The Multiverse Snicket Theory

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I'm still thinking about the first chapter of PFB (and just started chapter 2), but chapter 1 has already completely bugged me. I'm still thinking about the first chapter of PFB (and just started chapter 2), but chapter 1 has already completely bugged me. I should be reading the book in this little spare time I have instead of being here writing theories... But acting coherently has never been my strong point. But let me quote something that made me very thoughtful.

it is also a book of philosophy, a word which here means thinking about things and trying to figure them out. It is also a book about how I write the books I seem to have written.

No matter how many times I read and reread that sentence, it seems to me a strong indication that this Lemony Snicket is a fiction writer. "Yes, captain obvious," you might say. But the important thing is that Lemony Snicket doesn't portray himself on ASOUE or ATWQ as a fiction writer. In Lemony Snicket's universe, Lemony calls himself a biographer. Lemony is fascinated by discovering the truth about the smallest details, and stands out as a great researcher. 
On the other hand, the impression I get from the opening chapter of PFB (and the opening part of chapter 2) is that ATWQ's Lemony perceives himself as someone of a very strong imagination, who is capable of getting lost in his own thoughts. This Lemony admires this ability in himself.

note it:

If you enter a library looking for a particularly quiet place to read, head straight for the philosophy section. Because no one likes to read philosophy, no one will be there, and you will be undisturbed to read, to write or just to think and keep watch, as I do and have always done. It is part of being a writer -a very important part, even more important pe than writing things down. But it can be very difficult to describe.

PFB's Lemony pretty much admits that letting ideas flow is an important part of being a good writer. But this is important for a fiction writer, not a researcher/biographer.


While stories about death and replacement might interest me at first, it's not very exciting in the long run. But a multiverse seems to be more exciting, and I think that explains well what actually happened (if unconsciously).



Then:
Earth 1 - We have our universe. In our universe there is a man named Daniel Handler who is a fiction writer. He sometimes writes fiction stories under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. Daniel Handler created in his mind some fictional universes. In two of them there is a writer named Lemony Snicket.

Earth 2 - World of PFB. In this universe, there is a man named Lemony Snicket. This universe was created by the mind of Daniel Handler of Earth 1. The Lemony Snciket of Earth 2 is a fiction writer, and his childhood was recounted in part in chapter 1 of PFB. This Lemony Snicket has written some fiction books such as ASOUE, ATWQ and several books for young children. (Daniel Handler doesn't exist on Earth 2. ) 

Earth 3 - World of ASOUE. Earth 3 was created by both Daniel Handler of Earth 1 using the pseudonym "Lemony Snicket" and both were created by the Lemony Snicket of Earth 2. On Earth 3, there is also a man named Lemony Snicket. His life was told in a fragmented way in LSTUA, ASOUE, ATWQ and TBL. On Earth 3 there is also a man named Daniel Handler, who wrote the introduction to LSTUA. On Earth  3, Daniel Handler and Lemony Snicket are people distinct from each other.

[Hermes]

Um. I'm uncertain about this. PFB presents itself as a book about things that really happened (and apparently to a large extent it is, though they happened to DH rather than LS). So he can be writing about how to write about things that really happened. Although the Lemony of ASOUE is a resarcher and biographer, he is not a dry recorder of events; he reflects on their singificance, and you need imagination for that.

There are a couple of passages in the book which do seem carefully adjusted to make what we hear compatible with the life of the fictional LS - I have already commented on one, and will come to another shortly. There is also one passage which does have a tendency to make ASOUE and ATWQ seem fictional, but I think this can be got round.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Well, Earth-2 is very similar to Earth-1. I don't think Daniel Handler from our Earth-1 actually ran for several nights when he was a kid thinking of a specific poem. But if he had, it wouldn't be impossible. As I said, I haven't advanced on PFB yet. But in chapter 1 there is a clear reference to child abduction. I wish this were something that really only happens in fantasy universes like the asoue universe... But unfortunately it isn't. In our universe, child abduction happens with a relatively high frequency. Lemony claims she had a friend who knew a story about child-abduction. So even though the fictional author of PFB apparently hasn't been to VFD, you can see where his idea about an organization that kidnaps children came from. The idea came from a story he heard when he was a child, and how he kept imagining that his own kidnapping would happen. The fictional author of PFB lives in a similar world, but different from ours. The experiences he had are similar (perhaps) to the experiences Daniel Handler had, but they are still (perhaps) different. But more importantly, the message Daniel Handler wants to convey is the same message the fictional author of PFB believes.

This is different from ASOUE in one important respect: the fictional author of asoue who lives on Earth-3 has a very different mindset than Daniel Handler and this is reflected in the way he writes. Think of the letter Lemony wrote to Beatrice declaring his love for her. That type of personality conveyed in that letter is simply not the same as Daniel Handler's Earth-1 personality. That's a fictional personality. But I think the personality of the fictional author of PFB (from Earth-2) is very close to that of Daniel Handler (from Earth-1).
As I said, I think this was all unconscious. Daniel Handler created a piscicological mechanism to protect ASOUE's story from himself. As I said in my theory about the asoue effect, Daniel Handler must believe that ASOUE is something very beautiful and very fragile. If he releases a story that takes place years after the events recorded in ASOUE within that same universe, he might end up writing something that makes people like me create connections about it, that lead us to deductions about the events left open, and that could screw it up. But at the same time, how could he continue to use the character Lemony Snicket, who he apparently likes so much?

I think he found the way to make this possible, by creating this parallel universe where Lemony is a fictional author, and where asoue is a book he created. Nothing that happens in the universe of PFB (Earth-2) changes what happened in the universe of ASOUE and ATWQ (Earth-3).