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Post by Dear Dairy on Oct 15, 2006 19:53:49 GMT -5
In regard to the Entertainment Weekly review - the critic didn't read the book carefully enough. Lemony himself states that VFD stands for Volunteer Fire Department. The reviewer was setting up a "teaser" to generate interest in the book, and to indicate knowledge of the series. She purposely asked those questions to show fans of ASoUE that she WAS paying attention, and that she knew which questions they would want answered. She wouldn't spoil the book by giving away the answers. What she doesn't seem to understand, however, is that for Handler to change his style of "too-clever rhetorical devices" would make him untrue to the persona he has created in Lemony Snicket. I don't like the way she says, " we have had quite enough," as if she speaks for all fans in regard to Handler's rhetorical devices. I, for one, have not had nearly enough of them! Edit: From Wikipedia: A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story. Don't you guys get it? The Baudelaire fortune, as Sunny said, was Olaf's MacGuffin. The sugar bowl is OURS. It motivates us, we keep the story alive through our speculations and discussions, but in the actual plot it has little relevance. |
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Post by PJ on Oct 15, 2006 20:28:51 GMT -5
Perhaps Esmé was that person whom Ishmael spoke of, the one who always threw her tea into the potted plants? Then, when the antidote was put into the sugar, she could actually drink her tea without being poisoned.
What happened from then on I'm not sure of.
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Post by electricsweat on Oct 15, 2006 20:47:30 GMT -5
i thought the book was a really lame way to end the series. ive been reading the books for like 5 years now, and i was let down by the end. hopefully it really isnt the end. Hi Nate. I wondered what happened to you You should make a thread about the new Blood Brothers album and I'll talk about it with you or something. I already said this but I think the ending was done well. I'm only repeating myself to stay on topic or something. |
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ChilledCucumber
Catastrophic Captain
"Where there's smoke there's fire."
Posts: 81
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Post by ChilledCucumber on Oct 15, 2006 20:48:19 GMT -5
On the topic of the Sugarbowl.. what struck me during TPP.. was why Count Olaf was so calm about releasing the Medusoid Mycelium. Surely, if he knew how harmful it was.. he wouldn't release it.. Then when I was reading the responses here, about it containing the antidote or possible a hybrid apple, it came to me. The sugarbowl holds the antidote to the bitter tea, right? So.. if the antidote is the sugar bowl, and Olaf has it in his possession, then he can release the Medusoid Mycelium and eat the apple. At least, that's the plan I'm sure he had at the Hotel Denoument. It makes sense why Beatrice stole it off Esmé, to hybridize the tree, even if it does make the time line seem a little blurry. And if the Meducoid Mycelium was the advantage the Villains seemed to have over the Volunteers, then it would make sense for them fighting over it. After reading TE I kinda figured something like this. Only I thought that yeah, there's the apple inside. But I thought that Beatrice stole it in case villains release it. And I figured Olaf wanted it back so that he could then release the Mycelium and no one would have defense against it, and so that he could save himself. The questions that I'm left asking are: 1) Did the sugarbowl end up at the costal shelf, and then apple was then put into it? Or did Beatrice steal it from Esme and then put the apple inside? 2) If these are true, then why would Esme be upset that Beatrice stole it? w/o the antidote, it is afterall just a sugarbowl... Oh geez, I'm really confused. I feel like I'm missing something? Help? |
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Post by Mr. Flocuna on Oct 15, 2006 20:55:42 GMT -5
The only things I thought slightly referenced to the sugar bowl was the bitter tea (no sugar), the baudelaire parents keeping a small amount of horsradish hidden (in the sugar bowl?), and finally the Duchess' ring (it was in a wooden box though? Wasn't it?) Im so confused.
I think thats quite a big mystery to leave unanswered. -__-
Some more questions I thought of:
What happened to the man and woman on the mountain? Why are they so evil? and What was the deal with the posion darts and olafs parents?
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Post by mythologist on Oct 15, 2006 21:42:55 GMT -5
I really loved The End. The ending of The End wasn't happy or absolutly dreadful, like all of the other books, and it leaves us a lot of stuff to think about.
I like Kitlaf. It kind of redeem's Olaf a bit, and shows why he is so darn stupid and smart at the same time. Lemony is biased agianst Olaf (more than he would be agianst any other villian) and so makes him apprear stupider than he really is.
Does anyone know what VFD stands for for the villians? Villianous Fire...Desecrators? Displayers? Donkey-riders? Ooh, that gives me an idea...
