*breathes deeply*
...The computer just deleted my really long post in the middle of a sentence. *sigh* I'm starting again.
So, I've read TPP twice now, and I thought it was really excellent, good enough to become my second favourite book after TEE. I took notes the second time I read it, and some of you have picked up on some good points.
Firstly: Did anyone receive any merchandise with their book? I received a sheet of labels, and a pair of binoculars. Also, I won my bookstore’s raffle for the Lemony Snicket alarm clock. Pictures of the merchandise can be seen
here One thing I didn’t like about the book was how practically every guardian that the Baudelaires have lived with or have been acquainted with popped up as guests in the hotel. Most of them didn’t add to the story (such as Sir and Charles, or Nero) but just made it hard for the Baudelaires, and us as flaneurs, to find out what their intentions were, and if they were volunteers or not. However, having so many returning characters helped us figure out who was in league with Olaf or not – see page 210.
Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor annoyed me, because they weren’t as helpful as they ought to have been (although I did love how the title of Jerome’s book could be shortened to OLAF). I don’t think that they were the true J.S., because they kept finding messages that they thought were addressed to them. I didn’t like how Justice Strauss had followed the Baudelaires and had only recently (if you could call it that) joined VFD; I liked the theory that she had joined VFD a long time ago and had to keep it from the orphans. I liked Jerome better in TEE, I don’t think we even saw any of his unwillingness to argue in TPP. I don’t like how he joined VFD, either, I liked it better when he was clueless and had no idea about the organization (see Jacques’ letter to Jerome in the UA). One thing that confused me: “J.S. has checked in and requested tea with sugar” (page 34). Is this the true J.S., or is is just Jerome or Justice checking in and ordering tea? I believe the J.S. that we haven’t encountered yet will show up in Book 13 (what are our unencountered J.S. options? Julio Sham? Josephine S? Captain S (aka J?)).
About the cover: I thought that perhaps the curly-haired woman in purple might be Geraldine Julienne.
The initial description of Hotel Denouement’s exterior, lobby, and the first meetings with Frank and Ernest reminded me of something you might find in a book of Lewis Carroll’s.
Page 27:
…Laundromats, opium dens and geodesic domes…“Opium dens” made me laugh. Edgar Allan Poe was an opium user, right?
Anyone want to try to project a timeline, given that Kit and Dewey were four years old when the schism occured? Note that Lemony was taken when he was approximately four, is younger than Kit and Jacques. Also, Mrs. Baudelaire knew Olaf when before seven, and she and her husband (probably) killed his parents during the Baudelaire children's lifetimes.
The schism happening so young in the Snickets’ lives throws off a lot of the theories we have made. However, the picture of the boy appearing in Chapter one of the UA looks to me to be about two or perhaps three, with Kit and Jacques being older. I’ll see if I can work out a timeline when I have some time.
Does anyone thing Dewey’s name is a reference to the Dewey Decimal System? It seems kind of odd, seeing as how his own hotel uses that system in excess. I liked Dewey, but didn’t feel like I knew him long enough to be sad over his death. I was saddened more over the loss of a noble person who had started to tell the Baudelaires good information. Déja vu?
The Sebald on page 67: I noticed it, and was equally confused by the “in.” I thought I had made a mistake. Also there are two “ringing” noises made on page 66, but over-analyzing as I often do, could come up with nothing that made sense. “Sounds followed desk tiny back each with extra.”
I couldn’t really find any next-book clue; I thought maybe it could be the ship itself, as they are allegedly to meet with the Female Finnish Pirates in Book 13, or maybe the flock of birds, although the water tower is quite prominent as well. My initial thought was that there was no clue, but Hander (or Helquist?) usually likes to keep with tradition.
Esmé’s outfit amused me, especially Lemony’s description of it on page 80. I don’t think that a lettuce bikini would be very practical, though.
Does anyone else think that the Medusoid Mycelium might be served at the cocktail party as hors d’oeuvres, or were the hors d’oeuvres another plot altogether? Mentions of it on page 336, and somewhere else, too, I’m sure. I also liked how the guests were asked to bring valuables to the party, presumably for Olaf to steal once everyone was poisoned or dead.
Page 127:
“You rang” Sunny said, as taciturnly as she could. This reminded me of Lurch, from the Addam’s Family.
The phrase “I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion” was used twice, on pages 133 and 240. The first time was said by Hal, posing as a waiter, and the second was by a guest.
But what was the whole tryptich with the frayed elevator rope? When did THAT come into anything?
Chemist is Collete (thanks, Dante). Who could she recognize? What other woman does Collete know? Esmé certainly wouldn't start giggling, she hates the freaks.
First, room 296 is mentioned as containing a cranky rabbi (thanks, Efogot) and then it contains the man who has seemingly snuck in there, and is trying to read some Hebrew mirror text.
