If you're a sci fi fan, check out the award-winning The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. Matt Alacran is a clone of El Patron, the ruler of Opium, a country between the United States and Aztlan (formerly Mexico), where workers called "eejits" - humans whose brains have been clamped - work endlessly in the poppy fields. After being raised by the mother-like Celia in relative poverty, Matt ends on up El Patron's luxurious estate. Even thought El Patron lavishes all sorts of attention on Matt, he's despised by almost everyone else because he's a clone and not even considered to be human. Usually clones' brains are more or less destroyed at birth, and eventually Matt learns why he's been allowed to grow and flourish - he's going to be harvested for body parts to keep El Patron (already over 140 years old) alive. How can he escape? Although the ending is a bit rushed, the rest of the book is a thought-provoking idea of the future.
Monday, April 4, 2011
What does it mean to be human?
If you're a sci fi fan, check out the award-winning The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. Matt Alacran is a clone of El Patron, the ruler of Opium, a country between the United States and Aztlan (formerly Mexico), where workers called "eejits" - humans whose brains have been clamped - work endlessly in the poppy fields. After being raised by the mother-like Celia in relative poverty, Matt ends on up El Patron's luxurious estate. Even thought El Patron lavishes all sorts of attention on Matt, he's despised by almost everyone else because he's a clone and not even considered to be human. Usually clones' brains are more or less destroyed at birth, and eventually Matt learns why he's been allowed to grow and flourish - he's going to be harvested for body parts to keep El Patron (already over 140 years old) alive. How can he escape? Although the ending is a bit rushed, the rest of the book is a thought-provoking idea of the future.
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