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Post by Sora on Mar 16, 2009 19:12:16 GMT -5
The Great 667 Re-Read: Week 4 - The Miserable Mill Well we have made it to our fourth week of re-reading Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. This week we endeavour to re-discover The Miserable Mill - involving hypnosis, chewing gum, lasagna, coupons, and a spectacular sword fight. Enjoy! |
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Post by Mijahu on Mar 17, 2009 0:30:46 GMT -5
There's lasagna in this one?
I don't have this book either, but I'm interested in seeing what people think when they reread the (probably) least-liked books in the series.
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Post by cwm on Mar 17, 2009 2:44:45 GMT -5
The stacks of newspaper in Paltryville are apparently V.F.D. archives according to TUA.
Quite why they decided that in this book 'the situation worsens' for boxsets is beyond me. They really should have had books 1-4 then 5-7, 8-10 and 11-13.
People wonder how Mr. Poe can pronounce Sir's real name's first syllable differently each time. Possibly he's reading from a different part of the name in his attempts.
Sir and Nero are the only guardians with no real connection to V.F.D. at all - Hal doesn't at first but does later on, unless you choose to count Hugo, Colette and Kevin as guardians in TCC, who don't really get involved in V.F.D. Sir is perhaps more involved than Nero, since his only involvement with the organisation is to make and deliver the famous green lumber that was used to build the Snicket, Quagmire, Baudelaire mansions plus the Hotel Denouement and numerous other safe places.
I have something to say about the nature of the smoke around Sir's head, but it'll need to wait until TPP, since I'm getting ahead of myself far enough as is.
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Post by Sora on Mar 17, 2009 3:08:26 GMT -5
Sir and Nero are the only guardians with no real connection to V.F.D. at all - Hal doesn't at first but does later on, unless you choose to count Hugo, Colette and Kevin as guardians in TCC, who don't really get involved in V.F.D. Sir is perhaps more involved than Nero, since his only involvement with the organisation is to make and deliver the famous green lumber that was used to build the Snicket, Quagmire, Baudelaire mansions plus the Hotel Denouement and numerous other safe places. I have something to say about the nature of the smoke around Sir's head, but it'll need to wait until TPP, since I'm getting ahead of myself far enough as is. If you take certain small comments in The Beatrice Letters to be canon than Sir in fact is connected to VFD - Snicket comments that he feels S and C are in a relationship - highlighting the long held suspicion that Charles only stays with Sir for the after-work kudos. This comment may have been a mere joke - but it does suggest at least a small VFD affiliation. |
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Post by Hermes on Mar 17, 2009 9:46:12 GMT -5
If you take certain small comments in The Beatrice Letters to be canon than Sir in fact is connected to VFD - Snicket comments that he feels S and C are in a relationship - highlighting the long held suspicion that Charles only stays with Sir for the after-work kudos. This comment may have been a mere joke - but it does suggest at least a small VFD affiliation. Well, it suggests he was in touch with members of VFD - but then, we know that Jerome was a friend of some members without being involved himself. (However, I do wonder if there may be a connection between Sir's family and VFD going further back; I'll come to this in a moment.) I thought there wouldn't be very much to say about this book, but when I had finished taking notes I discovered I had rather a lot. I think it is true, though, that the the book is rather short on plot - not only is it one of the shortest books in the series, but I feel more space than usual is taken up by Lemony's musings. One wonders how much Handler knew about the future development of the series when he wrote this. While in the previous books he clearly had no idea about VFD, thus leaving us with terrible problems which require complex retconning, here he at least knows that he is going somewhere. Like a cloud no bigger than a man's hand, we get the reference to Beatrice saying 'Where is Count Olaf?', which shows for the first time that Lemony's own story is connected with the Baudelaires' story; much of the rest of the series will be taken up with seeing this connection filled out. But does he know about VFD? In this connection, the symbol of the eye is interesting. On the one hand he clearly now sees it as having a significance which goes beyond Olaf himself; Dr Orwell uses it, although she doesn't seem to be a regular associate of Olaf's, but just an independent villain who is collaborating with him on this occasion. On the other hand, we get quite a detailed description of the shape of the eye on Dr Orwell's office, and it isn't the VFD eye as it's described later. What is the significance of the name 'Lucky Smells'? In The End we discover that this name used to belong to a melon farm; and in TUA, the horseradish factory is called 'Opportune Odours', which seems to be related in some way. Might all these enterprises belong to the same family? What is the history of that family, and is it linked with VFD? Chapters 1- 4 The book in which Beatrice explains why she cannot marry Lemony is fascinating, and will keep us thinking as we go on. Will her reasons ever become clear? (Ishmael in TE says they aren't clear to him.) It's often thought she believed the accusations against him, but I'm not sure if we're ever actually told that, and Lemony's reply in TBL doesn't suggest it to me. How did Foreman Flacutono get the job? Once again the Baudelaires are described as midgets, although Klaus is taller than Sir. When I first read this book it did not occur to me that Sir and Charles might be more than business partners. Am I incredibly naive? Now, in the light of TPP and TBL, the romantic nature of their relationship looks very clear. Sir's hidden face is a puzzle; one wonders if more was meant to come of it than finally did. (cwm, are you sure you don't want to tell us your speculation?) |
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Post by Hermedy on Mar 17, 2009 9:50:12 GMT -5
There's lasagna in this one? I thought it was casserole. |
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Post by Hermes on Mar 17, 2009 10:46:59 GMT -5
There's lasagna in this one? I thought it was casserole. I think that's right. Lasagna is in TAA. |
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Post by cwm on Mar 17, 2009 11:17:14 GMT -5
It's not terribly important; just about the nature of the cigar he happens to be smoking.
