Great 667 Re-Read 2019 - The Austere Academy.

[Carrie E. Abelabudite]

Mar 29, 2019 8:25:23 GMT -5 Foxy said:

But then in another book, The End, maybe, he says maybe the Baudelaires are living to an old age. I guess sometimes I figure he means they never did before this point in his writing.

Yeah, in-story, assuming the Baudelaires didn't go back before Lemony started writing the book makes sense. Out-of-story, I think Handler must have changed his mind a lot about when he imagined Lemony doing his research.

He probably sleeps through his classes during the day time.

Good point.

Chapter Eight

'The Baudelaires did not necessarily want to be extremely lucky, like someone who finds a treasure map or someone who wins a lifetime supply of ice cream in a contest, or like the man - and not, alas, me - who was lucky enough to marry my beloved Beatrice, and live with her in happiness over the course of her short life.' (p130-131) I think this is the first indication in the text that Beatrice married someone, though it's already been stated that she didn't marry Lemony.

Chapter Nine

'I was woken up in the middle of the night and chased sixteen miles by an angry mob armed with torches, swords and vicious dogs,' (p138) When did this happen? There seem to have been quite a few instances in Lemony's life when he has been on the run from the law. The description of the mob has a Village of Fowl Devotees feel to it; maybe he was trying to escape from there when this happened.

'Isadora snatched her silverware from Klaus's hands.' (p141) Wait, they're still sharing silverware and glasses? How long do these punishments go on for? If you break a rule, do you just not get cutlery/glasses/get your hands tied behind your back indefinitely?

'"We're not going to give Count Olaf a tip!" Violet blurted out.' (p149) Based on the way Klaus reacts to this statement, it seems like they still think that Nero might believe them. They've wised up since the beginning of the series, but they still do believe that authority figures can be trusted, to a degree.

[veryferociousdrama]

Notes on Chapters Four to Six.

Sounds like Professor Reed is a Volunteer, if they know what Beatrice looks like. Unless they did it by Lemony's picture.

There's a very weird class assignment system here. Presuming Prufrock Prep is a secondary school, then Violet would be in the fourth year/grade up, and Klaus in the second. If the Quagmires are 13, they would be in the second or third. Seeing as Carmelita is described as little, I can imagine her being in the first.

So the mention of the metric system helps us place a period of time for the series. It is generally agreed by fans that the series is most likely to be set in Australia, the US or the UK, which would make it be at least 1965, 1974 or 1971 respectively. Unless of course it's set somewhere else, or Mrs. Bass inherited the system from another country?

Sorry to be so obsessed with timelines, but once again there's another unspecified gap of time. I'm gonna say the usual, about a month. It doesn't help that the Baudelaires have lost track of time, but the wording of "one Friday" instead of "that Friday" makes it seem like it had been a few weeks and they just remembered weekends.

How did Count Olaf get past the computer? Like I said, it was probably either a cheap one, or maybe it was hacked by Olaf or one of his henchpeople.

Does Nero not realize that nobody's paying attention to his concerts? But more importantly, how is Count Olaf paying attention? Finally his acting skills are of a decent level and helping him.

The fact that Mrs. Bass got arrested for bank robbery confirms that she survived the Hotel fire. But the fact that it was "many years" ago conflicts with TSS. Unless somebody was impersonating Kit and Lemony was luring them to the Hotel? But when you think about it, the only way he'd know that she was dead is if Beatrice or one of the Baudelaires told him. 

[Dante]

Mar 30, 2019 1:41:23 GMT -5 veryferociousdrama said:

So the mention of the metric system helps us place a period of time for the series. It is generally agreed by fans that the series is most likely to be set in Australia, the US or the UK, which would make it be at least 1965, 1974 or 1971 respectively. Unless of course it's set somewhere else, or Mrs. Bass inherited the system from another country?

I really don't think that the fans agree on this at all. ASoUE is set in no real time and place, but rather one which could feel familiar anywhere, and indefinably in the past.

How did Count Olaf get past the computer? Like I said, it was probably either a cheap one, or maybe it was hacked by Olaf or one of his henchpeople.

The advanced computer is one of those things which the Netflix series takes strangely seriously but which is a flat-out joke in the book. The sole function of the advanced computer that we're ever shown is displaying a picture of Count Olaf on its screen. It doesn't do anything!

The fact that Mrs. Bass got arrested for bank robbery confirms that she survived the Hotel fire. But the fact that it was "many years" ago conflicts with TSS. Unless somebody was impersonating Kit and Lemony was luring them to the Hotel? But when you think about it, the only way he'd know that she was dead is if Beatrice or one of the Baudelaires told him. 

