New THE END Clues given by Lemony Snicket

[TheManager]

Dear Readers,
While reasearching about Lemony Snicket, I happen to come across a website called Book Seller.com, which interviewed Daniel Handler. He gave out some inportant clues. Here is a dreadful excerpt.

I can't tell you too much about what happens in the book, but there are some strange occurrences. Seaweed is used as a wig--that may be the first time in the history of literature, although my research is lackadaisical. There is an enormous storm at sea, a herd of wild sheep, and a sledge is used in an inappropriate manner.

Please disscus and enjoy.

[Antenora]

I couldn't find this site you mention, so I searched on one phrase from that alleged interview quote. Here's the source: www.thebookseller.com/?pid=2&did=19761

The seaweed-wig thing kind of fits in with the cover illustration, in which the children are draped in seaweed. The storm at sea sounds logical enough, but the other two items are kind of random. One wouldn't expect sheep on a desert island. Same goes for the sledge--I'm not sure why they'd have one and what would be an inappropriate use for it.

[Eye Of The Count]

THE SLEDGE COULD BE ON THE BOAT THAT THE BAUDS AND OLAF ESCAPED WITH. AND IT COULD BE USED TO KILL OLAF?

[Deleted]

Because of the storm (which I might guess is named after the person that one the ebay auction) the boat crashes on an island, then the bauds use seaweed to disguise themselves as FFP and then kill olaf (the scene on the cover)


EDIT: a sledge can also be a sleigh (tobbagon)

EDIT 2: I read the article and was surprised at this quote: "They signed me up for four and only published two to start with. So it is with some relief that the 13th book makes the schedule at all, but I am also sad because I've enjoyed it."

So right from the start, 'the end' was planned to be published Friday the thirteenth 2006

[Jacques the Environmentalist]

No it wasn't, handler started this series in 1999. He said stuff about not planning in that interview, why would he have planned 7 years ahead? I don't think he would have.

[SnicketFires]

ffwf said:

The thirteenth book on the 13th. Of October. And so why have you, have you felt the need to kill off the series?

Oh, well, it was always planned to be thirteen volumes, in fact, when I originally told the idea that I had to this editor, I said “…and there will be thirteen volumes,” it was only she who said, “Well, let’s see how the first couple do.” It was always my plan, because I always thought that the only thing more interesting than terrible things happening to three children would be thirteen books in which terrible things happen to three children, and so, yes, people keep saying, “Why did you decide to knock it off?” and actually the pathetic thing is that I probably would have written them even if no-one had noticed them, and so I always knew where I was going with the thirteenth volume and now at last, I’ve arrived.

Source.

[Dante]

I think Handler always wanted thirteen books, but I doubt he knew that there'd be a Friday 13th in seven years and meticulously planned the release of each book so that the last one would be in time for that date. It's just a useful coincidence.

As for the interview: Why can't these things come out in my daytime while I'm online? Yeesh. Thanks anyway, though, TheManager. Anyway, I wonder what he meant by "ambiguous" - does it mean that the ending is neither really happy nor really sad, or does he actually mean, as the article suggests, that the ending isn't actually really clear on what happens? The latter would be neat, but not very conclusive - this is meant to be the end, after all. Seaweed being used as a wig I guess means that the Baudelaires will be disguising themselves in this book after all, although I'd thought they wouldn't. Although, wait, it needn't be the Baudelaires who use seaweed as a wig, it could be somebody completely different. The storm at sea is pretty much what I'd guessed, I assume it's what causes the apparent shipwreck on the cover. Herd of wild sheep - what can one make from that? Although I'm assuming it's on the island, and if there's a herd of wild sheep then maybe it's a fairly big island, or something. No idea how it could possibly tie in. The sledge, though, reminds me distinctly of TSS, when we saw a V.F.D. sledge in the hands of the sinister duo. Sledge, sled, sleigh, toboggan, whatever, they're all pretty much the same thing. Don't know what the inappropriate way could mean - perhaps to convey a body rather than ride down a hill.

Edit: Also: "Lemony Snicket is going to hang around after the series ends--he might get interested in other cases." Handler's said stuff like this quite a few times now. I'm hoping that it'll finally put an end to the repeated speculation that Lemony will die in the last book. I'll be honest, I've never liked the idea, and I'm not sure it would even make sense. Anyway, I've linked this article in the first post of the stickied speculation thread, as a verifiable Handler quotation.

Edit Again: Regarding shipwrecks.

[Deleted]

I personally think he did plan it. You don't have to believe that, but I do.

[s]

I'm doing some research for an adult novel now, about pirates.

Whoa, that's new and exciting information (though it doesn't pertain to The End). Could anything be cooler than pirates+handler? Oh yeah, ninjas+handler. But still. He better actually publish that pirate novel. I await it eagerly...

[SnicketFires]

I also eagerly await the pirate book. Handler seems to have a think with pirates (FFP, etc) and I'm glad to see he's not wasting any time on starting another adult novel.

[Dante]

I missed that line in the interview, somehow. I heard a while ago that Handler was planning a pirate novel, and I'm glad to see it's still on the cards. Clearly he is a man of fine taste.

On the subject of pirates: Possibly the inappropriate use of the sledge is that it is used on a pirate ship as a plank, for people to walk. It's certainly not what they were meant for, and I can't really think of much you could incorrectly use a sledge for.

[Kevin the Freak]

As a surfboard

An adult book bout Pirates? Ooh I'll have to attempt to read some of that to see any similarites. Probably would be a bit hard though

[Dante]

hyde said:

As a surfboard

That would actually be quite plausible, given the setting, and it's not just thrown randomly in, there's a logical connection, although I can easily see it being horribly out of tone. The mental image of the Baudelaires, although less so other characters, surfing, is initially a completely ridiculous one, but I can imagine it being done without it being bad. Hey, they went tobogganing in TSS, technically, and toboggans are a lot like sledges. And that toboggan was also used as a boat or surfboard, after a fashion, at the end of that book and the beginning of TGG...

[SnicketFires]

Didn't someone go water skiing in TPP? My memory's a little fuzzy. Perhaps water skiing with a sledge?

Sledges are usually pulled by dogs or horses over snow, much like a toboggan. I'm not sure what the buoyancy of a sledge is.

[Dante]

snicketfires said:

Didn't someone go water skiing in TPP? My memory's a little fuzzy. Perhaps water skiing with a sledge?

Kit Snicket water-skiied towards Widdershins, and later, away from him. No idea what page it was on, though, and a few searches I've done seem to indicate that I haven't typed up that quote anywhere, so I can't check the page reference like that. I'll look around. But if Kit can water-ski in her condition, I guess she or other characters could surf. Although the ridiculousness of that was kinda... toned down because it happened off-screen, as such.

Edit: Found it. It's on page 252. "...or if it would have been better for my sister had she decided to join the children at the Hotel Denouement instead of waterskiing toward Captain Widdershins, and, later, waterskiing away from him..."