I agree about the triptych lady. We didn’t discover anything about her, really, except she was disguised as a housekeeper (with a moustache?). We didn’t find out why she was looking at the cables. We also didn’t find out who the mustached man was, or if he was in disguise. It also confuses me to as why they are displayed in a different order than on namelessnovel.com. I though Colette might be giggling to Kevin, disguised as a female housekeeper, but in retrospect that doesn’t really work out, since he’s also on page 152, somewhere else. About the guest in room 296: Couldn’t the cranky rabbi and the person reading the Hebrew be the same person? A
rabbi is a Jewish priest, and often teaches other about Judaism. In the link it says that Rabbi often have to know Hebrew to help with their studies, so they could be one and the same. However, I think a proper Rabbi would know how to read Hebrew correctly. Also, the
Talmud is a book used in the Jewish religion, so the person who submitted the “Talmudic commentaries” (p. 283) could have been the guest in room 296.
Indeed, my opinion of VFD was lowered quite a bit in this book.
I mean, how could their master plan rest on a COURT, of ALL things?
And it was all to chaotic, too disorganized.
I agree; the style of the VFD organization much differs from the one in the Unauthorized Autobiography; the one in TPP seems more unorganized, and willing to let anyone in at any time (read: Justice Strauss, Jerome Squalor) especially in the midst of a dangerous time. The court thing was unexpected; it was odd to think that it has been pressed into us that Thursday is the all-important day for over two books now, and all of a sudden, the court date was changed to Wednesday. Justice Strauss was wrong to trust TMWABBNH and TWWHBNB, but come to think of it, probably knows their names. I do not like the High Court’s way of justice.
I was disappointed on how Dewey said the Baudelaires had been taken (page 181) as we’ve fought against that for quite a while. Is it just me, or does it seem that everyone’s parent’s home is burnt down the day of recruitment?
Page 188-9:
…Although I know why I am crying as I type this, and it is not because of the onions someone is slicing in the next room, or because of the wretched curry he is planning to make with them. …To me, the curry-maker is Hal, which seems to point that Lemony has caught up with the Baudelaire and is at the Hotel D. This particularly makes sense if Lemony is the Chapter Ten taxi driver, which I and several of you also think that he is.
Although we didn’t get to find out what is being stored in the sugar bowl, we did find out a little more about its history. Page 221.
The poison darts mystery intrigues me (page 15, 211, 215). I was waiting for the time when we would find out the un-nobleness of the Baudelaire parents. It seems that they have killed Olaf’s parents, which would be noble to one side of VFD, but villainous to the Olaf’s side, assuming that they were bad people.
Page 227:
When I was your age, I spent years as a horse thief before realizing – Justice Strauss used to steal horses. The only other thing about horses that I can remember, in the series, is page 65 in TWW. It is Lemony’s socialist friend Gina-Sue, who uses the saying “You can’t lock up the barn after the horses are gone.” Perhaps a horse thief would say something similar? [/far-fetched]
One of the guests at the hotel is name Bruce. Could this be Snowscout leader Bruce?
Edit 4:
Page 251 & 252:
"...any more than I know if it would have been better for me had I decided to continue my life's work rather than researching the Baudelaires' story..."
What life's work? Surely not the Snicket file....
I noticed this too, and this strikes me as odd. Hasn’t Lemony referred to, in the past, as the Baudelaire’s story being his life’s work? If not, what could his life’s work actually be? I’m inclined to say something like bringing justice to VFD.
On the back cover, we are supposed to find “two mysterious initials” within the book. Does anyone know what these are (am I being stupid?) The closest thing I could come up with would be the initials on Sir’s pajama’s (L.S., page 254) or the monogrammed napkin the Chapter Ten taxi driver uses (page 251).
"You'll fail," Sunny said, and Olaf glared down at the youngest Baudelaire.
"Your mother told me the same thing," he said. "Ha! But one day, when I was seven years old-"
Now it may just be me, but this passage seems to imply that Mother Baudelaire knew Olaf as a child.
Perhaps the Baudelaire mother knew Olaf when they were both neophytes in VFD.
Why did Jerome’s Odious Lusting After Finance (OLAF) contain the word passageway? Which passageway would this be? Perhaps the one in 667 Dark Avenue, his (former?) home?
To my utter disgust, the Baudelaires didn't react at all, which disproves the Beatrice = Baudmum theory.
To be fair, the Baudelaire’s didn’t really react last time Beatrice’s name was shouted at them, in TEE (page187-8). It’s practically the same situation, really, all about how Beatrice stole the sugar bowl from Esmé.
Overall, I liked Kit. I was shocked to hear she was pregnant; it was quite a twist.
…Glad to see you back, Efogoto.