The fix I came up with for this years ago was to suggest that Mrs. Bass was briefly arrested before TPP but managed to escape again; ditto Mr. Remora's retirement and the closure of Prufrock Prep. entirely. Hence the teachers now have free rein to go hanging about hotels together.

[Foxy]

Mar 30, 2019 1:41:23 GMT -5 veryferociousdrama said:

Does Nero not realize that nobody's paying attention to his concerts?

I would chalk this up to his arrogance.  He is so full of himself he thinks people a listening on with complete adoration, kind of like how Carmelita thinks everyone thinks she's wonderful.  Do you think Nero was the one at the orchestra when the Baudelaire parents went out one night?

[Carrie E. Abelabudite]

Mar 30, 2019 1:41:23 GMT -5 veryferociousdrama said:

So the mention of the metric system helps us place a period of time for the series. It is generally agreed by fans that the series is most likely to be set in Australia, the US or the UK, which would make it be at least 1965, 1974 or 1971 respectively. Unless of course it's set somewhere else, or Mrs. Bass inherited the system from another country?

I agree with Dante that it's not meant to be set in a particular country, but it does have, I think, a North American feel to it. The way Mrs Bass' obsession with the metric system is described makes it seem like that's not the most common method of measuring things, even if it is known by most people.

Mar 30, 2019 4:44:16 GMT -5 Dante said:

 The sole function of the advanced computer that we're ever shown is displaying a picture of Count Olaf on its screen. It doesn't do anything!

 Lemony does think it might be capable of forging documents in TUA. That doesn't mean it actually can, though.   

Mar 30, 2019 9:27:46 GMT -5 Foxy said:

  Do you think Nero was the one at the orchestra when the Baudelaire parents went out one night?

I was thinking it might be, but you'd think he'd have been working at Prufrock then, so he wouldn't have been in the city and he would have been giving his nightly concerts at the school instead. I guess he could have had the evening off.

Chapter Ten

How much did the Quagmires find out in the library? Clearly, they were able to read some information about VFD, but what? Did they just read the newspaper - maybe stumble across Secret Organisations You Should Know About? Or were they actually recruited by the librarian? The way they talk to the Baudelaires here makes it sound like they don't know that much yet, but maybe they just didn't want to confuse/overwhelm them.

I'd be really interested to know what Duncan and Isadora found out from the newspaper based in the city. This starts the tradition of someone getting cut off when they were about to say something important.

'"If I took the ribbon from your hair, Violet, and Duncan took Klaus's glasses, we'd look enough like you that I bet Coach Genghis couldn't tell."' (p161) How would Klaus be able to study without his glasses? TMM establishes he can barely do anything without them. 

Would wearing different shoes really make your feet make a different sound on the grass?

Quigley dressing up as a baby is such a funny image I don't even mind how improbable it is that Duncan would think of this as a viable plan.

The Baudelaires feel nervous about stealing things from the cafeteria but not particularly guilty, and any guilt associated with the Quagmires springs more from the way they are risking their lives rather than from them disguising themselves and trying to fool Olaf. As I said in the TWW thread, I think the main way the Baudelaires' morality changes over the course of the series is their awareness of it, but I guess this could be seen as the start of that, since they do have negative emotions about the plans they are putting into place, whereas this wasn't so much of a feature when Violet broke into Olaf's suitcase or when they stole the sailboat.

Chapter Eleven

I love everything about the masked ball passage.

'I once attended one of the famed masked balls hosted by the duchess of Winnipeg,' (p167) This sounds like multiple Masked Balls have occurred, but Lemony has only attended one.

The description of Lemony being pursued by the palace guards is odd, considering he and R are friends (or at least are later described this way). Maybe the 'palace guards' don't really work for R; instead, they're on the villainous side of the schism and are disguising themselves as her servants.

Up to now, disguising oneself has been considered a hallmark of Olaf and therefore a villainous act, but now we see it's something all VFD members seem to do (even if we don't know these characters as VFD members yet).

'I [...] gave her the message I'd been trying to give her for fifteen long and lonely years.' (p168) This implies that the Masked Ball occurred towards the end of Beatrice's life.

'"Beatrice," I cried just as the scorpions spotted me, "Count Olaf is"' (p168) ...what? "Count Olaf is here"? Makes sense contextually, but I don't see how Lemony can have been trying to give Beatrice that message for fifteen years. "Count Olaf is trying to kill you"?

