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Post by Joe Villazoa on Mar 7, 2019 6:07:35 GMT -5
- I wonder why Snicket maintained such a focus on Count Olaf's shiny eyes, they were never one of the defining characteristics of his disguise like the one eyebrow or tattoo and yet they get almost as much mention if not more, and always seem to be the feature by which the Baudelaires recognize Olaf.
I would imagine because "shiny eyes" is really more a description of an expression rather than an objective feature like a monobrow or a tattoo; quite frankly, it's the sort of description you hear a lot in books but I have absolutely no idea what it would really look like. My interpretation is that the Baudelaires don't need to see a monobrow or a tattoo to recognise Olaf; they recognise him from his face, his manner, which remain consistent no matter how superficially he disguises his appearance and voice. Hmmm, I guess so, I just picture a very intense glare from Olaf as I cant quite see what his "shiny eyes" would be, but I guess you're right this might just be a feature that adds some layers to the Baudelaries relationship with Olaf, only they notice it because they know him better than people like Mr. Poe or even Monty. |
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Post by Foxy on Mar 7, 2019 8:02:40 GMT -5
- I cannot fathom how Mr. Poe could be a family friend of the Baudelaires, I just cannot imagine any kind of conversation they could have with him, or any common interests, it has always seemed to me that he was just more of an acquaintance.
- The size of Mr. Poe's car is a large inconsistency in this book, saying that this book barely fits the kids seems to imply it has only 3 passenger seats, and yet then couldn't the baudelaires just carry their suitcases on top of them, from what we are told in the Bad Beginning they dont have much to begin with so it doesn't seem like too big of a problem. I digress and will leave that for later as I realize it is just a convenient plot point for Poe Ex Machina.
To your first point - I completely agree! How was he ever invited to dinner parties? Why would they pick someone so bumbling to be their executor? And to the second point - Poe Ex Machina is the funniest thing I have heard all day.  |
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Post by Carrie E. Abelabudite on Mar 7, 2019 12:31:44 GMT -5
I guess Poe being so easy to dupe makes him a good pawn for VFD. It still doesn't really make sense why Beatrice and Bertrand would have invited him to their dinner parties, though. Maybe they were discussing bank business?
Chapter Six
I love the zombie illustration, even if it looks more like a snowman.
Did Monty really miss the Sebald message? After all, he's killed the next day, so it's not like he would have had a lot of time to act on it. Also, I like the Snicket Sleuth's theory resolving the discrepancy between Gustav having made the movie and Gustav being dead.
The Baudelaires have their second sleepless night in a row. Of course, it will get much worse later on.
It's a bit callous of Klaus to only worry about being Olaf's brother-in-law, instead of Violet being Olaf's wife.
'Even as I sit here, safe as can be' (p85) - Lemony's life gets much worse later in the series.
In a lot of ways, I think Monty's death is Olaf's darkest moment in the series. I mean, he's more of a pervasive and consistent threat in TBB, so in that sense he's worse there, but in that book he didn't actually murder anyone, and this is the only time he straight-up kills a Baudelaire guardian (I mean, there's Josephine, but that's written slightly more ambiguously).
Chapter Seven
Why does Olaf stay "my" so many times?
I absolutely love the description of the Baudelaires' grief here. It's an image that has stuck in my mind since I first read the book.
'"It looks like snakebite to me, but I don't know anything about snakes"' (p103) - This is a really silly thing for Olaf to say. Surely Monty's assistant should know about snakes.
'"José!"' (p104) - Unless I've missed one, this is Sunny's first meaningful word.
As with Justice Strauss in TBB, I don't think Poe doesn't see through Olaf's disguise because he is incapable of it; rather, taking Stephano at face value will allow him get back to what he really cares about (his job) more easily.
Chapter Eight
Love the passage about it being confusing to be proved wrong when you are right.
