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Post by Hermes on Aug 24, 2012 16:27:04 GMT -5
Dante somewhere has a timeline running from TVV to TPP, where it is possible to work out the relative dates exactly - the whole sequence takes no more than two weeks. The earlier books are a bit vaguer, as is TheEnd.
Absolute dates are more of a problem - the only fixed point we have is False Spring, and we don't know when that is: it could be in early, middle or late winter. It's curious that we don't see any signs of winter outside TSS, though it must be winter for a few books before that at least; presumably most of the series is set in a climate where winter doesn't make that much difference. (Does anyone know what winter is like in San Francisco?)
It's worth noting that we don't see Christmas/Hannukah (though if False Spring is late enough, they could have been with Mr Poe for that) and we also don't see Sunny's birthday (which, from a reference in TE, we know is in late summer).
I'm glad to see, though, that it is possible to make the series last almost six months without large holes - sometimes 'I;e been afraid that if you counted the days it would just come to six weeks.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Aug 24, 2012 17:22:40 GMT -5
Dante somewhere has a timeline running from TVV to TPP, where it is possible to work out the relative dates exactly - the whole sequence takes no more than two weeks. The earlier books are a bit vaguer, as is TheEnd. I knew someone had attempted it once, but I couldn't remember who, and I couldn't remember through what books. But thanks to that information, I was able to track it down: TVV –Wednesday (Poe’s office, arrive at village, get first couplet), Thursday (get second couplet, Jacques appears), Friday (get third couplet, thrown in jail), Saturday (start walking in evening) Total New: 4. Start Precise: Wednesday morning. Climax Precise: Saturday evening. THH – Sunday (arrive at Last Chance, arrive at hospital), Monday (try to obtain Snicket File), Tuesday (disguises, operation, hospital burns down) Total New: 3. Start Precise: Sunday pre-dawn. Climax Precise: Tuesday afternoon. TCC – Tuesday (arrive), Wednesday (Fernald in charge of House of Freaks, Thursday (lion pit, carnival burns down) Total New: 2. Start Precise: Tuesday evening. Climax Precise: Thursday evening. TSS – Thursday (falling down mountain, arrive at Snow Scout cave), Friday (arrive at headquarters, research etc.), Saturday (climb up slippery slope, sledge down) Total New: 2. Start Precise: Thursday evening. Climax Precise: Saturday morning. TGG – Saturday (picked up), Sunday (grotto), Monday (travelling), Tuesday (Briny Beach) Total New: 3. Start Precise: Saturday morning. Climax Precise: Tuesday morning. TPP – Tuesday (arrive), Wednesday (trial, arson) Total New: 1. Start Precise: Tuesday morning. Climax Precise: Wednesday afternoon. The End throws in the old "a few days" trick when the Baudelaires arrive on the island, so that can't be cut up. If we add in the time spent between adventures, this puts TVV-TPP at perhaps 6-8 weeks in total.
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Post by Hermes on Aug 25, 2012 10:15:30 GMT -5
If we add in the time spent between adventures, this puts TVV-TPP at perhaps 6-8 weeks in total. But in TVV-TPP, there is no time spent between adventures - each takes up where the previous one ends. From TSS onwards we actually know the precise schedule, because they are aiming to get to the Hotel Denouement by next Thursday.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Aug 25, 2012 10:54:29 GMT -5
For some reason, I spread out the time spent between books in my mind - so they spend several days walking to the Last Chance General Store, are rolling down the Mortmain Mountains for a few hours, sleep on the toboggan in the Stricken Stream ... but I forget in the final books the action really is continuous.
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Post by Hermes on Aug 25, 2012 13:36:54 GMT -5
Well, of course, given that DH has said - and Beatrice seems to confirm - that Lemony is an unreliable narrator, one might suppose he is cutting some periods of inaction out in order to make the story more exciting. Indeed, he seems confused himself at one point; in TPP he says that in the last few months Sunny had learned to walk on two legs, improved her vocabulary and taken up cooking, whereas in fact, if we trust the narrative, all these things happened in the last two weeks. But if we're drawing up a timeline, we really have to base it on what we're told in the books, as we have nothing else to go on.
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Post by Dante on Aug 25, 2012 16:21:41 GMT -5
With regards to TWW, Chapter Three indicates that an indeterminate number of days passes between the children arriving at Josephine's and their bumping into Captain Sham. The same is true of TMM, Chapter Five, and I'm pretty sure it's the same in every single one of the early books (and The End), with the exception of TRR.
