The exposition lasted for way too long. And I mean way. The first section of youth was 52 pages, and that was all really dull. It started to pick up speed there, but I wouldn't call it rising action... Not much of one anyway. If I were to draw this out, which I have, the rising action would be a shallow line.
On page 370 of the book we reach the climax. Ah, good times. The excitement sure didn't last long though, shortly after, the intensity slowed down a lot, and plummeted for the next 9 pages. The last page was used as an exposition, which was way too short. I think that if the rising action started rising faster and at a quicker pace, and then the falling action to be stretched out a little bit more as well. A larger exposition would have also been nice.
I didn't like the structure for this book. It was kind of crazy and strange. If I wasn't reading this for school, I would have stopped reading this book really quickly because the rising action was just so slow. I'm glad I didn't, as the climax was worth it, but it would have been better if it was faster for at least the beginning so that it would hook the reader.
The ending was also dissatisfying. I felt like a finally got to the good part when bam. It's done. Over with.
See what I mean? It makes you feel really lost and confused to have such a short resolution. We all say that we don't like them because they are too slow, or not important enough to be put into a novel, but after reading this book I realize how important it really is. Not only did I learn about the importance of the resolution, but also exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action as well.
There are so many good things about this book though, so don't read this and think that The House of the Scorpion was terrible. That's not what I'm saying. I still haven't discussed character, connections to real world issues, theme, or a film study. Stay tuned for those posts! Until then, I would love to know your thoughts on the narrative structure in this book. Do you agree with me? Disagree? Comment below! And happy reading.
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