But now I've told you that I might as well say the rest: as per TPP, the cigar seems to be singularly responsible for the cloud of smoke, not the buildup of lots of cigars, suggesting it's giving off a very large amount of smoke, thick enough to completely obscure his face...a Verdant Flammable Device?
I've never really thought about it but I've just realised how disturbing a man with a cloud of smoke for a head could be.
How many times does Sir say 'I'm not an idiot' here? He says it three or four times in TPP.
Sir would probably want to hire the first foreman he saw, and probably wants to keep the workers under control by hiring someone quite cruel.
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Post by Dante on Mar 17, 2009 11:33:53 GMT -5
Starting to wonder if I'll ever have time to join in with the reading again... I think I'll be free by TEE. And a good thing too; I want to crack that one open. The stacks of newspaper in Paltryville are apparently V.F.D. archives according to TUA. Just the archives of The Daily Punctilio, I think. Consistency of box set sizes, I suspect - and it's really no problem that The End gets left out. Probably easier to market them that way. hermes thinks that it's in TMM that there are the first signs that Handler knows he's going somewhere, which strings together with TAA, at least, and you can dispute whether TVV forms the beginning or end of a thematic arc. I think I prefer it as it is, to be honest. I guess the situation does worsen in that TMM, TAA and TEE all feature bad guardians, who quite intentionally abuse the Baudelaires, after TRR and TWW had shuffled the Baudelaires to good guardians. Thus, Olaf's plan was no longer to kill off the guardians - that would have introduced the moral ambiguity a little earlier, and for the other side, if there was a clearer element of bad vs. bad - but to exploit the uncaring nature of the other guardians to get the Baudelaires. Given this, I'm not sure if the situation is worse or better, actually. But it's certainly different. Non-English characters which Mr. Poe has only a dim idea of? Poor handwriting? (I don't think it's specified whether Poe's piece of paper is handwritten or typed.) What is the significance of the name 'Lucky Smells'? In The End we discover that this name used to belong to a melon farm; and in TUA, the horseradish factory is called 'Opportune Odours', which seems to be related in some way. Might all these enterprises belong to the same family? What is the history of that family, and is it linked with VFD? I just assume entertaining/intriguing parallels, to be honest. The thing about some of the shared names and situations is that they may be connected or they may not be, and I personally tend to prefer it when they're not. If I recall correctly, the name "Opportune Odors" does not appear in the text of the U.A., just on the map, which makes one wonder a little whose invention it was - nonetheless, I'd be surprised if it wasn't Handler's (or indeed if he hadn't drafted it himself). Of course, it's revealed in TPP that Lucky Smells wood was used to construct the horseradish factory, so maybe this is the link that was implied in the U.A. More like how did they know so soon that the Baudelaires would be going to Lucky Smells, am I right? Firstein vanished a week before the Baudelaires came, I think... presumably Olaf and his accomplices were also capable of getting rid of anyone else who might be attending job interviews for the post, leaving "Flacutono" as the only other option. Actually, the nature of the arrangement with Sir and Lucky Smells has always been left unclear - it's not even addressed in TCC, to my knowledge. It sounds rather like Sir is meant to be some sort of wealthy "philanthropist" taking pity on these orphans he's heard so much about - or rather, taking the opportunity for a potentially profitable business deal? Relative to most other people, they are. It's another way of grinding them down. I don't think most of us thought of it until TPP - or at least, didn't think of it seriously. TPP and TBL made it obvious that it was intended, or was by that time. In TMM, less so... there are a couple of jokes to that effect, sure, but it's unclear if they're meant to affect the whole interpretation. If I recall correctly, Lemony does actually say that neither he nor the Baudelaires nor the readers had or would ever see Sir's face, so I don't think much of it. It's just... it's just another one of those things, really. Not that I think you were going to suggest Sir's face was the Great Unknown or anything... There were very early theories that Sir might be connected to Bruce from TRR, as they share some characteristics. Edit: I don't think Sir's cigar is a Verdant Flammable Device, because it's not verdant; that is, the smoke isn't green, to my recollection. Nor is it a cigarette. |
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Post by cwm on Mar 17, 2009 12:07:37 GMT -5
It's still producing an abnormal amount of smoke; it could be another method of V.F.D. communication, since we know that smoke is a popular method of signalling to other members that a place is unsafe, among other things, and certainly the lumbermill is an unsafe place.