'"I am Dr Lucafont," the tall man said, pointing to himself with a big, solid hand.' (p111) Lucafont isn't quite an anagram of 'Count Olaf'; in THH, it's corrected to O. Lucafont. The description of the 'big, solid hand' should make it obvious who he is, but I remember being very shocked to find out his true identity the first time I read this. I also thought the name "Lucafont' was the name of the devil (I was thinking of 'Lucifer'), so that probably should also have clued me in, but it did not.
'"You're the boss," Dr Lucafont said, opening the door of the Reptile Room with an oddly stiff hand.' (p113) Wow, this is really NOT subtle, especially since Fernald is contradicting himself by saying arriving early is important and then asking for coffee before he starts the autopsy. I'm starting to feel embarrassed I didn't figure out who he was when I was younger. The Baudelaires should really have worked it out, too.
What's Fernald actually supposed to do with Poe? Just drop him off at a mechanic, and then go dump the body somewhere?
'"The children are upset over Dr Montgomery's murder,"' (p114) - Olaf's not very good at this, is he? Which is what makes him so scary, since Poe still doesn't see what's going on.
'It seemed incredible that their very lives hinged on a carpooling conversation' (p116) - I'd forgotten that the ridiculousness of the transportation argument was lamp-shaded in quite this way. It works, though, I think.
'"Why don't we ride with Dr Lucafont," Violet said carefully, "and Mr Poe can ride with Stephano?"' (p116) This configuration would still be to Olaf's advantage, even if it's slightly less convenient. I guess they really can't fit in the car, or Fernald wouldn't have argued against it.
'taking her siblings' hands, [Violet] half-led them, half-dragged them out of the kitchen.' (p120) This also sounds like Sunny is walking. Maybe she was just being dragged along on the floor.
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Post by Joe Villazoa on Mar 7, 2019 14:23:00 GMT -5
I would like to firstly agree with most of what other fellow readers have said and say I too am glad to be participating in this great re-read, it has already been a lot of fun and I hope to contribute something to every book of this re-read. Now on to my analysis of chapters 3-5. Chapter 3:- Ah the elusive Madame diLustro is finally introduced, did you know her name roughly translates to madam of mirror in a mix of Polish and Italian translations. This led me to the idea that Madame diLustro and in fact maybe most of the other mysterious characters introduced by Lemony may just be figments of his imagination. Maybe because Lemony has been in hiding for so long he has gone insane and just created a bunch of friends of his, either way im probably reaching for straws with this theory and it may just be simpler to leave Madame diLustro unexplained.
- Am I the only one who really hates the reveal of Uncle Monty's death so early, I mean we havent yet reached the point of a pattern within the stories with guardians falling like flies and Olaf appearing so there is really almost no reason at first read to imagine Monty would die and yet Snicket ruins it right away! It did however keep me tense in the next chapters at first read waiting to see how Monty would die so touche Snicket.
- I must shamefully admit that I probably wouldnt be able to keep myself from poking fun at Uncle Monty's name at least once.. its just so mockable.
- I will say that the reptiles are some of my favorite Snickety lines of the series, they are all so absurd and I love imagining how two snakes would drive a car, does one of them bite down on the pedals and brakes while another hisses instructions at it from the steering wheel?
- Introduction of the dramatic irony shtick, which becomes a pretty important idea throughout the rest of the series.
- What would the Virginian Woolfsnake do if near a typewriter? Or is it another secret too terrible to know.
- Is the fireproof canoe in case there are fire starting members of the schism in Peru? Also I feel terribly sad re reading this and knowing that from here all other guardians are pretty much worse than uncle Monty, its all downhill from here Baudelaires.
- There's a lot of mystery surrounding pretty much all the taxi drivers in asoue, I don't personally believe this one to be Lemony but him showing Olaf his baby pictures indicates he is a member of VFD, one who either hasn't seen through Olaf's disguise or does not know who Olaf is, both points which Lemony contradicts. Also I think this is the only Olaf disguise that the Baudelaires don't immediately see through, probably because they didn't expect it as it is also consequently his first disguise.
