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Post by rchllsnckt on Nov 24, 2014 10:01:59 GMT -5
So I've finally caught up with this thread after reading ?3. I have some ideas and questions.
Setting: Before the sea was drained, was it Lake Lachrymose? At the end of ASoUE TGG, we see the Baudelaires confronted with what we assume is the Bombinating Beast, at the bottom of Lake Lachrymose. Will it be Lake Lachrymose again? Was Josephine a hint? There's enough speculation that the sea will be refilled by the end of ?4. I hope at least something more is included about the Clusterous Forest.
Wade Academy: So, the schism happened when they were 9, about 4 years ago. Olaf & Q's names are in the tower. Wouldn't Lemony already know who Olaf is when Ellington is telling him about the graffiti, especially if he were in love with his sister?
Qwerty: Recommends Italian dictionaries, later comes Harold Limetta and Italian limes. Seems he always recommends a book that contributes to the plot. Can someone tell me what his recommendations were in ?1 and ?2? A friend is borrowing them so I can't go back and look.
Ellington Feint: This might be a stretch: Is she in fact Beatrice? She did change her name and disguise herself twice, who's to say she wasn't doing that originally in ?1 when Lemony met her? He's obviously falling in love with her.
The BB statue: papery skin at the bottom, like the papery skin outside Wade Academy, like the papery skin a reptile sheds as it ages. But it's also hollow. Is something inside?
Honeydew melons: At first I thought this could be food for the larva, or for the beast itself we see in ?3. Is it possible they are the perfect environment for raising larvae inside? They are moist, nutritious, and controlled. I'm imagining a honeydew melon inside the glass boxes next to the shackle. Where did the melons go? What's in the basement?
Caviar: Why this book? What's the significance of fish eggs? Is it just another hint that Hangfire will be developing BB larva?
And one more thing: Anyone else have a feeling we'll meet Pip & Squeak's father in ?4, yet already know his character from somewhere?
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Post by Dante on Nov 24, 2014 10:53:11 GMT -5
Setting: Before the sea was drained, was it Lake Lachrymose? At the end of ASoUE TGG, we see the Baudelaires confronted with what we assume is the Bombinating Beast, at the bottom of Lake Lachrymose. Will it be Lake Lachrymose again? Was Josephine a hint? There's enough speculation that the sea will be refilled by the end of ?4. I hope at least something more is included about the Clusterous Forest. I don't think there's any implied connection between the Stain'd sea, Lake Lachrymose, and where the Baudelaires encountered the Great Unknown in TGG; though Widdershins mentions Lake Lachrymose at one point, it's not visited at any point during TGG. I also think there'd probably be some other hints if this were true - references to the area as Lachrymose Valley, for instance, or something along those lines. I also think it would be very underwhelming for the mysterious Great Unknown, an entity which has the unknown right there in its name and looks like a question mark, to ever be explained. It would be a betrayal of its entire concept. So I'm afraid I can't support that theory. I wonder where you're getting the age of nine from? It's indicated in TPP that the schism occurred when Kit was four and the Denouements were five. As for Olaf, Lemony doesn't indicate whether or not he recognises the name; there can be multiple people called Olaf, of course. Let me see. In ?2, if memory serves, he recommended Despair (by Nabokov), a novel roughly described as being about two people who do not look alike but nonetheless form a wicked plan (referencing Cleo and Ellington's scheme). In ?1, he recommends books in the Zoology and Oceanography section, and the Theatre section for information on Dame Sally Murphy. All very relevant. Well, we know pretty well that Armstrong Feint's name isn't a fabrication, as it's used by members of the Inhumane Society in speech and documentation, so she'd still have to be called Feint. And Hangfire calls out "Ellington?" in Chapter Eleven of ?2 when he thinks he hears her approach. So her name is probably correct. There's also a Beatrice allusion in ?2, I think - Lemony recalls one of his friends catching her first bat - and in terms of the characters' ages it would contradict TBL's LS to BB #1, in which Lemony is eleven and has just met Beatrice. so that's more or less out, I'm afraid. The Bombinating Beast, on all the occasions it's been carried about, has never been stated to rattle. Presumably it is hollow for another purpose. Beats me, especially as the book has now been destroyed. On a narrative level, I would imagine that either what Lemony has already read is important, or Hangfire has another copy around somewhere and was trying to destroy the library's copy whilst not being seen to highlight its importance. I'd have thought there had to be some payoff for Pip and Squeak's subplot, so their father being in some way a returning character might not be a bad idea - though I've also been thinking that it's possible he's dead or otherwise no longer alive. It seems likely that him being continually so sick is merely an excuse.