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Post by Hermes on Aug 26, 2012 12:54:45 GMT -5
With regards to TWW, Chapter Three indicates that an indeterminate number of days passes between the children arriving at Josephine's and their bumping into Captain Sham. . It can't be a large number, though, since Hurricane Herman is already being predicted when they arrive.
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Post by Hermes on Aug 29, 2012 12:39:58 GMT -5
Hope it's OK to double-post, as some days have passed. With regards to TWW, Chapter Three indicates that an indeterminate number of days passes between the children arriving at Josephine's and their bumping into Captain Sham. The same is true of TMM, Chapter Five, and I'm pretty sure it's the same in every single one of the early books (and The End), with the exception of TRR. TEE also includes an indeterminate number of days. So it seems we have: A fairly open-ended timespan: TBB, TAA. A short timespan, but with a degree of vagueness built in: TWW, TMM, TEE. A precise number of days: TRR.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Aug 29, 2012 13:27:45 GMT -5
A fairly open-ended timespan: TBB, TAA.. I feel TAA is even longer than it seems, or at least i like to hope it is - let the bauds have some happiness, please.
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Post by Lost In Des Moines. on Sept 1, 2012 8:06:53 GMT -5
I guess it really is indeterminable haha, it's really interesting to see everyone's takes on it though.
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Post by colette on Oct 7, 2012 12:54:54 GMT -5
TRR lasts a week, if not only 5 or 6 days, we know this indefinitely because of how they bump into Mr. Poe at the end of the week they started living there. I think I have forgotten TRR but it to me it was stated that "Prospero" went to Peru 10 days after Baudelaire were sent to Uncle Monty. The begging of Chapter 3 does suggest otherwise.It was stated that Baudelaires spent few days with Aunt Josephine, comparing their past and their future and having orange juice and bread for breakfasts and dinners. Baudelaires had only cucumber soup at the first day in Aunt Josephine's house and lemony soup at the day they met Captain Sham. So they had dinners more than two times at Aunt Josephine's house. At the beginning of Chapter 4 it was stated that they had some days at the mill( and employees did a lot of work) and were talking about Olaf a lot( due to Phil's words). So Klaus was tripped few days later than he became working on the mill with his sisters. TAA... Letter to My King Editor at the end of TMM suggests that they spent a quarter(?) of semester. But I am not sure which country is in the series. And I don't know too much about English or American schools.
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Oct 9, 2012 6:58:55 GMT -5
I agree with all that, but it's likely TAA takes rather longer. We are told at one point that they were a half-semester at Prufrock Prep: it's debated whether that means the usual length of time which that would imply, i.e., I guess, a couple of months, or whether Prufrock Prep has odd ideas about semesters, but in any case they are there long enough to lose count of the days before Genghis turns up. A half semester would be just two months, assuming the semester lasts August/September to December, or January to May. Well, of course, given that DH has said - and Beatrice seems to confirm - that Lemony is an unreliable narrator, one might suppose he is cutting some periods of inaction out in order to make the story more exciting. Indeed, he seems confused himself at one point; in TPP he says that in the last few months Sunny had learned to walk on two legs, improved her vocabulary and taken up cooking, whereas in fact, if we trust the narrative, all these things happened in the last two weeks. But if we're drawing up a timeline, we really have to base it on what we're told in the books, as we have nothing else to go on. I took that kinda to mean what she learned is an accumulation of skills from the past few months; as in, she had been learning learning learning then finally started applying the skills when we see them happen.
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Post by Dante on Oct 9, 2012 7:11:36 GMT -5
Well, of course, given that DH has said - and Beatrice seems to confirm - that Lemony is an unreliable narrator, one might suppose he is cutting some periods of inaction out in order to make the story more exciting. Indeed, he seems confused himself at one point; in TPP he says that in the last few months Sunny had learned to walk on two legs, improved her vocabulary and taken up cooking, whereas in fact, if we trust the narrative, all these things happened in the last two weeks. But if we're drawing up a timeline, we really have to base it on what we're told in the books, as we have nothing else to go on. I took that kinda to mean what she learned is an accumulation of skills from the past few months; as in, she had been learning learning learning then finally started applying the skills when we see them happen. For all the acclaim given to Sunny's "first wobbly steps" in TVV, in Chapter Thirteen of TBB she "tottered onstage" unaided. She could walk from the first book.
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Post by Tryina Denouement on Oct 9, 2012 7:48:21 GMT -5
Oh yeah. nuff' said.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Oct 9, 2012 17:17:38 GMT -5
"Tottered" needn't necessarily imply walking, though. My definition reads "move in a feeble or unsteady way."
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