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Post by Shelly on Oct 15, 2006 22:13:03 GMT -5
Hey, shelly here. I've read the book. I really like the ending. I totally support Caliban = Widdershins. It makes sense, and it really fits. And Kit's death . . . I actually predicted it earlier in the year with the 13 Shocking Secrets, and everyone grimaced and waved it aside.  But it happened . . . And Olaf in a cage! Whoa! I never saw that coming. I hope someone scans the book illustrations soon, I have some really good art ideas. |
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Post by Sora on Oct 16, 2006 0:08:39 GMT -5
I think quite a lot of The End was playing for fan-fiction. Maybe he was hoping that if everyone loved the new possible ship stories that could be written, they wouldn't worry to much about the lack of new information and answers to crucial questions.
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Post by PJ on Oct 16, 2006 1:08:07 GMT -5
I like the Olivia = Mr. Caliban's brother idea. It ties in with the interconnecting families of asoue.
Also, O is on the family tree next to M and N, so it probably means that it's not Olivia, but Olaf, if the Caliban thing were the case.
haha swans
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Post by snicketfilepg13 on Oct 16, 2006 5:03:19 GMT -5
Does anyone know what VFD stands for for the villians? Villianous Fire...Desecrators? Displayers? Donkey-riders? Ooh, that gives me an idea... VFD = Volunteer Fire Department. "...for if you looked carefully, the drawing of an eye also spelt out the initials V.F.D., and as the children had investigated the Volunteer Fire Department first trying to decode the organisation's sinister mysteries...pg 316-317." |
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Post by Zavi on Oct 16, 2006 5:18:42 GMT -5
I think quite a lot of The End was playing for fan-fiction. Maybe he was hoping that if everyone loved the new possible ship stories that could be written, they wouldn't worry to much about the lack of new information and answers to crucial questions. I agree. I was like: "Whoa, did he write this just to please the fanfic writers?" I thought he was either trying to please everyone or just the writers. But I'm definitely not gonna complain. Plus, Kit/Olaf is geinus. And now that some other books are coming out, I'm less concerned about some "forgotten" things. |
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Post by PJ on Oct 16, 2006 5:27:15 GMT -5
Does anyone know what VFD stands for for the villians? Villianous Fire...Desecrators? Displayers? Donkey-riders? Ooh, that gives me an idea... VFD = Volunteer Fire Department. "...for if you looked carefully, the drawing of an eye also spelt out the initials V.F.D., and as the children had investigated the Volunteer Fire Department first trying to decode the organisation's sinister mysteries...pg 316-317." No, he meant whether or not the villanous members of the VFD had a name. TBB:RE indicates that it's the OFD, the Official Fire Department. Just another something from the RE that we never saw in the End. Edit: Someone pointed out to me that the OFD wasn't really a counterpoint to VFD, it was just an official organisation that had been corrupted. The bad guys of VFD don't seem to join together, they act in small groups, like Olaf and his troupe, or the duo, that occasionally aid one another. But yeah. I really should re-read the rare edition notes again. |
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Post by callum on Oct 16, 2006 7:00:04 GMT -5
my theory aftrer reading is that friday is fernald and fiona's sibling or half sibling(fff) as fiona beleives her father was eaten by a manatee hooky and four eyes beleive it was the mother eg in shipwreck each lost eachother saw a mantee oh know you ate the other one! aslo is indicated a schism between her parents and hookys parents obviously seperated if they have stepfather
sorry if this is old knews or common sense
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ChilledCucumber
Catastrophic Captain
"Where there's smoke there's fire."
Posts: 81
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Post by ChilledCucumber on Oct 16, 2006 10:22:25 GMT -5
After re-reading the first few chapters of TE, I noticed that that Snicket mentions Beatrice telling him about "breaking the ice" while she's eating an apple. Why would he include that? Could it just be a coincidence? Or was there something in there about her eating the apple for a certain reason... Do you think that maybe she was eating the (possible...) apple from the sugar bowl or something? I don't understand why this was included in the story, but it could just be a total coincidence.
Edit: I just remembered the poem,
"That even the weariest river winds up somewhere safe to sea" Do you think maybe Lemony meant the coastal shelf. This would supposedly make this the "last safe place". Maybe they were always supposed to end up here, considering that the sugar bowl should've ended up here also because as Ish said "Everything eventually ends up on our coasal shelf".
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Post by trish on Oct 16, 2006 10:33:58 GMT -5
I didn't understand it all, but I'm pretty sure it was awesome. I just wish we knew what happened to the Quagmires... sequels from their POV, anyone?
I need to read The Beatrice Letters.
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But it happened . . .