Chapter 4:- Really? This is the moment that causes Klaus to lie awake at night his not telling the taxi driver to take away Stephano. Aside from the fact that I cant see what the taxi driver would have done that would be helpful, there is a much more appropriate moment later in the story for Klaus to blame himself about, but more on that later.
- i sometimes forget Olaf is an actor, but it really shows in his dedication to the role, even though the Baudelaires already knows who he is he maintains his persona all throughout.
- A little bit of unintentional foreshadowing perhaps at the Baudelaires running away. This early on in their experiences the thought of running away and living by themselves seems so impossible and later on it seems to be a pretty easy choice for them to make as they grow to believe more in themselves and their abilities, this is always a nice line to look back at.
- Also what are the Snicketverse's laws regarding child labor, could Klaus and Violet really get jobs so young or is this more of a hopeful thought by Klaus
- Does Uncle Monty really not know who Count Olaf is? I mean is there any bit in any of the books that says Monty has directly spoken to Olaf before or something, because if so it seems rather odd that he doesnt recognize him, although the VFD disguises have proven to be effective against VFD members (Books the Eighth and Ninth).
- The last bit of this chapter where everyone is looking at everyone is probably one of my other favorite bits of this book, I love that while everyone is scattering their eyes about looking at just about everyone Monty is just looking off into space trying to remember something about wasp repellent, The Reptile Room is probably my favorite of the early books.
Chapter 5:- Wow that knife in the illustration has a lot of edges. Since that is presumably Stephano using it to cut mushrooms did Monty not notice the knife was not his? Did Stephano say he brought it from home and slip it back in his pocket? Are the illustrations even considered canonical or part of the story or are they more of an artists rendition of the events that occurred?
- It appears my question has already been answered, I will leave the first point there as it seems like something more genuine and written in the spur of the moment.
- That blade against the knee bit is truly terrible, I know Olaf is played a lot more for laughs later on as things get more Snickety, but in the early books he is truly menacing.
- I know a lot of people take offense at the Baudelaires lack of sleep but what about Olaf. It seems like he always stays awake, I cant recall a single moment he is outright said to go to sleep after this book other than in the Slippery Slope, and since he's constantly on the run from the authorities (early on that is) there doesn't seem to be much time for Olaf to nap. Maybe hes such an evil man because of the insomnia?
- If Stephano knew that Uncle Monty knew what they knew he would probably have killed him right there, remember kids he's the one with the knife, I cant imagine he would just run off cursing the Baudelaire name if Uncle Monty confronted him.
- "It is because the man who is calling himself Stephano... is really a member of the Herpetological Society." This moment probably stings the most in retrospect, Monty seems like the only adult who might have believed their claims about Olaf but they never got a chance to tell him due to this misunderstanding and because Stephano prevented any other private discussions.
- How high up is Klaus's room, because it seems like a sprain is pretty lucky for Monty, a brass reading lamp falling from high up could cause significant damage.
- What exactly do you imagine Stephano was gonna do when he got the kids on the Prospero, was he getting them over seas to marry Violet as the Netflix show implied or is there another way he could somehow get the fortune by going to Peru.
