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Post by Seymour Glass on Apr 12, 2010 14:20:18 GMT -5
I'm going with the 1970s.
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bumblebee
Catastrophic Captain
The world is quiet here
Posts: 52
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Post by bumblebee on Apr 17, 2010 2:10:02 GMT -5
I think we cannot be certain.
My reason for that is, first of all, I don't know when exactly tv was invented, but in the whole series we don't get a mention of any place having a tv (unless I missed it). But then, again, Violet plans in one of the parts that she would like to have a advanced computer in her lab when she grows up, so that means it would be around 1960s, when the computers were invented... Their clothes are a bit of a 1930s though, also the fact that we never get a mention of a car, but an automobile rather, so that it is around the WWII period.
Therefore, when I read the books I never really think about what time they are in, but I just try to enjoy the read.
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Post by Dante on Apr 17, 2010 2:53:10 GMT -5
That's the sort of approach I take. It's interesting that you mention TV, as I remember it being raised before. I think we did eventually find a mention of TV in the series, but I can't remember where; there are movie theatres, though.
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Post by thedoctororwell on Apr 17, 2010 13:43:13 GMT -5
In TMM there's a mention of Lemony fighting with a TV repairman. I think that Handler's only concern is that this universe must give a great place to litterature, so that written medias are more important and prominent. Therefore Internet can't exist and telephones are less used than in our world, for example, so that newspapers, letters and books are much more used. But the rest is absolutely fine as long as it has nothing to do with that, so I'd say their medical knowledge is on par with us. There are computers, but they are basically just a way to put information into electronic form : data can't be transferred from one computer to another and in fact the network system hasn't been invented yet. You have to re-type everything, which makes the paper archives comparatively less tedious.
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Post by Seymour Glass on Apr 17, 2010 19:13:27 GMT -5
Mr. Remora mentioned watching television in one of his stories. It can't be any earlier than 1950.
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Post by Dante on Apr 18, 2010 2:30:41 GMT -5
Nice work on the TV references, you two. This is the advantage of a forum full of people who know their stuff.
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Post by thedoctororwell on Apr 18, 2010 3:21:28 GMT -5
I love steampunk works where they mix modern technology with a retro look... Can you imagine Klaus and Violet playing "Pong" on a 200 pounds Atari made of wood ? ;D More seriously, I also wonder if the 2nd world war happened in the Snicketverse, given the abundance of jewish thematics ; remember that TE ends on a genocide. We at least know from TRR that WW1 happened.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Apr 26, 2010 17:13:32 GMT -5
There might be airships we just don't hear about; there's plenty of oppertunities for one to fly by and the Baudelaires just don't notice it. Though that kind of defeats the purpose. Found some air-vehicles: "It has an enormous flyswatter, so I can rid the skies of V.F.D. planes." TGG, Pages 200-201.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Apr 26, 2010 17:55:34 GMT -5
Okay, you guys all make good points about this being an alternate universe - with a history that differs from our world. Still, if you had to pick a decade for the series to occur in - which would you pick? That's the question.
I'm sticking with 1981 to 1983, for previously stated reasons - but I also like the idea of the series taking place in the 1970s.
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Post by Seymour Glass on May 7, 2010 14:56:10 GMT -5
Bikinis weren't called bikinis until 1946. However, Mr Remora mentioned watching television and Lemony mentioned fighting with a TV repairman, so I'm guessing it can't be any earlier than 1950.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on May 7, 2010 20:27:38 GMT -5
So, far, we have no votes for the 1960s. I guess freebird was the one to select 1970s, and only one other besides me selected 1980s. I guess everyone else is clearly divided between present day (when The Bad Beginning was written) and early 20th Century.
Well, it is fun to compare everyone's theories. My other fandom, Back to the Future, is very time specific - so I do like to have a specific time frame in mind for ASOUE.
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Post by blakegriplingph on May 8, 2010 3:56:06 GMT -5
I mostly think of an alternate-history 1950s or 1960s as the time period in which the whole series took place, similar to Bioshock, which took place in the sixties as well as having relatively advanced technology.
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Post by rufflebee on Jun 12, 2010 11:06:32 GMT -5
Maybe it happens in the future hehe.. Well it's difficult because Kit gave her students at Prufrock Prep TBB to read, right? So when Snicket was first publishing the books Kit was alive (I love how I'm speaking like all of this really happened lol) and by TE she was (assumed to be) dead. But at least ten years have passed since TE, and it's all very confusing.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Jun 12, 2010 19:13:06 GMT -5
I set the events of ASOUE between the years 1981 to 1983. As for the few books on the list that were published after 1982 in "our world", I just imagine that they were written and published a few years earlier in the ASOUE Universe. Perhaps, when trying to determine just what happened in the ASOUE Universe, it might be best to just take the " broad strokes" method. That could also be the other solution to the question of how Lemony Snicket could know every little detail of what happened to the Baudelaires, other than using the "Lemony has limited ESP" theory.
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Post by Seymour Glass on Jun 12, 2010 21:34:23 GMT -5
I ignore the list of books. Especially since ASOUE is on the list.
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