"The World Is Quiet Here" 4 words?

[Mijahu]

I'm not done with the series yet, I'm still on the eleventh so no spoilers please!!

When I was reading The Slippery Slope, where "The world is quiet here" is first introduced, Lemony says that Violet looks up at the library archway and finds FOUR words, yet "The world is quiet here" is five. Was this a mistake, or am I missing something? Thanks!

[Dante]

I assume it's a mistake. Nothing comes of it, and I don't see how it would. There's a similarly embarrassing typo in the twelfth book, too, but since you're only on TGG then I won't describe it.

[Mijahu]

Dec 22, 2008 10:05:22 GMT -5 Dante said:

I assume it's a mistake. Nothing comes of it, and I don't see how it would. There's a similarly embarrassing typo in the twelfth book, too, but since you're only on TGG then I won't describe it.

Thanks, yes I just finished TPP, and I think I noticed what you are talking about, is it

"...one last glimpse of the villains and volunteers before elevator began to rise to the second story." on page 332? Haha, I laughed when I read it.

[Dante]

I never noticed that one. The one I was thinking of was page 229 - ""Please," Sunny said, joining her sisters." The typo labels Klaus as a sister of Sunny rather than a brother - or, as it probably should have been, a sibling. There was actually a theory for a while that the mirror-writing "previously unknown sibling" in Chapter Two alongside this typo suggested the Baudelaires had a secret fourth sibling.

Also, some people consider the Sebald Code message in Chapter Three to have a typo in it - the message is, if I recall correctly, "Are you in or enemies please respond," and based on the placement of certain words, it seems that it was probably meant to say either "associates or enemies" or "in or out." (Equally, though, you could argue the confusion between these pairs of terms perpetuates the Frank/Ernest confusion, as Frank might have said "associates or enemies" while Ernest might have said "in or out." Instead, it's a mix of the two.)

[Sora]

I've always pondered about that four words issue, especially because in The Slippery Slope "sugar bowl" is referred to as 'one word'.

[Dante]

That could be an editing issue. There's a place in the U.A. (Snicket's letter from the vineyard) where Sebald Code is used, and like most Sebald Code in the series the coded words are circled, but there's a place where eleven words are left between each coded word rather than ten, and it looks like the mistake might be down to counting "sugar bowl" as one word rather than two. So I think perhaps Handler writes sugarbowl as one word, but his editor considers it two words.

[vbabe1]

Perhaps it originally WAS four words before it was changed? Like when Walmart has to change from "The lower price, Always" to "Lower prices, Always"
"...the World is Quiet here...always" lol
"It's Always Quiet Here"
"Silence is our Golden"
"Quiet is the Silence"

[Dante]

You mean, before it was changed in-universe by V.F.D., or that Handler might have originally drafted a different pledge with only four words? "The world is quiet here" is derived from the same Algernon Charles Swinburne poem crucial to TSS, The Garden of Proserpine, which begins, "Here, where the world is quiet."

[cwm]

Jan 27, 2009 2:52:23 GMT -5 Dante said:

You mean, before it was changed in-universe by V.F.D., or that Handler might have originally drafted a different pledge with only four words? "The world is quiet here" is derived from the same Algernon Charles Swinburne poem crucial to TSS, The Garden of Proserpine, which begins, "Here, where the world is quiet."

So is Violet remembering having the lyrics 'the world is quiet here' sang to her a reference to The Little Snicket Lad or The Garden of Proserpine? I always assumed the former...

[Dante]

I assume the former, too; the general idea behind "the world is quiet here" is that it's derived from The Garden of Proserpine (perhaps even canonically; there's no reason V.F.D. shouldn't be taking the same influence as Handler), but individual instances of it I would say refer back to its status as the V.F.D. pledge.

[Undefined]

Why didn't I see these mistakes?! I really need to wear my glasses when I read more often.

[thirteenwishes]

You don't count the word 'is' because it's an article.

[Felix -Subject to Change]

I'd say it's a simple typo... and point out that I love that poem to pieces <3

[Christmas Chief]

I actually didn't notice the Sebald Code in it, my first time (In my defence, The Unauthorized Autobioghraphy hadn't came out yet.) it took me until my third, but when I did reconize it, I relized there was another error, the word "ringing" is there before the message ends, wouldn't that symbol the message was over? and at the end, the word "ring" is the tenth word since the last, I thought you were supposed to put it after the last?

[Dante]

Apr 16, 2009 10:07:18 GMT -5 Christmas Chief said:

I actually didn't notice the Sebald Code in it, my first time (In my defence, The Unauthorized Autobioghraphy hadn't came out yet.) it took me until my third, but when I did reconize it, I relized there was another error, the word "ringing" is there before the message ends, wouldn't that symbol the message was over? and at the end, the word "ring" is the tenth word since the last, I thought you were supposed to put it after the last?

The TPP Sebald Code? I don't recall that ever being noticed before, but you're right:
---
“Ring!” cried either Ernest or Frank. “Ring! I shouldn’t have to tell you the bell’s your signal. We can’t keep our guests waiting for even an instant. You can tell which guest is ringing by the number on the bell. If the number written on the bell was 469, for example, you would know that one of our Portuguese guests required assistance. Are you paying attention? The bell marked 674 indicates our associates in the lumber industry, as the number 674 means lumber processing or wood products in the Dewey Decimal System. We can’t make enemies out of important guests! The number 371 indicates educational guests. Please be nice to them, too, although they’re much less important. Respond to all of our guests whenever you hear that ring!”
---
Probably best to ignore "ringing," as it produces "By the of bell the dewey the too guests," by my calculations. However, the second "ring" is allowed to go anywhere after the final coded word; it wouldn't cause confusion about the contents of the message.