never Let Me Go and watched The Island.But, thankfully, there is more to distinguish The House of the Scorpion from similar stories.First, the novel is set in Mexico (well, a future version of it). This country's life is written richly and authentically and never feels like just an exotic backdrop. I am no expert on Mexican culture though, so I might have felt that in awe of it as portrayed in The House of the Scorpion because of the narrator of the audio, who infused Mexican flavor into the story most organically.Second, this is a story of a drug lord and his enslaved family. El Patrón feels he is owed a few generations worth of life, and he will stop at nothing to get what he thinks he is entitled to. Cloning is a part of his plan for immortality. It's in Matt's relationship with his master and owner where the story shines the most. How would a clone feel about the person who is identical to him, the source of his life? Would he be able to hate him, essentially hating himself? If a clone's genetic make-up is similar to that of a ruthless criminal, does it mean that this clone is destined to follow the same path and become the same vicious person? Or is there a way to break away from the prototype? And how would a master feel about his own clone? Would it be possible for him to treat this younger version of himself as an organ bank, or there exists a connection that is closer than even that between a father and a child? These questions had my brain working, and this part of the book was 5-star material for me.But then came the escape part, in the last third of the book, and I found myself struggling with it. I was bored, I didn't feel like those pages (3-months of Matt's life worth) connected well thematically with the overreaching story arc, I didn't think they were necessary, I didn't think that a whole set of new characters (including villains) needed to be introduced so late in the story, and I surely didn't think that anti-socialist rants needed to come into play. (How did they relate to Matt's journey?) I thought, those pages only occupied time with no real bearing on the rest of the novel. To me, those 80 pages could have been completely cut out.Thankfully, the ending did save The House of the Scorpion. It happens so infrequently in books, but it did bring the story full circle to El Patrón, and it was satisfying. But that big chunk of the novel, unfortunately, made me much less willing to recommend it, even though during the first part of the book I kept thinking this novel would be a great fit for fans of Unwind. I might reread The House of the Scorpion in future, but I'll be sure to skip over a big part of it.
What do You think about The House Of The Scorpion (2004)?
First things first: I need to mention I received this book in Goodreads giveaways. I also need to mention that the real rating for this book is 3.5 stars as it is better than the majority of the books I rated with 3 stars, but it does not quite reach 4-star rating. I never felt more strongly about having 0.5 star rating on Goodreads since I joined it. The plot: Matteo Alacran (Matt most of the time) is a clone of a very powerful drug lord El Patron who was created to provide replacement organs for the latter. The problem was, El Patron also wanted to have somebody who reminded him about his childhood - and who is the better candidate than his own clone? As a result Matt's brain was not destroyed unlike other clones' that were created for other people. So we have an intelligent almost-but-not-quite human being on one hand and people who regard Matt as something lower than an animal on the other hand. It does not help any that El Patron's clan members hate each other - and everybody else for that matter. The book raises a lot of interesting and important questions: cloning, slavery, free will, drug use - just to name a few. The plot itself is interesting if slow in the beginning and way too fast in the end. Now for the bad parts: the characters that surround Matt at El Patron's residence are all two-dimensional without exceptions. Matt himself is a typical Mary Sue, I always thought about Oliver Twist when I read the first part of the book. Once the book switches to other places, we finally get interesting people and interactions between them - other than just blind hate. I already mentioned plot moving way too slow in the beginning and being rushed in the end. I can actually point to the particular place in the text where the author decided it is time to wrap up everything; the result is that the end feels very simplistic and unfinished. All in all this is not a bad book, but I expected it to be much better from the amount of awards it received. It did not help any that I was reading an adult dystopia book at the same time which had more depth.
—Evgeny
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a clone? Nancy Farmers’ The House Of The Scorpion, has your answer. It is action packed and full of suspense. It always throws a twist or turn when you think you understand what’s happening. I think that is 5 star book, an example of what all books should be.tThe authors style is very entertaining. She chose a very creative subject. The story is about a clone, Matt, and how he rises to his highest potential through all life’s trials and more.The Author keeps you in the loop with hundreds of well placed and thought out hints. She has truly been ingenias while writing this book.tThe Authors choice of characters really stand out. She put in about every personality she could. Just when you think you know a character, they morph into someone totally different. Their opinions come to life, and you find yourself picking sides. She makes you want to spend more time with the characters.tIn the end, I think this book is a very interactive read. It entertains the even the youngest readers. It makes you question the books ending multiple times a chapter. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a not boring book.
—Ethan Evans
I HATED IT, and hated it on so many levels I truly do not know where to begin.First of all, I will acknowledge one aspect of the story that I found positive. This is the story of Matt, a clone. Matt is raised in a shack on the opium plantation of drug lord, El Patron. He is El Patron's clone, grown for the purpose of being spare body parts for El Patron. In this world (the near future), clones are considered property, livestock. The embroyos are implanted in cows, so the people of this world have come to the conclusion that anything born from cows is not human. After they are "born," their brains are purposely damaged so that the people can further consider these clones as beasts instead of human abominations of nature. This campaign of dehumanization has resonance throughout history. The Jews, the enslaved Africans in America, any person of possible Arab descent today....all of these races have undergone a campaign of dehumanization. Those in power subtly manipulated the general population until that population was able to excuse widespread cruelty in their own minds. We always look at those historical periods with disgust and wonder how anyone could ever accept that level of cruelty, and yet it happens over and over again throughout history.A few reasons why I did NOT like this novel: 1. The author cannot seem to find her main point or theme. If her theme is the importance of individuality, I think she fails. The book ends with something that complete negates a theme that highlights the importance of individuality---so it can't be that.2. The author's knowledge of cloning is all wrong. She attempts to sway her audience against the entire IDEA without fully understanding the concept. Clones would not be exact copies of their DNA donors. Environment is almost as largely responsible for who we are as our DNA is. At one point, I think she is going to explore this knowledge further, but I ended up being convinced that she just doesn't KNOW that even PHYSICAL traits are affected by environmental factors. Fingerprints are even affected by the force and pressure of things happening in the womb. Identical twins have the same DNA, and yet they are not identical. The same basic principles apply to clones. So, the thing that happens at the end...impossible. 3. The plot is all over the place. It has no direction.4. The characterizations are flat. The emotions are hollow. The reader has no background for anyone, or sense of setting.5. The author breaks the cardinal rule of writing: "Show! Don't tell!!" She tells and tells and tells, but never SHOWS us anything. For instance, we are TOLD that the character of Steven is "okay." He's apparently the one character in this drug lord's family that is not evil. Yet, we are not SHOWN this. Why is Steven "okay?" How does Matt know this? Then, when Steven betrays Matt, are we supposed to be appalled? We have no emotional attachment to Steven. Why did we think he WOULDN'T betray Matt?6. Like I said, there is no continuity. No over-arching theme. After leaving the compound, Matt goes to another country. Once there it seems that this story is devolving into a diatribe on socialism. Which, irritated me INCREDIBLY. I couldn't be more sick of this "evils of socialism" storyline. However, at least going on about socialism was giving this novel a POINT!!!! YET, it didn't commit to the evil socialism theme. It turned out that the government was something else entirely. So, I don't know what that bit about the socialist orphanage was. It was completely out of place.Then....the story devolved further....and went a place that left me completely flummoxed and angry that I wasted my time with this horrible written dreck (Matt at one point says: I was, quite literally, the underdog. Oh really Ms. Author? Was he LITERALLY an underdog? Not figuratively?).Ultimately, I am most angry that this type of fiction is winning awards. That our children are assigned badly-written propaganda to read in high school English instead of quality literature.
—Wicked Incognito Now
