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Post by twig on Jan 11, 2023 21:15:56 GMT -5
book the ninth,
comment your observations/commentary/questions/queries!
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 3, 2023 10:25:44 GMT -5
This is probably my least favourite cover. The other books have at least one Baudelaire on the cover, but this one just has a bunch of lions. It sticks out like a sore thumb.
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Gregor Anwhistle
Catastrophic Captain
Volatile Fungus Deporter and Ichnologist
Posts: 70
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Post by Gregor Anwhistle on Oct 3, 2023 15:48:56 GMT -5
Ex Libris page: The Baudelaires appear in their freak disguises while Olaf is normal, a reversal of all the Ex Libris pages we've seen thus far.
Chapter 1
I wouldn't mind some solar oven grilled cheese sandwiches right about now.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 5, 2023 0:25:34 GMT -5
Chapter 1
Just want to point out that I enjoy the book itself, it’s just the cover that sucks eggs.
I’d be curious who Lemony’s few surviving friends are.
I wouldn’t mind knowing where the bullet holes in the car came from.
Now I have an urge to have a grilled cheese and watch the sunset.
Foreshadowing Fernald’s growing bond with Sunny.
Forget Mr Poe.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 9, 2023 18:19:03 GMT -5
Chapter 2
I wonder if Olaf got the idea for the please language from Madam Lulu, or vice versa.
I’m starting to notice a trend of comparing various items to holes.
Joseph Merrick was the famous “elephant man,” which gives an idea of just how freakish he appeared.
Come to think of it, I doubt Olaf has ever washed those pantyhose, or any of his disguises.
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Gregor Anwhistle
Catastrophic Captain
Volatile Fungus Deporter and Ichnologist
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Post by Gregor Anwhistle on Oct 11, 2023 5:54:11 GMT -5
Chapter 2
I like the mental image of Lemony consulting his research to ensure none of us were there that evening.
So Olaf was last at the carnival pre-TVV.
I'd be interested to know when and under what circumstances Olaf plotted to steal the Snicket fortune.
The Esme/Lulu rivalry begins.
That "young director" is undoubtedly Gustav Sebald.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 13, 2023 21:24:44 GMT -5
Chapter 3
I like the illustration at the beginning of the chapter.It feels like a bit of a missed opportunity that we never meet or
even hear about a 3-eyed girl.
Eating corn with 2 heads doesn’t sound that hard, your heads could just take turns eating.
Well, technically Beverly and Elliot would still have one brain each since they’re two distinct individuals who just share a body.
While I find the freaks annoying, they’re an interesting bit of social commentary since they’ve only been conditioned to
think they’re freaks.If anything, Kevin and Colette are at an advantage; also people train to be contortionists, it’s not a
mutation.Hugo’s the only one with a legit deformity, and even then it’s not as “out there” as something like having 2
heads.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 15, 2023 19:33:17 GMT -5
Chapter 4
Kevin seriously thinks Fernald is better off with hooks than being ambidextrous.
I wonder if that’s the same tagliatelle grande used as a whip in TSS.
Sunny’s cooking skills are starting to develop.
The Debbie and Tony story got cut off at the best part.
My copy of the book has a typo, the next chapter has 2 first pages.
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Post by Tiran O'Saurus on Oct 16, 2023 15:23:10 GMT -5
Not a typo, friend, it's to create a sense of deja vu. Also, the pasta whip was TGG.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 17, 2023 10:30:12 GMT -5
Not a typo, friend, it's to create a sense of deja vu. Never thought of that before, that's pretty neat. |
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 17, 2023 21:50:07 GMT -5
Chapter 5
There’s something ironic about Madame Lulu being so excited about feeding the freaks to the lions considering
what ends up happening to her.
Chapter 6
I’m imagining someone trying to hide an airplane or a symphony orchestra.
Madame Lulu may be an imposter, but her contraption is pretty interesting.
So that’s how Olaf always knew where the Bauds were.
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Gregor Anwhistle
Catastrophic Captain
Volatile Fungus Deporter and Ichnologist
Posts: 70
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Post by Gregor Anwhistle on Oct 19, 2023 18:58:09 GMT -5
Chapter 6
Ooh Klaus, if only you knew the significance of that Duchess and her masked ball... (This also won't be the only time the Baudelaires come across a mention of the Duchess, as we'll see in TGG)
Here's my little list of "How Olaf found the Bauds" based on what we see in Lulu's archive, while incorporating the statement in TPP that Justice Strauss shared info with the Sinister Duo, who passed it onto Olaf so he could catch up:
TRR: Sinister Duo. It would make sense that Justice Strauss kept up on the Baudelaire case after TBB (possibly even asking Mr. Poe how they were doing)
TWW: Madame Lulu via the dock photo. Jacques has the photo as well, which he shows to Quigley
TMM: Sinister Duo (again, probably JS keeping tabs on the kids)
TAA: Madame Lulu via the new student list
TEE: Esme's doing, obviously
TVV: Madame Lulu via the newspaper article
THH: I get the impression this was random, as the hospital seems to be in the middle of nowhere and Olaf figured it was a place to search for the kids.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 19, 2023 22:30:03 GMT -5
Chapter 7
Uh oh, busted.
Even if it’s a bit risky, it must feel good for Violet and Klaus to not be sharing a shirt.
Wow, the Bauds have been training for VFD without even knowing.
Ah yes Sunny sword-fighting with Dr. Orwell, I wish could get some kind of visual representation of that.
If Madame Lulu had a spare crystal ball, why’d she freak out over the first one being broken?
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Gregor Anwhistle
Catastrophic Captain
Volatile Fungus Deporter and Ichnologist
Posts: 70
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Post by Gregor Anwhistle on Oct 22, 2023 22:02:59 GMT -5
Chapter 7
It's a shame Olivia couldn't go work for Dewey, as I can picture her archive-collecting skills being extremely useful in Dewey's underwater catalog.
I'd love to see the four of them travel to the Mortmain Mountains via a large slingshot. They could bypass all those caves and snow gnats!
Count Olaf hasn't taken a shower in 10 days. Lovely.
Olivia's explanation about the schism, the world being complicated and confusing, and people thinking they do things for the right reasons is very similar to the Bauds' later conversation in TGG with Fernald.
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Post by A Very Glittery Christmas on Oct 26, 2023 22:52:52 GMT -5
Chapter 8
What exactly makes a mushroom fancy?
The “I <3 Freaks” dress arrives on the scene.
One could argue that Count Olaf’s henchpeople are freaks as it is, if not by looks than at least by actions.
If Kevin is so insistent on appearing normal, then shouldn’t he tie his left hand behind his back since right-handers
are the majority?
Permanently having a sack balanced on your shoulder doesn’t sound much better than having 2 heads.
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