Kay's Bookshelf

The book was, more than anything, a way for the reader to remember the previous volumes and their characters, because a lot of them put in an appearance for the great meeting that was to take place on Thursday. We have Justice Strauss from Book 1, Sir and Charles from The Miserable Mill, Principal Nero and two teachers from the Austere Academy, Hal from the Hostile Hospital, the three freaks from Caligari Carnival and Jerome Squalor from The Ersatz Elevator. It was nice seeing them all again, each with their own quirks and their own agenda, all the more so because some of them are on the good side and some of them are bad people, and it was interesting to see which was which.

Also, I was happy to get to know, at last, more details about what VFD actually means (the outline of the situation was also presented in the previous book, but somehow it all seemed a bit clearer in this one). VFD’s full name is The Volunteer Fire Department,and the organization used to be one where people around the world gathered in to share knowledge. Unfortunately there was a schism (a long time ago, when Kit Snicket was four), and the organization is now split in two: the noble people, putting out fires, and the villains, setting fire to things. I have to say that the world before the schism sounded idyllic to me (“Before the schism,” Dewey said, “V.F.D. was like a public library. Anyone could join us and have access to all of the information we’d acquired. Volunteers all over the globe were reading each other’s research, learning of each other’s observations, and borrowing each other’s books. For a while it seemed as if we might keep the whole world safe, secure, and smart.“) and I was quite sorry to see that it existed no more. But who knows, there is still one more book to go, perhaps it will all get better again at the end of the series (quite implausible as there are too many villains for anyone to be able to get them all, and put them behind bars or something, however I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best nevertheless).

An important theme of the book is that of moral relativism, as the children struggle to reconcile themselves with the idea that they were at times forced to do things that aren’t precisely laudable, and they wonder whether or not can they still be considered good people after that. They do conclude by saying they are probably “noble enough”, but nevertheless they continue to feel sorry and ashamed for some of the things they did in the past. Quite sad if we consider the fact that the three children are actually really good people who only did what they had to in one dire situation or another.

As usual (I almost forgot), a review would not be complete without the author’s warning at the beginning of the book:

[...]the book you are reading now is the perfect thing to drop into a pond. The ripples will spread across the surface of the pond and the world will change for the better, with one less dreadful story for people to read and one more secret hidden at the bottom of a pond, where most people never think of looking. The miserable tale of the Baudelaire orphans will be safe in the pond’s murky depths, and you will be happier not to read the grim story I have written[...]“

Thoughts on the ending: It is obvious that The End is very near. I wonder what will happen next. :) (and I am also looking forward to finding out what was so special about the sugarbowl hehe)

What I liked most: I was amused by all the descriptions of the Hotel Denouement. My favorite details were the fact that on the outside the hotel was painted in such a way as to look perfectly fine when reflected into the nearby pond (all the writing was backwards) and the fact that on the inside the whole hotel was organized after the Dewey Decimal System. :)

Also, another detail I found funny was the fact that the author once said that the denouement of a story “is often the second-to-last event, or the penultimate peril“. While I do not necessarily agree with the statement, it does match the fact that this is the penultimate book in the series, which makes it also the denouement of the story (while it doesn’t contain the actual denouement, it is clear that Mr. Snicket wanted the readers to believe it so). The fact that most of the book takes place at the Hotel Denouement (and there are three Denouement brothers in the cast of characters) only adds to the quirkiness of it all :)

Plus another quote I found funny: “I may have a handsome, youthful glow,” Olaf snarled, “but I wasn’t born yesterday! Ha!“.

What I liked least: show spoiler

Recommend it to? It’s no secret by now that I love this series, so I would recommend this book (but only after the previous ones have been read) to anyone else :)

This book is a sequel to:
The Bad Beginning
The Reptile Room
The Wide Window
The Miserable Mill
The Austere Academy
The Ersatz Elevator
The Vile Village
The Hostile Hospital
The Carnivorous Carnival
The Slippery Slope
The Grim Grotto

This book is followed by:
The End

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