Twice Baked Thursday: House of the Scorpion

Title: House of the Scorpion

Author: Nancy Farmer

Pages: 380

Genre: Science Fiction (dystopian)

Audience: young adult

Source:library(Becky)  bought (Randi) 

Rating: 5 I'd marry this book even if was a clone
                  4 I'd take this book to dinner where we'd feast on suckled pig and honey on toast

Goodreads Summary:

Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?

Our Thoughts

Becky in black. Randi in Red 

My favorite aspect of this story was the comparison of extreme individuality (El Patron) to extreme collectivism (the orphanage). It was muy creepy. Both were presented as negative and corrupt in different ways. The book did not offer a utopian ideal, which I applaud it for. That was a nice change...but I like some level of happiness in my books! And it seemed people were only happy in this story when they were ignorant. :( (just like real life!) I love books that have a strong message but let the reader discover it instead of just endlessly telling them what they should think.  If my brain isn't engaged then I don't enjoy a book.  Touche, it's not a didactic book and I appreciate that about it. 

The second best part of this book was the issue of cloning and making Crots/Eejits. I thought it showed some of the potential dangers of cloning well, like harvesting organs to prolong life unnaturally and the view of the clones as less than people. So sad how Matt was treated! But I like that it sends the "subliminal" message you were talking about. The additional problem of legally damaging clone brains to make them seem less human or non-clone brains to make them the perfect slaves was fascinating and horrific. Right! This is definitely an issue driven story rather than plot or action. Not gonna lie, it took me awhile to get through the first half of the book, but after that the story started to pick up for me.

Most of the characters weren't especially likable because they were portrayed honestly and were delightfully complex. LOVED the complexity of Tam Lin especially. And of course Matt. Even Matt struggles with being "good" and surviving/enjoying his lot in life. The Patron was enigmatic, but corrupt. I totally found myself having the same feelings toward El Patron as Matt did; for some reason I felt compelled to like him, even though I knew he was pure evil.  Not pure evil, just 3/4 evil lol. I could almost (not quite) sympathize with his story despite knowing how evil he was. I do wish we knew more about Celia and Maria, though. Celia is a strong, intelligent character while Maria is likable but a little doe-eyed and simpering for my taste. I really liked Celia. It seemed like she was the only person in the first section of the book that really saw Matt as a person and as a boy (perhaps with the exception of Tam Lin). The focus is very much on boys and men, but I enjoyed it despite that. Wow, I totally didn't notice that. You're right though, and in fact I can't think of any female characters aside from Celia who are portrayed in a purely positive light (Maria really ticked me off about the Furball thing). Ew, who wants a purely positive character in any gender?  That's no fun! The first half of the book sets the stage and gives us character, so the adventure theme is slow to kick in but enjoyable when it arrives. Yep, that's what took me so long! I enjoyed the second half much more, especially the new characters we meet in that half. This would be an excellent choice for a teen book-club. I probably wouldn't teach it, but I would definitely recommend it to students. Also, I feel like I need to note that the reason this got a 4 from me and not a 5 is because although I liked it overall and the writing was superb, it wasn't really a "for me" kind of book. What does that mean? lol.  I'm glad I read it, though.