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Post by Joe Villazoa on Mar 7, 2019 14:40:55 GMT -5
(Monty's death) Not to mention that it is supposedly the first dead body the Baudelaires have seen. (Olaf's not knowing about snakes) Yeah Olaf isnt great at this he probably shouldnt go into acting, and as to the Baudelaires grief it is very well done by Handler and thats probably why Uncle Monty's death is one of the more memorable moment in the series for me. (Fernald's role) I dont know about all that he seems mildly suspicious until he notices that there isnt a tatoo but I will have to look closer at this part when I reach it in my own re read. Fernald's role in this seems a little unclear to me, I mean he essentially was just used to confirm Monty's death as a Dr to Poe but since that was unexpected it seems he just improvised the rest, he wasnt particularly significant in stopping or hindering the Baudelaires in any way other than the whole who goes in what vehicle bit which he even then did wrong Please mind the seemingly random comments I still dont know how to only quote specific parts and comment on each of those. |
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Post by Dante on Mar 8, 2019 4:38:36 GMT -5
I guess Poe being so easy to dupe makes him a good pawn for VFD. It still doesn't really make sense why Beatrice and Bertrand would have invited him to their dinner parties, though. Maybe they were discussing bank business? It's conceivable that Mr. Poe is much better a banker than he is a human being; you could argue that he's so immersed in the laws, rules, and routines of the banking business that he's lost all common sense about the real world. You could also argue that we have no idea how good a dinner party guest he'd be; perhaps he's genuinely quite an entertaining person, or knows a great deal of gossip. Or maybe he's just a friend of friends and it would be rude not to invite him. I think the Baudelaire parents are allowed to have normal friends who aren't associated with V.F.D., considering that they appear to be attempting to shelter their children from the organisation. Of course, if V.F.D. business is discussed at their dinner parties, Mr. Poe's obliviousness could come in handy. I honestly no longer remember how I received TRR and whether I saw the twist coming, but I would say that in fairness a lot of us were probably very young when we read TRR. - I will say that the reptiles are some of my favorite Snickety lines of the series, they are all so absurd and I love imagining how two snakes would drive a car, does one of them bite down on the pedals and brakes while another hisses instructions at it from the steering wheel?
The reincarnations of ATWQ's Pip and Squeak, clearly. Please mind the seemingly random comments I still dont know how to only quote specific parts and comment on each of those. It's awkward and involves messing around with the text and code tags yourself. If you quote this post and dig through the BBCode you may start to get an understanding, but basically you want to ensure that there are quote tags around each part of the text you want to reply to, and then manually delete the parts you don't want to reply to. (It's even more complicated when bullet points are involved.) I couldn't describe it as the most user-friendly system; I don't think anyone would blame you if you just copy-pasted the text you wanted to reply to and put it in inverted commas... |
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Post by veryferociousdrama on Mar 8, 2019 6:39:01 GMT -5
Notes on Chapters Six to Ten.
The plot of Zombies in the Snow seems both nonsensical and boring. I suspect Gustav made his film that way to put off the viewing public, and only of interest to Volunteers.
Like what has already been pointed out, the amount of seats on Monty's jeep is changing. Why do both Violet and Klaus have to share a seat, and Sunny have to sit on Stephano's lap? Unless Monty had already started packing and one of the seats were taken, only one thing needed to happen. And couldn't have Sunny sat on Violet or Klaus' lap?
Olaf really needs to up his acting a little. I know that he knows the Baudelaires know it's him, but he's not doing himself any favours by not acting surprised at Monty's death.
How far's Hazy Harbour from Lousy Lane? Seems like it must be pretty far away if they're having to leave early morning, but Stephano intends to get there before lunch, but then they'd have 3-4 hours spare.
So Poe said he'd get the luggage to the Baudelaires in a week, but it's ten days before he delivers. Was he waiting until he had a free day? And what do the Baudelaires have to own, apart from the clothes Mrs. Poe bought. Was the issue getting into Count Olaf's house, to retrieve the clothes?
Hooky seems very stupid. In TBB, he's described as nearly as sinister as Olaf, but here he seems to forget which side he's on. Or that's what I thought, until I realized that he needed to go with Poe. Because of him not being searched for, he could go back to the City with Poe, or maybe go on a diversion and threaten Poe into giving him the fortune?
OK, Klaus and Violet are 12 and 14. Why is Poe treating them as much younger?
A question regarding the troupe, where are the others? One may think in the Hinterlands with Lulu, but I'm thinking at the Prospero. We know the Captain is a Volunteer, so he'd need to be disposed of. I don't think he was killed, because I think there's a chance he is the JS in TPP, but everyone else is there. Somebody needed to be around just in case, and Fernald was necessary in case the Captain recognized him.
