|
Post by Dante on Jan 16, 2016 4:46:51 GMT -5
I wonder if there's any significantly original reading of the book as it relates to the title that would only be produced if you were more aware of Jewish culture.
|
|
|
Post by gliquey on Jan 16, 2016 4:51:16 GMT -5
Yes, the title comes from a part of the Passover seder called " The Four Questions", quite appropriately. Handler has indeed spoken about references to Jewish culture in his Snicket books, and if I'm not mistaken he even contributed to the New American Haggadah, but including a reference to Jewish culture in the title of one of his books surprised me, at least. Until now, mentions of Judaism have been fairly subtle in ASOUE and ATWQ.
|
|
|
Post by Eponine on Jan 16, 2016 11:14:20 GMT -5
Oh, yeah. That sounds reasonable, he does put a lot of Jewish culture references in his books- either that or it was just super-coincidential.
|
|
|
Post by Reba on Jan 16, 2016 13:03:02 GMT -5
I wonder if there's any significantly original reading of the book as it relates to the title that would only be produced if you were more aware of Jewish culture. nah
|
|
|
Post by J-Bird on Jan 25, 2016 21:48:13 GMT -5
As someone who knows a thing or two about Jewish culture, I don't believe this book has a different meaning when viewed through the culture lens.
|
|
|
Post by Dante on Jan 26, 2016 3:45:32 GMT -5
Good, thank you for your contribution.
|
|
|
Post by J-Bird on Jan 31, 2016 21:48:28 GMT -5
I'm trying to tell whether or not you're being sarcastic, Dante. I can never tell if you are. You're welcome, if not.
|
|
|
Post by feintncoffeebeans on Jul 1, 2018 5:29:19 GMT -5
I just finished reading the last book finally. Wow, that ending was just unexpected and cold of snicket and I was left heartbroken and wanting more. His lines about knowing the truths about the characters and his thoughts about meeting a lot of ppl and never seeing them again, or his thoughts about forever-- I wonder if he meant that or just wanted to feel better about how all his friends thought of him now? I was so pumped to see his friends and perhaps ellington join the VFD but it just sucked to read that they couldn't look at him.. But damn, snicket, that was pretty cold to kill him like that (but I guess letting him get arrested wouldn't be the end of stained's problems.
|
|
verballyfundaffodil
Reptile Researcher
I'm rerereading the series now, solving mysteries--I think I'm a Very Fine Detective.
Posts: 11
Likes: 4
|
Post by verballyfundaffodil on Jul 1, 2018 20:32:37 GMT -5
Adding to the theories about Lemony being dead...
I remember Kit says in either TPP or TE (and I've been searching for about twenty minutes and I'm upset that I can't find the quote) something along the lines of: "I lost both of my brothers." We know that Jacques is dead, but it hasn't been confirmed whether or not Lemony is dead. Losing someone to death and losing someone due to distance or no communication are two very different things, so I doubt Kit would group them together with just the word "lost." One might believe that Kit said this because she believed the Daily Punctilio, but this is Kit we're talking about, so I think that would be quite unlikely.
But, Lemony says in TUA (pg. 5): "I am, as of half-past four this afternoon, still alive, and was most certainly alive the day I sat at the Café Kafka with my afternoon tea and read my obituary in the newspaper." We know that this book occurs after ASOUE, due to the number of mentions to the Baudelaire case throughout the story, so Lemony did live to an adult age, at least a few years older than Beatrice and Bertrand, who were old enough to have a 14-year-old daughter.
However, I do believe that Lemony is in fact dead. First, stating the obvious, he is not well-liked, so there must be at least a few people that would have wanted him dead, and he isn't exactly the most careful person (I mean, come on--he jumped onto a speeding train when he was barely out of middle school). Going off of the Netflix series, Lemony being dead and being a ghost-like figure in the scenes would make sense in the context, although, as it is a television series, being an ever-present narrator is acceptable.
To be honest, I have no idea what to believe, but I do know another question I would want to ask the author if 667 gets to interview him again.
|
|
|
Post by feintncoffeebeans on Jul 2, 2018 4:11:06 GMT -5
I believe Lemony is alive. It's been a while since I read the books but I thought there was a scene where people thought he supposedly died? and as an adult, Im assuming, since he wanted to marry Beatrice. I think the coming and going in the netflix series is just an artsy affect to the show. I didn't even know there was a theory about Snicket being dead. The only one I've seen brewing is that he possibly killed Beatrice due to the poem "For Beatrice–Our love broke my heart, and stopped yours." Why does he say that their love killed her? From the books, it appears that Lemony is really just one step behind the orphans and for some reason, letting the world think he's dead. Poor Kit..
|
|
|
Post by Hermes on Jul 2, 2018 12:06:47 GMT -5
What exactly would be meant by saying that Lemony 'is' dead? Clearly he was not dead when he wrote the books. (OK, some books have been written by ghosts, there's The Third Policeman, etc., but it's not normal.) If you mean we are to imagine him as dead 'now', while we read, well, he still gives interviews, he once appeared reading Coraline (and that was Snicket, not Handler: we did not see his face) and so on.
His death has been reported several times. The report mentioned in TUA presumably happened some time after the unfortunate events, since he was already well known as the Baudelaires' biographer. Kit seemingly thinks he is dead during the action of The End: and Beatrice apparently thought he was dead when she contemplated calling her child 'Lemony', though this must have been corrected before Klaus was born, or else he would be called Lemony. Isn't there even a line where L says 'although one's death is reported many times...'?
(The 'just behind' thing is very controversial, by the way. There are certainly passages which imply it, but there are rather more which imply he is writing long after the events.)
|
|