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Post by Mijahu on Feb 2, 2009 14:20:42 GMT -5
While California is obviously real, Ryanston is not. However there is in fact a Bryanston, CA. That is...Canada... I think the story does not take place anywhere in particular as well, although whenever it crosses my mind I think of somewhere in the UK.
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Post by Kount Kelsey on Feb 2, 2009 18:56:14 GMT -5
Like when they talk i can picture them with that british accent but at one piont i thought they were from austrailia but i cant picture them there anymore
-(just a theory)
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Post by psychjuxtaposed on Mar 28, 2009 20:15:09 GMT -5
It is my belief that aSoUE takes place in an alternate universe which happens to share most of our history with us, but has taken some different turns so some things are different, hence the bizarre anachronistic place that the Baudelaires live in. It is entirely possible that the rest of this world is just as bizarrely different and similar to ours as where the Bauds live.
I call balderdash on claiming that it takes place in England because it "feels like England." That proves nothing. When I traveled to Turkey, it felt very much like Mexico at times, but that did not change the fact that I was in Turkey, not Mexico.
Just because Count Olaf calls himself "Count Olaf" and insists that he's a count, that does not actually mean he is really a count. I've personally always thought Olaf was lying about being a count in order to distance himself from those he considered below him. Certainly he does no count-like business and he never explains what he is supposedly count of.
As well, it is shown that this is indeed an alternate universe of our own through such references as "the King of Arizona."
Arizona does not have a king, nor has it ever had a king, barring the time it spent as a colony under the Spanish crown.
Snicketverse is an entirely different reality from our own.
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Post by Strangely on Oct 27, 2009 11:19:32 GMT -5
yeah i always figured it took place in an advanced steampunk universe. presumably i would assume an alternate version of england.
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Post by Hermes on Oct 27, 2009 15:35:40 GMT -5
It is my belief that aSoUE takes place in an alternate universe which happens to share most of our history with us, but has taken some different turns so some things are different, hence the bizarre anachronistic place that the Baudelaires live in. It is entirely possible that the rest of this world is just as bizarrely different and similar to ours as where the Bauds live. I call balderdash on claiming that it takes place in England because it "feels like England." That proves nothing. When I traveled to Turkey, it felt very much like Mexico at times, but that did not change the fact that I was in Turkey, not Mexico. Totally agreed. (It feels pretty like North America to me - what with the mix of names, and the big distances betwen cities, and terms like 'fire department' - in Britain it's 'fire brigade' - but that's not evidence either. I'm sure it isn't exactly any real place.) Not sure about this bit. There are plenty of old aristocratic families who still use the titles even though they don't have the estates or the social standing that used to go with them, and are doing normal jobs. So I think he may really be a count. (Also in some countries every member of an aristocratic family can use the title - so it may be that the count of wherever - the head of the family - is his brother or cousin, and he's just Count Olaf.) Absolutely. (Also the Duchess of Winnipeg - which unlike Olaf's countship is an actual position with duties; Canada never had titled nobles.)
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Post by Vanja on Jan 27, 2010 18:44:33 GMT -5
I'm sorry to bump this thread, but. Before I say anything I'd like to add that I do think it's an imaginary world. I think the closest actual place is Canada and it's possible Handler had Canada strongly in mind when he wrote the books. Because of Dollars and Cents and Fahrenheit, the warm city landscape and then the cold and snowy mountains, Duchess of Winnipeg, Briny Beach (comes from a song from Newfoundland "Susan Strayed the Briny Beach" also that has a reference to Daily Punctilio's misindentifying Sunny's name as Suzie), the song mentioned in TSS or TGG "The Butcher Boy", apparently Sunny couldn't fall asleep without her parents singing it for her (Another song from Newfoundland), the usage of French names and words as a reference to Quebec in Canada?
I rest my case.
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Post by Dante on Jan 28, 2010 4:35:12 GMT -5
Are you certain that "As Susan Strayed the Briny Beach" predates Carroll's use of the name?
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Post by Christmas Chief on Jan 28, 2010 6:23:59 GMT -5
It could be both the song and the poem. The question is, where did the inspiration come from? In the case of TGG, most would say The Walrus and the Carpenter, but in Vanja's scenario, it could have originally came from the song.
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Post by Vanja on Jan 28, 2010 10:21:10 GMT -5
Are you certain that "As Susan Strayed the Briny Beach" predates Carroll's use of the name? Yes I'm certain, it's an old folk song from Newfoundland. www.briny-store.co.cc/briny-beach.htm
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Post by Hermes on Jan 28, 2010 15:30:01 GMT -5
Fascinating theory, Vanja!
With Briny Beach there's no reason he might not have meant both allusions at once. And the fact that 'The Butcher Boy' is also from Newfoundland confirms he is likely to have had that song in mind.
French names - well, there seems to be quite a mix of names, so I took it it was just a nation formed by immigrants like the US - but it's true French ones like Baudelaire and Denouement are more common in Canada.
Also the Royal Gardens suggest it is or has been a monarchy, though I'm not sure how much weight that can have, as Arizona seems to be a monarchy in this world.
I don't think the Canadians use Fahrenheit, though - indeed I believe they have adopted metrication much more thoroughly than us Brits.
And by the way, Daniel Handler's kind editor, Susan Rich, is Canadian, and indeed from Winnipeg, which may explain the connection.
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Post by Vanja on Jan 28, 2010 15:38:04 GMT -5
Yes well but Canadians did not adopt the Celsius system until the mid-seventies, and Lemony probably was born a little before that, in 1999 are at least 30 years since his birth, and it was he that used Fahrenheit, he probably grew up with Fahrenheit if he'd had been Canadian.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Jan 28, 2010 16:04:36 GMT -5
Yes well but Canadians did not adopt the Celsius system until the mid-seventies, and Lemony probably was born a little before that, Daniel Handler was actually born in 1970, incidentally, so I'd say Lemony was born around the same time (since Handler claims to be his close friend).
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Post by MyKindEditor on Jan 28, 2010 16:45:16 GMT -5
Canada is definately possible. No way is it the UK, you'd never get mountains like that over here. Especially that close to the sea. Also we have differnet terms in our cities. I think definately U.S.A or Canada. I don't think the books follow our decades (as discussed in another thread) so the dating of farenheit is possibly irrelivant.
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Post by MyKindEditor on Jan 30, 2010 4:11:13 GMT -5
Although I don't like placing time and place on the books, I think it makes them too real.
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Post by Vanja on Jan 30, 2010 23:34:18 GMT -5
Yes well but Canadians did not adopt the Celsius system until the mid-seventies, and Lemony probably was born a little before that, Daniel Handler was actually born in 1970, incidentally, so I'd say Lemony was born around the same time (since Handler claims to be his close friend). That still makes it the right time for him to grow up with Fahrenheit if it's Canada, they didn't fully use Celsius until mid 80's although they started using it in mid 70's.
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