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tadpole
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 1
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Post by tadpole on Dec 5, 2014 19:24:43 GMT -5
I'm sorry, I'm not sure if this has already been discussed, but I think that I have found my new favorite Snicket quote. I believe Lemony says it in the scene when he's discussing VFD with his associates while they're gathered in the library of Wade Academy.
"Our true home is the imagination, but our kingdom is the wide open world."
Did anyone else find this to be thought provoking?
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Post by Dante on Dec 6, 2014 3:41:30 GMT -5
It is rather thought-provoking, though I suddenly find myself somewhat concerned with provenance... I did a little research, and it seems it's paraphrased from the same Forster speech: Which itself looks like it's paraphrased from Keats. I think Snicket put it the best of all of them, though. Imagination is our home, but our kingdom is everywhere because that is all the domain we may tread, intangibly and invisibly but no less truly.
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Post by M David Steel on Dec 23, 2014 15:58:45 GMT -5
It was pretty sinister i remember, reading that chapter, the two people in masks came to take that person away and i thought they were the man and woman with the beard and hair
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Post by Dante on Dec 28, 2014 12:58:23 GMT -5
Definitely an interesting comparison. There's certainly a palpable elevation in menace when the "Department of Truancy" show up, and to their credit Hangfire and Sharon Haines actually earn it, rather than merely carrying an aura of menace from implied past misdeeds.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Jan 6, 2015 15:05:33 GMT -5
Continuing my reading, nearly done. At some point i'llread through the entirety of this thread and assemble my thoughts on what people have said.
Nice to see a mention of jaques
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bprince
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 2
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Post by bprince on Jan 17, 2015 17:49:38 GMT -5
Hi! Please, can anyone help me? I'm trying to find out which book Snicket is talking about in this part: "Two guys are friends, supposedly, and then one of them tricks the other one and he falls out of a tree and breaks his leg. The moral of the story seems to be, some boys are mean at school. I don't need a book to tell me that." Thanks!
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Post by Dante on Jan 18, 2015 3:32:23 GMT -5
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bprince
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 2
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Post by bprince on Jan 20, 2015 18:05:32 GMT -5
Thanks a lot, Dante! I didn't see that thread before, it is very helpful!
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Post by Dante on Mar 9, 2015 3:28:18 GMT -5
It's definitely a striking book upon first reading. I quite understand your enthusiasm.
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Post by M David Steel on Apr 29, 2015 6:02:20 GMT -5
Ha I understand if the younger readers were nervous about buying it, hence the title, so they go up to the counter with the book and the person says "shouldn't you be in school?" and you're like "err no it's Saturday" and he says "oh no I didn't mean that, I was just reading the title."
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Post by Dante on Apr 29, 2015 10:23:09 GMT -5
I regret that more of the titles aren't constructed to create awkward dialogues between children and bookstore employees.
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Duchess
Catastrophic Captain
Bye Bye Li'l Sebastian
Posts: 51
Likes: 11
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Post by Duchess on May 4, 2015 10:59:01 GMT -5
Well ?1 kinda is if you buy it at, let's say, 22:00. But the problem is they already see you. It's a question that makes sense only if the employee asks it as you walk in.
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