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The House of the Scorpion
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From: Jonathan Hunt <jhunt24>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 03:31:48 +0000
To my mind, the reason the last third of the book seems unsatisfactory is the lack of a cause and effect relationship in the plot. Farmer builds such an interesting world peopled by such fascinating characters in the first third that we are gripped and want to know how Matt will escape the clutches of the Alarcans, if he will be able to also free Opium from their clutches, and if he will be reunited with Maria. These are the big overarching questions we read for, questions which, if unanswered by book's end, will leave us disappointed.
How does the relatively quick succession of character and setting changes build character or advance plot? How, for example, does the whole escapade in the Plankton Factory lead Matt to be more able to accomplish those aforementioned goals, aside from being merely an obstacle through which he must pass? What knowledge, experience, or insight does he gain which helps him to accomplish his goals later in the book?
Someone once wrote, the king died and then the queen died is a mere succession of events in time, while, the king died and then the queen died of grief is a plot because it traces causality. That's sort of what I felt like here, that I was reading a very fascinating succession of events in time, but I did not understand how they bridged the first part of the novel with the ending, and I resented the fact that they took me away from Maria, Celia, Tam Lin, and others who I'd rather spend my time with.
Contrast this with a novel such as THE GOLDEN COMPASS which also continues to introduce new characters and new settings well into the final third of the book, but the reader feels these events are inevitable because they have been foreshadowed and they feel more connected to each other.
In spite of some troublesome plotting, I really, really like this book, so much in fact that it's my pick for the Newbery. I hasten to add that my students who've read this book feel likewise and, like fairrosa's readers, they are blind to any faults it may have. I, too, just wish Farmer had realized this story had the potential to be far bigger than one book.
Jonathan
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Received on Fri 17 Jan 2003 09:31:48 PM CST
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 03:31:48 +0000
To my mind, the reason the last third of the book seems unsatisfactory is the lack of a cause and effect relationship in the plot. Farmer builds such an interesting world peopled by such fascinating characters in the first third that we are gripped and want to know how Matt will escape the clutches of the Alarcans, if he will be able to also free Opium from their clutches, and if he will be reunited with Maria. These are the big overarching questions we read for, questions which, if unanswered by book's end, will leave us disappointed.
How does the relatively quick succession of character and setting changes build character or advance plot? How, for example, does the whole escapade in the Plankton Factory lead Matt to be more able to accomplish those aforementioned goals, aside from being merely an obstacle through which he must pass? What knowledge, experience, or insight does he gain which helps him to accomplish his goals later in the book?
Someone once wrote, the king died and then the queen died is a mere succession of events in time, while, the king died and then the queen died of grief is a plot because it traces causality. That's sort of what I felt like here, that I was reading a very fascinating succession of events in time, but I did not understand how they bridged the first part of the novel with the ending, and I resented the fact that they took me away from Maria, Celia, Tam Lin, and others who I'd rather spend my time with.
Contrast this with a novel such as THE GOLDEN COMPASS which also continues to introduce new characters and new settings well into the final third of the book, but the reader feels these events are inevitable because they have been foreshadowed and they feel more connected to each other.
In spite of some troublesome plotting, I really, really like this book, so much in fact that it's my pick for the Newbery. I hasten to add that my students who've read this book feel likewise and, like fairrosa's readers, they are blind to any faults it may have. I, too, just wish Farmer had realized this story had the potential to be far bigger than one book.
Jonathan
_________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page?atures/virus
Received on Fri 17 Jan 2003 09:31:48 PM CST