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Post by Hermes on Mar 17, 2009 13:49:23 GMT -5
.If I recall correctly, Lemony does actually say that neither he nor the Baudelaires nor the readers had or would ever see Sir's face, so I don't think much of it. It's just... it's just another one of those things, really. Not that I think you were going to suggest Sir's face was the Great Unknown or anything... There were very early theories that Sir might be connected to Bruce from TRR, as they share some characteristics. I don't think there was ever a plan to reveal the face - as you say, Lemony rules that out - only that something might have been said about why it was hidden. cwm: Have you seen the web movie (I think there's a link to it in Wistful Web)? I think that does a pretty good job with showing Sir's head. OK, a few thoughts on the later chapters. Not so much here. Actually, the first point is still on chapter 4. It would be interesting to hear more about Sir's terrible childhood. I think, though, that Violet is rather quick to accept this excuse; a terrible childhood doesn't have the same effect on everyone (see Harry Potter). Dr Orwell, clearly an old member of VFD (even if Handler didn't know this at the time) has divided her book into thirteen chapters. I find it very amusing, though, that the chapter on sunglasses has just one page. I know there was a debate about this a little while ago, but it does seem to me, now I have reread the passage, that it took Violet rather a long time to think of pushing Charles away from the saw herself. Of course, when she does try she is prevented, so it wouldn't have made much difference in the long run. As I mentioned a while ago in another thread, it's rather striking that Paltryville has its own constitution. Later we are going to see something similar on a bigger scale in the Village of Fowl Devotees. This suggests to me that this is something like a world of city states on the Ancient Greek model. (We didn't see anything similar in Tedia and Lake Lachrymose; this may be either because it just didn't come up, or because they are much closer to the main city, so come under its government.) Edit: one other thing. '[Klaus's'] eyes were usually all squinty from reading, and now they were wide as if he had been watching TV instead'. This shows, contrary to what I suggested earlier, that TV does exist in the world of ASOUE (as does the reference, a bit later, to Lemony' swordfight with a TV repairman); but it also suggests that Handler (like Roald Dahl, by the way) doesn't have a high opinion of it. |
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Post by cwm on Mar 18, 2009 11:33:38 GMT -5
Is Orwell a member of V.F.D. or simply somebody who saw an opportunity to get rich quick? We have that reference to her in TUA, but that's not really evidence; I think we've established that the Baudelaires 'see' the V.F.D. eye in places that clearly can't actually be showing it; they could be exaggerating the similarity slightly.
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Post by Dante on Mar 18, 2009 12:08:27 GMT -5
I believe the other evidence in the U.A. that Orwell is a (former) volunteer is that her description largely matches that of the Optometrist disguise - except the hair, if I recall correctly... but that may be because she doesn't especially need to disguise her hair as she's also a genuine optometrist. My take on eyes which evidently cannot be V.F.D. insignias being so described is that the association is with the eye in general, and less the specific design. I think that V.F.D. is as plausible a way as any for Olaf and Dr. Orwell to have met, and for Orwell to have been inspired to a similar eye obsession.
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Post by cwm on Mar 18, 2009 12:16:23 GMT -5
Is Olaf's plan to get Orwell out of the way or is he genuinely going to split the fortune? He's planning to share it with Esme prior to TPP.
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Post by Mijahu on Mar 20, 2009 11:37:08 GMT -5
He probably would have killed her after. He and Orwell were never together, from what I gather, which is why he wouldn't split it with her but would with Esme.
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