House of the Scorpion

Title: House of the Scorpion

Author: Nancy Farmer

Genre: Science Fiction

# of Pages: 380

Books Read: 9/50

House of the Scorpion is a delightfully dreadful book. Set in a future where drug cartels have won, where science has succeeded, and where love is still the best thing possible, this book is an opportunity to consider a plethora of moral questions.

Matt, the main character, is a clone. In his world, the country of Opium, located geographically between the United States and Mexico, clones are legally considered animals, and something to be feared and loathed. Yet Matt doesn't act or feel like an animal. He loves, fears, and wishes just as any other little boy would. 

The book is full of vivid pictures of both the cruelty and wonders that take place over the course of the story. I imagine the characters lounging around the immense mansion, chattering away in animated Spanish, the aura of luxury and power around them. Then there are the scenes I would NOT want to see in a movie. Like when Matt is taken away from Celia, the woman who has raised him, and the servant now in charge of him, Rosa, takes away his furniture and instead lays down animal bedding and sawdust. 

A great way to wake up my brain and enjoy a rainy day at home. In other news, I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and went and saw the movie (Part 2) last night. I thought about making a blog post about the book, but decided since I've read it a bunch of times before, it can't really count towards my 50 goal.