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Post by ryantrimble457 on Aug 31, 2021 12:45:31 GMT -5
I was on mobile so I couldn't do the tags easily! Also, I did warn there would be spoilers in this thread so.......
Anyway, I loved this book so much. It's not a novel, but if one of your favorite parts of ASoUE was the way Lemony spoke, this book is ALL that. Consequently, I adored it.
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Aug 31, 2021 13:28:56 GMT -5
Actually, really loving it. It is amazing. I find it interesting that Lemony basically admits that
Lemony is Jewish, and VFD represents Jews around the world. I have long suspected that the Baudelaire's journeys and travels were a parable for galut (or golus) - a word which here means the wandering of Jews exiled from their homeland through many different countries, most of them hostile. Posion For Breakfast essentially admits that. (I have been kicking myself for not asking this question in the PFB interview with Daniel Handler. However, he basically admits it in PFB, so its alright.)
I loved this, too. Daniel Handler has said before that the kids are Jewish, though not necessarily wildly religious. I'm very glad he went into detail with that, and I'm also glad that that was the only Baudelaire reference in the whole book. I kinda liked the idea that Lemony finally found some manner of peace in his little town, and that, while he's still got enemies, he's not running all over 24/7 anymore.
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TheAsh
Formidable Foreman
Posts: 175
Likes: 99
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Post by TheAsh on Aug 31, 2021 14:16:32 GMT -5
Actually, there's a simple reason for that these events took place BEFORE the events of ASOUE. There's at least three glaring references to this in the book. See if you can find them! I am busy now, but am preparing a thread on the subject for tomorrow.
(PS - I also think PFB contains a big clue to the timeline of the Sugar Bowl - but that proof is far more controversial. The previous references are obvious.) [\spoiler]
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Post by Hermes on Aug 31, 2021 15:38:31 GMT -5
I find it interesting that Lemony basically admits that
Lemony is Jewish, and VFD represents Jews around the world. I have long suspected that the Baudelaire's journeys and travels were a parable for galut (or golus) - a word which here means the wandering of Jews exiled from their homeland through many different countries, most of them hostile. Posion For Breakfast essentially admits that. (I have been kicking myself for not asking this question in the PFB interview with Daniel Handler. However, he basically admits it in PFB, so its alright.)
I think we have known for a while that Lemony is Jewish (which is not the aame as the B's being Jewsih, though I believe that as well). But VFD representing Jews seems odd to me. Isn't it a central part of the idea of VFD that anyone can join (Volunteer means Volunteer)?
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Aug 31, 2021 15:44:40 GMT -5
I find it interesting that Lemony basically admits that
Lemony is Jewish, and VFD represents Jews around the world. I have long suspected that the Baudelaire's journeys and travels were a parable for galut (or golus) - a word which here means the wandering of Jews exiled from their homeland through many different countries, most of them hostile. Posion For Breakfast essentially admits that. (I have been kicking myself for not asking this question in the PFB interview with Daniel Handler. However, he basically admits it in PFB, so its alright.)
I think we have known for a while that Lemony is Jewish (which is not the aame as the B's being Jewsih, though I believe that as well). But VFD representing Jews seems odd to me. Isn't it a central part of the idea of VFD that anyone can join (Volunteer means Volunteer)?
I don't think he means that VFD stood for the Jewish people. I'm pretty sure he was referring to the Baudelaires in that section when he said he wrote extensively about people who travel from place to place looking for a home. There's an article from long ago, an interview, in which he said the Baudelaires are Jewish, though it's never stated explicitly in the books. PS as I write this, the Star of David in my menorah on my shelf is reflected in my computer screen. We love the synergy.
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Post by FileneNGottlin on Aug 31, 2021 21:32:26 GMT -5
Just finished it. It's certainly not for kids (I suppose it could be in the sense that it's not "adult"?) But books like The Little Prince, which it was compared to, have a similar sort of matter-of-fact philosophy about them.
I found it very interesting, but I don't think it has much to do with the Greater Snicket Universe. I do like the idea of it as a kind of reading guide, though.
I don't really know if I have much more to say, but I certainly have much more to think about, which I suppose is the point.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2021 0:54:28 GMT -5
I haven’t read it yet, but Snicket? Maybe next time just make some pancakes 🤣
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jackson
Catastrophic Captain
We will attend masked balls at her castle, and you can get scared then.