What type of town is Tedia? It has a cinema, but doesn't seem to have any type of emergency services. So this area is really remote, if the closest point is the City. This indicates the series is set in Europe, as that's usual for European countryside, though the later books point more to America.
Noticed the Prospero has Shakespeare on the front. Nice touch, you can tell it's a VFD ship, as some non-Volunteers may not get it.
The fact that Lemony knows about Violet's night terrors indicates he's met her. So at least Violet and Klaus survive post C14.
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Post by Foxy on Mar 8, 2019 7:43:32 GMT -5
How far's Hazy Harbour from Lousy Lane? Seems like it must be pretty far away if they're having to leave early morning, but Stephano intends to get there before lunch, but then they'd have 3-4 hours spare. There's a map on pages 150-151 of TUA. Dr. Montgomery's house is right next to Hazy Harbor. |
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Post by Carrie E. Abelabudite on Mar 8, 2019 9:58:29 GMT -5
How far's Hazy Harbour from Lousy Lane? Seems like it must be pretty far away if they're having to leave early morning, but Stephano intends to get there before lunch, but then they'd have 3-4 hours spare. There's a map on pages 150-151 of TUA. Dr. Montgomery's house is right next to Hazy Harbor. I think the reason Olaf wanted to get on the ship so early was that it would be more difficult for the Baudelaires to get away from him if they were actually on board. TUA also states that the Prospero leaves from Daedalus Dock, not Hazy Harbor, but more on that when we get there. Chapter Nine'"Ackroid!"' (p126) Another meaningful Sunny utterance. She's becoming more of a distinct character now. It feels like the Baudelaires have settled into their roles better here. It's nice how they collaborate; as veryferociousdrama pointed out in the TBB thread, they don't really work together there. That's probably another reason why I prefer TRR. I've never heard an author use the phrase 'meanwhile, back at the ranch' outside of this book. '"I'm afraid that won't work," Dr Lucafont said gravely. "The city laws won't allow anybody else to drive my car."' (p129) Why would Fernald say this? I think lines like this are why his true identity shocked me so much the first time I read the book. Maybe he's just a better actor than Olaf is. 'Although it was frightening to be trapped in [Olaf's] inner sanctum [...] it turned out to be quite useful, because they were able to read up on nuptial law and work their way out of their predicament.' (p131-2) That's... really not what happened in TBB. Klaus figured out Olaf's plan before anybody got locked in the tower, and Violet only figured out how to stop it as they were on their way to the theatre. The language used in the Mamba du Mal book - which we later find out was written by Monty himself - is quite similar to the language in Dr Orwell's hypnosis book. Maybe VFD members got trained in this writing style, although one wonders why they would have been. Violet's now wised up enough to figure out that just telling Mr Poe things doesn't work; they need to physically provide him with evidence for him to believe them. Klaus is still a little more naive. Chapter TenI like how Lemony makes fun of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Again, the description of lying is another way of showing morality as being complicated. I'd actually forgotten there was so much of this so early in the series. The subversion of Little Red Riding Hood is also fun to read. Who is Mr Poe talking to on the phone? In a later book, Klaus and Sunny would probably feel a little guilty about tricking Poe, but here, things are still a bit simpler. Mr Poe's leaping-and-babbling never fails to make me laugh. 'Dr Lucafont cleared his throat. "Uh, boss-" he said' (p149) - Great, give yourself away as well as drawing attention to your boss' mistake. Chapter ElevenI confess that if I were in Violet's place, with only a few minutes to open a locked suitcase, instead of on the deck of my friend Bela's yacht, writing this down, I probably would have given up hope.' (p152) Another mention of Lemony's lack of bravery as compared with the Baudelaires. Again, I think it's their relative innocence/morality he really admires. I also think his regrets have more or less paralysed him into inaction at this point, so that could be another reason why he feels the way he does. Also, his circumstances seem pretty good here. When does everything fall apart for him? I find the page filled with 'ever's funny, but I could see how some might view it as patronising. 'Those suitcases contained, she remembered, lots of ugly, itchy clothing that Mrs Poe had bought for them soon after their parents died.' (p156-7) Except these can't be the same clothes, because surely they would have left those at Olaf's house (I mean, they can't have gone back there after The Marvellous Marriage). Mrs Poe must have bought them a new set, and Violet's just forgotten here. I just realised that, like in TPP, this chapter and the one before are simultaneous. Here, this is also brought to our attention, but it's tied together in a different way, with 'meanwhile, back at the ranch'. |