'some shoes couldn't turn them into one another any more than a woman disguised as a dragonfly can actually take wing and escape the disaster awaiting her.' (p171) This makes me think of the Netflix series, where Beatrice actually is able to evade Olaf by hang-gliding using her dragonfly costume. Of course, she is still unable to escape disaster in a wider sense.

This is the Baudelaires' tenth sleepless night in a row. Poor kids.

[Carrie E. Abelabudite]

Chapter Twelve

I love the bit about assumptions.

With the amount of time Nero puts into practicing the violin, it's surprising how he could be so bad.

Remora and Bass are bad teachers but they're pretty reasonable people here.

Chapter Thirteen

I'd forgotten that the Quagmires got all the way to the end of S.O.R.E. without Olaf seeing through their disguise.

Presumably, Poe has used the Baudelaire fortune to purchase the candy and the earrings, meaning that Nero and Carmelita are better at working the system than Olaf is.

'"Now Klaus," Mr Poe said sternly. "You have to learn to be accepting of other cultures. I'm sorry, Coach Genghis. The children aren't usually prejudiced."' (p206) Olaf is very good at using people's desire not to seem xenophobic against them. He uses similar tactics with his Gunther disguise.

'The orphans were startled for a moment, not only because [Olaf] had started running so suddenly but also because it seemed that he had given up so easily.' (p207) Yes, this is strange. Presumably he wants to make a quick getaway with he Quagmires, but why kidnap them? This is the first time he has tried to do something like this, instead of coming up with a complicated plan to (more or less) legally inherit the fortune. It's possible he wants to get them away from the Baudelaires now he knows they know about VFD, acquiring extra henchpeople and the Quagmire sapphires in the process.

'"When we were researching the history of Count Olaf, we found out something dreadful!"' (p215) What? Something to do with VFD, presumably, but it's hard to think of what it could be specifically.

'"Look in the notebooks!" Isadora cried. "The-"' (p215) - the what? The Volunteer Fire Department?

'"Look in the notebooks! V.F.D." Duncan screamed, but the other woman's powdery hand covered his mouth before he could continue.' (p215) And now Handler has opened the door on the mystery that permeates the rest of the series.

Presumably Olaf is taking the Quagmires back into the city here. His movements between now and the end of TVV are confusing.

'And perhaps [finding out about VFD] could somehow make clear the mysterious and deadly way that their lives had become so unfortunate.' (p220) I think this is the first hint that there is something unusual about the unfortunate events, instead of them being something that just happens.

Timeline notes: I would say that the Baudelaires are at Prufrock for six weeks before Olaf shows up. After that, they are there for eleven more days (nine nights of S.O.R.E., the day they stay up and study, and the day the Quagmires get kidnapped), meaning that overall the book takes seven and a half weeks (fifty-three days is my estimate). Adding, say, a ten-day long Poe visit before they got dropped off at Prufrock, and that's nine weeks since the end of TMM, meaning, by my timeline, it's been twenty-eight weeks since the beginning of TBB, or just less than seven months.

To My Kind Editor

I love the stationery.

We can already tell that on Dark Avenue, people care a lot about fashion, but maybe not in the way that actually becomes the case in TEE.

[Foxy]

Mar 30, 2019 10:47:36 GMT -5 Carrie E. Abelabudite said:

Would wearing different shoes really make your feet make a different sound on the grass?

I don't think so. And I don't think Count Olaf would have noticed a difference anyway.

'I [...] gave her the message I'd been trying to give her for fifteen long and lonely years.' (p168) This implies that the Masked Ball occurred towards the end of Beatrice's life.

'"Beatrice," I cried just as the scorpions spotted me, "Count Olaf is"' (p168) ...what? "Count Olaf is here"? Makes sense contextually, but I don't see how Lemony can have been trying to give Beatrice that message for fifteen years. "Count Olaf is trying to kill you"?

Maybe he was trying to tell her Count Olaf was a murderer or an arsonist? It would seem Lemony has been framed for Olaf's crimes, and hence he is on the run. Maybe all that time everyone thought Lemony was the bad guy and Count Olaf was a good guy.

This is the Baudelaires' tenth sleepless night in a row. Poor kids.

How do they never sleep in the whole series? I think you can find sleep deprivation in every book.

Mar 31, 2019 22:19:03 GMT -5 Carrie E. Abelabudite said:

With the amount of time Nero puts into practicing the violin, it's surprising how he could be so bad.

I know, right?!

Presumably, Poe has used the Baudelaire fortune to purchase the candy and the earrings, meaning that Nero and Carmelita are better at working the system than Olaf is.

This observation made me laugh.