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Post by Invisible on Mar 16, 2012 18:00:03 GMT -5
It reminds me of the line from 13 Secrets, "This pen is running out of i..." Perhaps that is connected as well.
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Post by Terry Craig on Mar 22, 2012 11:21:06 GMT -5
I think this message is to be interpreted in a more poetic way.
I don't think Qwerty is the octopus at all. Qwerty is a synonym for the common keyboard layout (wiki it), thus I think it's just another word for "typewriter." The octopus is just a humorous cartoon referring to the presented question (although Mr. Snicket might have thought that people who don't know what Qwerty is, would falsely assume he's 'Qwerty,' trying to mislead his readers as usual). So, if we assume "Qwerty" is just another word for "typewriter," its "face" would mean the paper/page rolled into the machine. And "Qwerty" isn't looking at the narrator, but the narrator's looking at Qwerty/the typewriter; it's just a rethorical device, personifying the typewriter, and with that, further misleading the reader. Now we are left with something that makes quite a bit more sense: "I looked at the typewriter, the page in it as blank as one of those extra pages in the back of a book for notes or secrets." And then the question that arises from this discovery: "Where has all the ink gone?" This means that the narrator expected to see something written on the page in the typewriter ("notes and secrets"), as he knows that he himself (or someone else) has been writing on that typewriter, and didn't finish writing. Now he finds the page blank. And the presented question is only logical, after discovering something like this. A possible answer could be, that somebody stole the page, together with the confidential informatioan wrtten on it.
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Post by Dante on Mar 22, 2012 12:36:18 GMT -5
Thanks for your contribution, Terry. You should consider signing up for an account here (to be honest, I didn't know that guests could post on this board at all).
Your typewriter interpretation is definitely legitimate, I think, but not intuitive, because it requires us to assume a few things that we don't know. That's not a problem or a criticism, I should add. If we assume that Snicket nicknames and personifies to himself his typewriter - and that does seem like the sort of thing a young Lemony would do - this is a fine interpretation; he typed something earlier, but now his typing seems to have vanished. Where has all the ink gone? So under this idea, either an earlier typed page was stolen, or Snicket began typing and found that nothing was being typed, so it was his ink that was stolen.
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Post by B. on Mar 22, 2012 13:32:51 GMT -5
That seems rather plausible, if a little assumptious. If this is indeed the case and the text and the image aren't linked, then came we assume that the other images are unlinked to their text?
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Post by Groge on Mar 22, 2012 13:58:27 GMT -5
The next clue will be tomorrow won't it?
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Post by B. on Mar 22, 2012 14:12:34 GMT -5
Aye, that's around 5:50pm Brittish time, I've noticed.
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Post by Dante on Mar 22, 2012 14:31:13 GMT -5
I checked the timing of all three previous messages, and they've all been sent at around 5:30 GMT - or at least, between 5 and 6, more accurately. Curiously, this hasn't changed for daylight savings time, so they must be operating in a state or even in the U.K. where the time zone hasn't switched (yet). I should be around for that period tomorrow, and I'll post a note maybe an hour or two in advance marking when we should watch out for something. But with that said, don't get too fixated on the truth of the pattern; we can't be sure just how well it will continue to hold.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Mar 22, 2012 18:09:17 GMT -5
Thanks for your contribution, Terry. You should consider signing up for an account here (to be honest, I didn't know that guests could post on this board at all). (They can't. Tyler could have registered, posted, then deleted the account.) Interesting about the daylight savings bit, but the address at the end of each email reads "Hachette Book Group · 237 Park Ave · 15th FL · New York, Ny 10021," implying the operation takes place within the U.S.
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Post by bryan on Mar 22, 2012 20:26:03 GMT -5
As far as assumptions go, I think it's easier to assume that Qwerty is actually a typewriter rather than a person or an octopus.
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Post by Groge on Mar 23, 2012 3:05:19 GMT -5
Yeah I agree with that.
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Post by Dante on Mar 23, 2012 3:09:17 GMT -5
I don't know; I think the "face" interpretation is a bit of a dubious assumption if we regard Qwerty as a typewriter, as is its ability to be gendered male and look at people. Not insurmountable, but something that would have to be clearly established earlier. With that said, when interpreting these e-mails I am fully prepared to be wrong about everything - typewriters and octopuses. (They can't. Tyler could have registered, posted, then deleted the account.) (Actually, they could earlier. I checked. But now it's been fixed.)
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Post by Christmas Chief on Mar 23, 2012 7:25:30 GMT -5
I think Qwerty must be in some way associated with a typewriter, given Handler's usual knack for allusions (e.g., the way Dewey was associated with the Dewey Decimal System). However, I don't think he could be a typewriter himself given the reasons above and the fact that mentioning paper would make for a poor simile. On the other hand, the octopus to me looks clearly frightened about something in the distance - the something about to take his ink? - and not particularly blank in expression, unless we think of blank as "having no color." (Actually, they could earlier. I checked. But now it's been fixed.) Apologies; I didn't even bother considering that could have changed since the time you posted.
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Post by Dante on Mar 23, 2012 11:56:32 GMT -5
The pattern dictates that the next e-mail should arrive within the hour. Keep your eyes out, everyone.
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Post by Groge on Mar 23, 2012 13:35:24 GMT -5
Maybe "Qwerty looked at me, his face as blank..." means that he does refer to his typewriter as Qwerty and he is sitting at his desk staring at it. It's blank face being the blank sheet of paper.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Mar 24, 2012 21:05:16 GMT -5
Thanks for your contribution, Terry. You should consider signing up for an account here. Alrighty! Your typewriter interpretation is definitely legitimate, I think, but not intuitive, because it requires us to assume a few things that we don't know. That's not a problem or a criticism, I should add. If we assume that Snicket nicknames and personifies to himself his typewriter - and that does seem like the sort of thing a young Lemony would do - this is a fine interpretation; he typed something earlier, but now his typing seems to have vanished. Where has all the ink gone? So under this idea, either an earlier typed page was stolen, or Snicket began typing and found that nothing was being typed, so it was his ink that was stolen. Exactly, that was my idea, and certainly, you'd have to make an assumption or two when trying to decipher this without the context of the book. I can't wait till it comes out! October seems so far away. If this is indeed the case and the text and the image aren't linked, then came we assume that the other images are unlinked to their text? Well, the first one I think it's safe to assume that it's linked to the text/question. The other two are disputable. The octopus to me looks clearly frightened about something in the distance - the something about to take his ink? - and not particularly blank in expression, unless we think of blank as "having no color." I think it's more of a surprised expression, linked to the presented question, and not frightened. His expression says "Where has all my ink gone?!," just like the narrator asks himself "Where has all the ink on this page/of this typewriter gone?" And he doesn't need to have a blank expression if one assumes he's not the one meant to be named Qwerty.
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