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Post by Dante on Mar 8, 2019 11:16:55 GMT -5
There's a map on pages 150-151 of TUA. Dr. Montgomery's house is right next to Hazy Harbor. I think the reason Olaf wanted to get on the ship so early was that it would be more difficult for the Baudelaires to get away from him if they were actually on board. TUA also states that the Prospero leaves from Daedalus Dock, not Hazy Harbor, but more on that when we get there. I'd forgotten about this. I briefly considered a tentative fix involving Daedalus Dock being located within Hazy Harbor, but they're on opposite sides of the U.A. map; though of course, that might be an issue with the map. Not the same instance of the Prospero sailing, then? This definitely looks like confusion in the text. Were it not for the mention of the tower room specifically, it might have applied to Olaf's house as a whole. The Herpetological Society, according to page 137. Couldn't they? It seems unlikely that Olaf would have returned to his home, so it was possible that the house was regarded as abandoned and relatively easy to access. I imagine the police might have forced an entry, for instance. But I agree that it feels like an instance of the author not thinking this through. Alternatively, I've just remembered that TBB and TRR appear to have been published quite close together, if not simultaneously; it's possible that both were going through redrafts in the same period, and TRR retains some references to previous versions of the TBB plot. Doubtful, but it could be the case. |
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Post by Joe Villazoa on Mar 8, 2019 15:45:56 GMT -5
I love the zombie illustration, even if it looks more like a snowman. Thats a zombie!? I always believed that to be Frosty, I assumed he had a big role in Gustav's movie. Well I think I am getting more of a hand on the coding that goes along with these posts and since I have been informed that bullet points complicate the process I will now refrain from using them in future posts. Here is my analysis of chapters 6-8. Chapter 6Is there any particular reason why Uncle Monty didn't confront Stephano straight away, I mean he thought he was a spy so why play nice and let him remain around a large amount of Monty's reptile's? He surely didn't expect a herpatological spy to be murderous so it stands to reason that much like in the Netflix show he would just expect Stephano to leave. Here is the conflicting layout of Uncle Monty's car, most people have already commented on how inconsistent its size is so I wont bother too much with this. However is there no other front seat aside from Uncle Monty's? Because for Violet and Klaus to be sharing a seat, Stephano to have Sunny on his lap in another seat, and Monty to be in the driver seat then that means this vehicle has three seats. I don't know what to make of this nonsensical car and its inconsistencies always confuse and irritate me. I will add my voice to what someone else said by saying that the movie is probably made to be purposefully unappealing to anyone but volunteers, because the plot sounds awful. I know the orphans say that when Olaf is around it dampers their imagination but from what we read in this and the other accounts of their lives it appears that Olaf's presence forces them to be more creative then they would ever be, in fact it even goes as far as to force Klaus to attempt to invent, Violet to do research and Sunny to climb up an elevator shaft with her teeth. Has someone ever tallied the amount of times Lemony makes reference to the Baudelaires either missing their parents or wishing they weren't dead, I know its a pretty significant plot point to the whole series but I just think it would be an interesting statistic to look at. I forgot to make reference to how in the end of chapter 5 Klaus tells Olaf that uncle Monty ripped up his ticket. That is the kind of thing that he should stay awake about years later wondering what could have been, he almost definitely caused Olaf to speed up his plans here, though I think he would have killed Monty anyway, it sounds like he was