The House of the Scorpion
13 journalers for this copy...
Utterly amazing YA novel. It didn't win the National Book Award, a Newberry Honor and the Michael L. Printz Award for nothing - read it and enjoy!
Product Description
Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacr n Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
Product Description
Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacr n Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
I gave this book to rureading to take to the January Bestsellers and Award winners BC Meeting at the Joshua Tree since I will be out of town :(
While waiting for the others to arrive for the Meetup, I picked up this book and managed to read almost two chapters. I mentioned it was interesting just from that small sample, and all agreed I should take it. Thanks Minerva101.
The character Matt reminded me so much of Ender from Ender's Game, as he struggles to understand who he is and what is his purpose in life. The dystopian setting was unsettling and suspenseful as situations arose, as the reader tries to understand the context from Matt's POV and comprehension as a child. Compelling issues are presented in an interesting, thought-provoking dialogue.
Selected for the February Calgary BC Meetup at the Joshua Tree Cafe.
I picked this up at the Feb meeting. Hallelujah, less books home than brought this month! I'll get this one turned around this month to bring back for YA!
Journal Entry 7 by megami-no-ushi at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada on Thursday, March 10, 2011
Released 13 yrs ago (3/12/2011 UTC) at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking to the march YA meeting.
This was an interesting book, especially comparing the similarities and differences between Farmer's take on the subject from a YA perspective and Ishiguro's take from an adult perspective. I loved "Never let me go" and that really sparked my interest in reading this book. I thought Matt was a really nuanced character and I loved watching his critical thinking skills progress through the book. I also love how the encouragment to use them came full circle. Great read, thanks for sharing!
To the finder:
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday of the month at 11am at the Joshua Tree Cafe on Edmonton Trail. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!
This was an interesting book, especially comparing the similarities and differences between Farmer's take on the subject from a YA perspective and Ishiguro's take from an adult perspective. I loved "Never let me go" and that really sparked my interest in reading this book. I thought Matt was a really nuanced character and I loved watching his critical thinking skills progress through the book. I also love how the encouragment to use them came full circle. Great read, thanks for sharing!
To the finder:
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday of the month at 11am at the Joshua Tree Cafe on Edmonton Trail. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!
Picked up this book at the Calgary BookCrossing March meet-up. The story's premise sounds super intriguing.
Great book. I started reading and couldn't put it down. The book's vaguely sci fi, with clones and stuff, but in the end it's a book about people. I was expecting the plot to follow Matt into adulthood, but then the story turns a corner and you're in another world. It reminded me of the movie "The Island" only, you know, way better.
Journal Entry 10 by locker-monster at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada on Friday, April 8, 2011
Released 13 yrs ago (4/9/2011 UTC) at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Releasing this book at the Calgary BookCrossing April meet-up. If it didn't go home with someone, it's on the bookshelf.
I picked this up at April's Calgary meetup. This is being added to the TBR mountain.
What an interesting book! I read this one as "Scorpion" is in the title and January's theme is "Lion's and Tiger and Bears". Wasn't exactly expecting this but really enjoyed it. Happened to have some time so enjoyed a whole afternoon of reading this book, been way too long since I did that!
Taking this to January's BookCrossing meeting.
Are you in the Calgary area and interested in meeting up with other Calgary BookCrossers? Please check out our facebook group, "BookCrossing Calgary" for details on how. Meeting are held on the second Saturday of every month starting at 11am. Location is unknown, please PM me for information. New Crossers are always welcome.
Are you in the Calgary area and interested in meeting up with other Calgary BookCrossers? Please check out our facebook group, "BookCrossing Calgary" for details on how. Meeting are held on the second Saturday of every month starting at 11am. Location is unknown, please PM me for information. New Crossers are always welcome.
An interesting read. What if? Scary thing is they are probably already trying...
Bringing this book back to the Bookcrossing meeting.
Picked up at September Calgary BookCrossing meetup.
This wasn't quite my cup of tea.
I found a lot of the concepts interesting (clones, the Opium country, the slaves), but I didn't really connect with the characters.
Going by the other reviewers, I think I'm in the minority with this one.
I found a lot of the concepts interesting (clones, the Opium country, the slaves), but I didn't really connect with the characters.
Going by the other reviewers, I think I'm in the minority with this one.
Passing this one to Crataegus.
BookyMcBooks blames himself for tarnishing my view on this book. I don't think he did, even though I'm in agreement with him. It wasn't my favourite either. It was really easy to read. I liked the writing style, It was an interesting concept, but I didn't feel like the story was leading up to something. It picked up only in the last few chapters to lead into the sequel, and spent too much time setting the scene.
I'm curious about the kid, but not enough to go seeking the next book.
Will be brought to the next Calgary bookcrossing meetup and handed off, or handed back.
I'm curious about the kid, but not enough to go seeking the next book.
Will be brought to the next Calgary bookcrossing meetup and handed off, or handed back.
Grabbed at get together~
I enjoyed this book, and really liked the writing style which was easy to read. Mostly it was an interesting look at the concepts of what constitutes being human, different concepts of slaves, and also death/life/immortality. It had an interesting collection of characters, and also wrapped up pretty nicely.
Thanks for the interesting read!
Thanks for the interesting read!
Taken to get together
Just picked up this book at the monthly Calgary Book Crossing meeting.
I was very impressed with this book. The premise was quite different than most dystopian books I've come across, and I liked it. I expected a bit more at the end, but in retrospect it finished quite nicely. I really liked the concept of people treating a clone as less than human. It makes sense, but I really liked the fact that even though this clone is the clone of the most powerful man in the country, he still had a significant challenges to overcome to prove that he had equal worth.
Will be releasing this book at the monthly Calgary book crossing meeting at Cravings Market Restaurant.
picked this up at the November meeting
well-written, interesting look at a dark not-to-distant future, with uplifting ending
It had interesting concepts but I think I'm more of the history type of person than a futuristic type of concept of cloning. I'm bringing back to the next meeting.
Picked up from the January Calgary BookCrossing Meeting.