Posts: 50
Likes: 29
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Post by jackson on Sept 1, 2021 4:30:36 GMT -5
Hello everyone. It’s been a while. Thank you Instagram for alerting me of a new Snicket book. I was waiting for the breakfast stanza to be some sort of rail fence cipher and was honestly pretty disappointed. This didn’t read like a Snicket novel to me. Most of the rambles broke the children’s didacticism threshold and Snicket gave way to Handler. This was exacerbated by the lack of references to Snicket’s past and created a strange narrative vacuum, like his residence and surrounding town were just a heap of facades and stage props. Snicket’s world has character and vibrancy and this one did not. I was hoping for at least a passing mention of the Boudelaires or Ellington but oh well. Apologies for the negativity. The book is a lot to process. Some parts were genuinely upsetting and bewildering — the loneliness and death stuff — and others laugh-out-loud Snicket. I don’t really know what to think. This was a fever dream and I don’t think I retained more than twenty percent of it. I have a question to those who have a memory of ASoUE, because I was in grade school when I read them. One of the posters above (sorry, I’m using my mobile) mentioned gasping when Snicket says in Chapter Eleven But of course that is not how the story goes. Was this a refrain in the books or just the television show? Following the Mountain Goats lyric in the Chapter Twelve curtain call I had it playing in my head for the rest of the book, despite missing its first reference in Chapter Eight. I couldn’t place it until I read Snicket’s notes. That was my gasp. I didn’t realize it was such an obscure song, until I realized I had never intentionally queued it and just let the album run after a shower and somehow that lyric stuck with me. Aside: if we curse, does the software redact us with icicles? Why ickles?
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TheAsh
Formidable Foreman
Posts: 175
Likes: 99
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Post by TheAsh on Sept 1, 2021 5:12:35 GMT -5
Actually, there's a simple reason for that these events took place BEFORE the events of ASOUE. There's at least three glaring references to this in the book. See if you can find them! I am busy now, but am preparing a thread on the subject for tomorrow.
(PS - I also think PFB contains a big clue to the timeline of the Sugar Bowl - but that proof is far more controversial. The previous references are obvious.) [\spoiler]
asoue.proboards.com/thread/36892/when-poison-breakfast
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jackson
Catastrophic Captain
We will attend masked balls at her castle, and you can get scared then.
Posts: 50
Likes: 29
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Post by jackson on Sept 2, 2021 20:44:11 GMT -5
To Ash, asoue.proboards.com/post/938585/thread. To the moderators: I think this OFFICIAL "Poison for Breakfast" Discussion! should have greater visibility because the book is brand new. It's a bit hard to find nested in Weary Writer.
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Post by Hermes on Sept 3, 2021 4:58:00 GMT -5
To the moderators: I think this OFFICIAL "Poison for Breakfast" Discussion! should have greater visibility because the book is brand new. It's a bit hard to find nested in Weary Writer. It's an announcement, which means it appears at the top of every board.
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Post by the panopticountolaf on Sept 3, 2021 7:46:17 GMT -5
I just finished reading the book last night and let me just say... Wow. I absolutely adored this book. It's absolutely, totally different from ASOUE and ATWQ, and I think that's a big part of why I loved it so much. Personally, I don't believe that the book takes place before ASOUE, and I have my reasons for that, but that's for another thread. This might be my favorite Snicket book as of yet — it's cerebral, and yet very accessible. I definitely agree with what jackson said about the target audiences being Snicket veterans. I can't imagine someone starting out with this book. And the presentation is nice, too! I live in the US and so of course got the US version. When I took off the dust jacket I found out that there's this really nice Snicket signature embossed in gold on the front cover. It's just so nice to look at. I love the interior illustrations too. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as I calm down, at the moment I'm still a little dazzled. Thank god this book was published.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Sept 3, 2021 15:51:00 GMT -5
I just read the first chapter of PFB. And every time I read on, I get the feeling I've been right all along: The real Lemony Snicket has died, and someone else has taken their place in his universe. That other person is Daniel Handler (the character mentioned in LSTUA) in his universe. What we have here is a book by Daniel Handler pretending to be Lemony Snicket. (Remember that in the universe of ASOUE they are different people). So when this Lemony Snicket tells about his childhood, he's not talking about the childhood of the real Lemony Snicket, but the childhood of Daniel Handler (the character). I actually thought about it since I read the horseradish introduction. That big-waisted man the woman found living in the cave that was supposedly Lemony's hideout could actually be Daniel Handler (the character) who decided to live in the same place Lemony Snicket spent much of his time. The woman saw him without his disguise, which prompted Daniel Handler to throw her out. This may explain who actually published the book: a book full of phrases that make you think looks more like a work by the author of PFB than by the author of Asoue, who values the description of events much more.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Sept 3, 2021 21:32:53 GMT -5
Another detail that seems very evident to me is that this Lemony Snicket was not kidnapped by VFD when he was a very young child. This Lemony seems to have been raised for quite a while by loving parents, unlike what we see in ATWQ and LSTUA.
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Post by Hermes on Sept 4, 2021 6:22:32 GMT -5
We know that VFD kidnappees were allowed to viist their families sometimes, though - 'and they seldom brought him back' (also the Duchess refers to visits home). I take it this was one of these occasions.
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