waiting for them to get to Peru kill him based on his "where crimes are more difficult to trace" line. Monty's death is probably one of Handler's finer moments in the series. Aside from the impact to the Baudelaires of being the first dead body that they see, it is presented in such a great way, I always feel sad for Monty each time I read this bit because he truly is one of the only good guardians the Baudelaire's have in a shallow life laden with misery. I will just leave this quote here, "The shadowy mass was Uncle Monty. his mouth slightly agape, as if he were surprised, and his eyes were wide open, but he didn't appear to see them." RIP Monty. Chapter 7Olaf really rubs it in by playing coy with Monty's death. I mean the "my, my, my" was already pretty harsh as it is but pretending not to know what happened is really villainous, but then again that's what makes Olaf so great. The whole idea that Olaf wants to arrive at the harbour before lunch to be in time for a bottle of wine strikes me as odd, it implies that he wouldn't drink and drive which sounds like something Olaf should do on a regular basis, I guess you shouldnt judge a book by its cover.. or in this case its characters. "into the tiny backseat", does this imply that that the back of the car has only one seat then, and there are in fact three seats in the car but that the back has only one of them? Because for that one seat to be somehow smaller than both the apparently adult sized front seats then the Jeep would have to be almost cone shaped and I refuse to believe that cars would be built in such a preposterous way even in the Snicketverse. Poe Ex Machina! Though I still go back to my previous point of this being an odd plot point as the Baudelaires could easily have brought the small amount of luggage they had on their lap, it is a rather fun way of inverting a usually negative situation to positive (car crashes). Also although there is reference to the Baudelaires being rather unlucky in their lifetime, a statement which definitely checks out, but it must be said that they have very many small occurrences of luck sprinkled in throughout their dismal lives. I dont know what to make of Olaf's acting chops, on one hand he is rather quick at improvising and stays so committed to his roles that he fools almost everyone. On the other hand most of the people he fools appear to be bumbling idiots and he constantly makes potentially harmful statements that can ruin his whole charade. I also adore how Poe takes priority on the fact that Olaf said his name wrong rather than Monty's death. Is a doctor really necessary? I don't know the actual protocol for what to do when you find a dead body downstairs but wouldnt it be more appropriate to call the morticians, coroners or the police? Although I suppose Poe is going under the belief that the death was accidental and by snakebite rather than a murder but still. Stephano still has the knife and the only other possible witnesses are the orphans who already know of Olaf's other murder so why not kill Poe on the spot, Poe seems like the kind of person that would fall for a "look behind you" so sounds pretty easy for Stephano. Olaf should probably still use the makeup in all his other disguises in tandem with his sporty sneaker, fashionable boots and all other foot related disguises. It looks like it was pretty effective though I guess the Baudelaires could tell someone to wipe off the makeup with a handkerchief, but then again, when has anyone ever listened to the Baudelaires in the first place? Chapter 8
A nice illustration by Helquist although I have no idea what it is. Also I love the wrong and right little segment to open up the chapter, Handler really has fun with language in this whole series but I think it might be at its most fun in this book. It seems pretty futile how the Baudelaires try in almost everyone of the early books to convince Poe or someone else that it is in fact Count Olaf under the disguise, it never once works so why continue to attempt and convince people? I will applaud their determination and I suppose there is always the chance that they could be talking to one of the few mildly intelligent adults in the series, so never give up hope I suppose. Finally the introduction of this book's henchperson. I will say that I love the pattern of there always being a henchperson to look out for in each book, but once you know what to look for it becomes rather easy to spot them. In this book for example it would be pretty easy to spot the henchperson simply because they were the only other character that we are not familiar with. Although this was back when no pattern had yet been established and since I watched the