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Post by ghostie on Apr 15, 2013 5:52:05 GMT -5
@charlie: hmm, now that I think about it, I really enjoyed TGG as well. And TAA because Quagmires.
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Post by Al Funcoot on Jul 20, 2013 5:00:25 GMT -5
It's been some time since I've actually re-read the books, but last time I did, I recall The Penultimate Peril being my runaway favourite (which only made my disappointment with The End to be all the more strong). TPP is to The End what Empire was to Jedi. My least favourite probably be The Miserable Mill. And my problems with TMM aren't anything fresh or elucidating, it's just the usual criticism of it being a little boring, slow, and just generally a chore to get through. So, sorry for going with the obvious. Having said that, I honestly remember The Miserable Mill being my favourite in the series for quite some time.
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Post by Invisible on Jul 20, 2013 8:53:51 GMT -5
My favourites:
The Reptile Room The Miserable Mill The Ersatz Elevator The Vile Village The Penultimate Peril The End
Least favourites: The Slippery Slope The Carnivorous Carnival
I only feel indifferent to the ones I haven't mentioned. Oh, and it's not that I don't like TSS and TCC. It's just the fact that in the latter part of the series, the formula changed. It wasn't just the Baudelaires going off to live with another guardian anymore, which was something I always enjoyed as a 10 year old. So particularly for me, it just took a very long time to get used to the idea that the Baudelaires were on their own. It's a scary thought.
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Post by Dante on Jul 20, 2013 11:32:08 GMT -5
That's actually very interesting to hear. Personally, I think it's that the original formula was used for so long that makes the break from the formula after TVV so effective. I remember being floored by it when I was young, and it actually meant the books could have genuine cliffhanger endings.
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Post by Teleram on Jul 21, 2013 1:13:39 GMT -5
My favorite is TPP, but I also enjoy TSS and TBB. I don't really have a least fave, but I didn't enjoy TWW as much as I enjoyed the other books in the series. Also, I don't think TMM isn't really that bad.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2014 18:00:29 GMT -5
My favourite is the hostile hosrepital.
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Post by Dante on Feb 12, 2014 3:04:18 GMT -5
Useful if you're feeling a little hoarse, although they should really pony up the cash to complete construction. I have a herd time believing it's even stable, and it should probably be locked up with a paddock. The hospital's builders are surely just stallion for time, but they need to gelding there and finish up already, assuming they aren't doing it on the hoof. With a little hard work a fine hospital is neigh inconceivable, though I suppose patients' health should be the mane thing if we don't want them to whinny.
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Post by MisterM on Feb 12, 2014 3:07:58 GMT -5
oh, you
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Post by The Duchess on Feb 12, 2014 9:20:44 GMT -5
I see you like puns, horse!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 23:00:46 GMT -5
My favourite is the hostile hosrepital. I spelled horsepital wrong, how embarrassing. Also since Dante just used like 90% of my horse puns, I'll just say something like 'My favourite book in all the wrong equestrians is "Hoof could that be at this hour?" and call it a day.
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Post by B. on Feb 14, 2014 6:07:17 GMT -5
Useful if you're feeling a little hoarse, although they should really pony up the cash to complete construction. I have a herd time believing it's even stable, and it should probably be locked up with a paddock. The hospital's builders are surely just stallion for time, but they need to gelding there and finish up already, assuming they aren't doing it on the hoof. With a little hard work a fine hospital is neigh inconceivable, though I suppose patients' health should be the mane thing if we don't want them to whinny. It's too bad they're saddled with it!
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Post by ghostie on Feb 14, 2014 10:39:31 GMT -5
I'm rereading TBB right now and I realize I forgot how much I love it
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Post by gliquey on Aug 21, 2014 13:45:32 GMT -5
(It's been a few months since anyone's posted here, but the alternative is me creating another thread on the subject with the same title, so I'd rather post here.) I've loved the first half of the series because it's formulaic and so repetitive - maybe it was my 7(ish) year old brain or just my well-organized brain, but when I read a book in the first half I would look forward to the things I could expect. A new guardian, a new ridiculous Olaf disguise, a hidden henchperson, a strange location, later on: the Quagmires and V.F.D. red herrings etc. - I loved it. But the second half was great, too. I remember the end of 8, being left on a cliffhanger and feeling a real sense of suspense and longing to read the next book. And Handler had much more flexibility in what he could do, in where the plot could go and it worked really, really well. I can't pick out a least favorite book - they're all great, and I'd end up putting 7/8 books in "joint last". If you forced me to pick my favorites, The Penultimate Peril is first and The Slippery Slope is second. TPP is what Handler was building to since the first mention of the last safe place, and I loved the re-appearance of so many past characters. Dewey had a big impact, however briefly he appeared, and the chapter in which he dies is probably my favorite in the whole series. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 have that formulaic feeling and the repeated text at the end of the chapter was great. The only thing missing was a reference to deja vu and some text repeated from TCC (chapter 5, from memory). TSS is just a great book. "V.F.D." was a very ambitious set of initials for Handler to use for a secret (even if he knew the real name of the organization since TAA), and the many uses of things with those initials were great. With the exception of "very" being used too often, the dozens of different phrases with the initials "V.F.D." were all creative and brilliant, and TSS has so many of them: from the Quigley/Violet/Klaus communication code ("vinegar-flavored donuts") to the organization's many uses ("verdant flammable device") and the actual "Volunteer Fire Department" itself. As for TMM, I thought it was just as good as any of the first seven, maybe even beating TWW. Having read a book on mentalism with a large section dedicated to hypnotism, yes, it is real. It might not be a special unconscious state or always take on the simplistic form described in TMM, but it works because people believe it will work. Klaus forgetting stuff or injuring Phil - that's perfectly plausible. As for swordfighting, Klaus' invention - it made sense as a young child, but it does get more and more implausible the older you get. Having read it originally at a young age, it makes more sense than it might for a 40 year old reading the book for the first time, but I don't see TMM as ridiculous. There's nothing that's too far out there when compared to the rest of the series.
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Post by Dante on Aug 21, 2014 16:12:30 GMT -5
I've loved the first half of the series because it's formulaic and so repetitive - maybe it was my 7(ish) year old brain or just my well-organized brain, but when I read a book in the first half I would look forward to the things I could expect. A new guardian, a new ridiculous Olaf disguise, a hidden henchperson, a strange location, later on: the Quagmires and V.F.D. red herrings etc. - I loved it. Children do generally love repetition and a familiar formula. That's not a criticism, or an attempt to be patronising. I do too, they're great. I really like seeing stories full of parallels and repeated motifs and variations on themes. With that said, I'm also glad that ASoUE eventually bucked many of its trends because I think they couldn't have sustained the series for all thirteen books - although in some cases, what superficially appears to be an abandonment of the formula is in actual fact just another variation. I'm thinking in particular of the Baudelaires beginning to take on disguises around the time Olaf stops using them. Very exciting stuff.
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Post by Agathological on Sept 28, 2014 12:17:19 GMT -5
I love then series, I do. But I have the opinion that it needs to be rewritten. The later books canon basically makes the first half of the series pointless. First, the V.F.D eye had a constantly changing image. Firstly, it's described as being a regular eye, so that conforms to Orwells office and Esmes purse. But then it becomes the V.F.D symbol we know...but then that has two variations!
Monty and Jospheine and Hector seem to be unfamiliar with Olaf; but then they are well acquainted with them in their past! Handler said he didn't know where the series was going and it shows. So many contradictions and a plethora of plot holes; it's a little saddening.
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