Netflix adaptation before reading the books, I alas can never know if I would have recognized the HHM from his pretty obvious "solid hand" description, though I can speculate that I more than likely would have no idea who it was similar to how I did not recognize any of the henchpeople from the later books which I read before the release of seasons 2 and 3 and despite the already established pattern failed to spot. Mr Poe really is very dimwitted, I mean he knows that there could not possibly have been time for Olaf to call a Doctor and for him to have arrived, and yet he believes this random man with solid hands and no credentials, also did Poe ever actually see the HHM before this, I don't recall. I absolutely adore the carpooling conundrum being the thing that keeps Poe from sending the Baudelaires with Stephano. It's such an idiotic problem which is why its perfect that its exactly the kind of problem that keeps Poe's attention and buys the children time. I will again agree with what others said and point out that the Baudelaires going in a car alone with Dr Lucafont still seems like a win for Olaf, I mean aside from the fact that now he and his henchman outnumber Poe and he could easily murder him now and take the children it would still leave the Baudelaires in Olaf's grasp if they went in Dr Lucafont's car with him, how Olaf ended up screwing up this situation seems ridiculous in hindsight. Not the peaches Lucafont, you fiend they took Monty so long to find! In all seriousness the snake locking itself up in its cage after killing Monty with the help of other snakes has got to be one of the most ridiculous notions in the series. Also why not suggest for Lucafont and Stephano to go with the corpse while Poe goes with the children, the Jeep is after all Monty's and whether it's used by Poe or Stephano seems irrelevant. |
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Post by Dante on Mar 9, 2019 4:35:23 GMT -5
Stephano still has the knife and the only other possible witnesses are the orphans who already know of Olaf's other murder so why not kill Poe on the spot, Poe seems like the kind of person that would fall for a "look behind you" so sounds pretty easy for Stephano. I can only presume that killing or otherwise incapacitating Poe would complicate the process of obtaining the Baudelaire fortune; since Mr. Poe is in charge of the fortune, getting rid of him would leave the money in limbo, and possibly eventually in the charge of somebody more competent. In other words, it's to Olaf's advantage to leave Mr. Poe unharmed. Perhaps Olaf is just complacent, or dislikes revisiting a failed disguise. It's a caduceus, a common symbol of medicine derived from Greek mythology. (As noted on the page, strictly speaking the mythologically accurate medical symbol would be the similar Rod of Asclepius, but this isn't Helquist's mistake.) |
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Mar 9, 2019 6:03:11 GMT -5
Stephano still has the knife and the only other possible witnesses are the orphans who already know of Olaf's other murder so why not kill Poe on the spot, Poe seems like the kind of person that would fall for a "look behind you" so sounds pretty easy for Stephano. I can only presume that killing or otherwise incapacitating Poe would complicate the process of obtaining the Baudelaire fortune; since Mr. Poe is in charge of the fortune, getting rid of him would leave the money in limbo, and possibly eventually in the charge of somebody more competent. In other words, it's to Olaf's advantage to leave Mr. Poe unharmed. Good point. See also the Snicket Sleuth's theory that Poe is actually a V.F.D. agent of some description, one who's neutral in the Schism and has been useful to the Fire-Starting Side as well as the Fire-Stopping Side, and for this reason the Sinister Duo have made it clear to Olaf that he is not to be harmed unless it is absolutely unavoidable. or dislikes revisiting a failed disguise. Maybe he burns failed disguises in a rage? |
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Post by Joe Villazoa on Mar 9, 2019 7:35:21 GMT -5
Maybe he burns failed disguises in a rage? If you remember in book the Ninth the Baudelaires actually find a majority of his disguises in his trunk including his Stephano beard, so this would tell us otherwise. |
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Mar 9, 2019 10:46:46 GMT -5
Maybe he burns failed disguises in a rage? If you remember in book the Ninth the Baudelaires actually find a majority of his disguises in his trunk including his Stephano beard, so this would tell us otherwise. Yeah, yeah. I was joking. |
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