Why "The End" was such a dissapointment

[dragonprincess]

To me, it seemed like EVERYTHING that the fans said they wanted, he denied. After I got done reading the last book, it seemed to me that he was really inspired by the tv show "Lost". I am not saying to answer ALL the questions, but he should have anwered some. I also thought that he left it WIDE open to go back and write more if he wants to.

[cyrus]

Well, it's possible that it's not the real end. I hope LS will once reveal all the mysteries.

[TheManager]

Maybe someday it will all be revilled.

[Spymaster E]

Yeah, and maybe one day we'll put a man on the moon.

...oh, wait..

[cyrus]

Do you mean this: www.telltalegames.com/samandmax?

[Dante]

Please stay on topic; perhaps you could expand on what you'd like to be answered rather than posting links to games.

[cyrus]

Sorry, James spoke about the moon-landing, do it was just a joke, not spam.

[TopHat]

I'm kid of glad none of the questions were answered.

I look at it from the perspective of a cop-out, which is kind of true, but I feel that overall you get the feeling from the book that their "Series of Unfortunate Events" was just part of the larger book of events which were unfortunate, and supposedly to understand everything we'd have to keep going back and back and back.

It also leave it open for the beauty of the fan-fic, and I've read a lot of fan-fics.

[Dear Dairy]

“I like the idea of a story continuing in the mind of a reader." – Daniel Handler

www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/10/05/handler.snicket/index.html

[thistledown]

I suppose, in a way, I like the fact he didn't answer everything too...but I can't help but think that it was poor planning that caused him to take out the sugar bowl...My question: did HE even know what was in it? Or was it just something for us to decide. Either way, I think that it should have been included in TE, even briefly, because it was the main focus of the plot for so long! I mean, you can't just forget about it...

I suppose that is my main problem with TE. That and the fact that Olaf seems WAAAAAY too funny.

I noticed that after the first few books, Count Olaf became much more silly and stupid and less of the evil genius I had grown to adore. I loved him as bloodthirsty and mean...and him being not simply funny, which was OK, but being stupid....that really annoyed me. Take this paraphrased line from TRR: If I wanted to kill you, orphan, your blood would be running down these stairs like a waterfall--or something to that effect...It just showed he was evil...and now he talks about luxury cars?? Out of character, original character, that is, in my opinion.

[Dante]

His violence and threats don't recede, as such, they just become more cartoonish - Olaf threatening people with a rusty knife is more realistic, or less silly, than him waving around a harpoon gun (think about why that was used, both in TVV and TPP, rather than an ordinary rifle of some kind), or threatening to have them strangled in the tentacles of a mechanical octopus. He still does have some genuinely sinister moments, though, even without being threatening; Chapter Seven of The End is a good example of this, as are some of his closing comments in The Grim Grotto and The Penultimate Peril. It may come part and parcel with the series becoming less another entry in the gothic misery genre (Handler's original intention) and more a series of absurdist satires, or a contemplation on abstract theoretical issues rather than triumph over physical endangerment.

[thistledown]

I guess.

But I would have really liked to see Olaf's character grow, perhaps, however, it seems to me like he encountered a bit of regression, especially during the last books. Now, I believe this was intentional, however, charater-development-wise, it annoyed me. Almost as much as the fact that the Baudelaire's seem to have the same personality, only tweaked a little...

Though I suppose, as his work is quite satirical, it is supposed to be somewhat absurd.

Even so, I much preferred the less-cartoonish Olaf. He was a better evil villain. He genuinely scared me as a child.

I was reading a passage of TE to a good friend of mine, the part about the shiny new car, and she thought it was a fanfic. When I told her it was actually the concluding book, she was surprised. She only read the first three books and so was unaccustomed to Newlaf...ha ha...or the-new-Olaf...but whatever. She thought it was extremely out of character. As I did.

In conclusion: Snicket could have used other means to make his books center on 'abstract theoretical issues'. He did not have to make one of his main characters noticably regress. What Snicket did to Olaf reminded me, in a way, of what Mark Twain did to Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: he spent a long time building a character, then slowly changed it, making all of that character development come to absolutely nothing.

Nevertheless, I adore Snicket. The only real problem I have with the books is this aforesaid development issue.

But I have to remind myself that these books are classed as 'children's', so I suppose Snicket can't make Olaf too evil...and I admit his constant clownish nature made me laugh sometimes. But mostly, I can't stop feeling wistful...wanting the old days...the old books...the old Olaf...

[Jared]

I finally read "The End", and I was a little disappointed as well. Though I have been disappointed with all the books that followed "The Ersatz Elevator". Each book still had some very funny and clever lines, but the storyline just got more and more far-fetched to the point I started to disconnect with the characters and their plight. What I liked about "The Penultimate Peril" which felt like more of a finale, was the return of so many characters from earlier books... but the whole ending was a huge letdown once again. I've only read the 13 books and not the supporting material, and I still don't get the point of the VFD and what their mission was.

I suppose Chapter 13 of Book 13 did have quite a peaceful end, with the Baudelaire children finally in a safe place, with all these contraptions for Violet to fix, books for Klaus to read and food for Sunny to cook. But then what was the point of Chapter 14 about needing to go back into the treacherous world? Would the three of them be arrested and thrown into jail for all the crimes they were accused of committing? I don't buy that they should leave just because their parents did.

Overall, I would have to say I was very disappointed in this series, though it doesn't take away the fact that the first few books were ultra-clever and very original. I just wish the plot went somewhere and the characters developed a bit more deeply.

[violet]

It would've been better if more past characters (Esme, the Quagmires, etc) showed up. I enjoyed it, but still it could've answered some questions we wanted to find the answers to- though it did answer some questions that we probaly wondered a few times, but didn't ask or think about much. It revealed Olaf's feelings for the Baudelaires (he hated them, but he admired their skills), some of his past (when he said he kissed Kit Snicket before), and maybe what happened to the Baudelaire parents ( see below).

The Baudelaires, even after discovering that Quigley is alive, still thought that their parents could be alive- they could. They assumed that the Quagmires were dead or in danger when they got swallowed by The Great Unknown. Mr. Poe said 'perished' and even though Snicket said that they're dead, he could be dead as in 'swallowed by the Great Unknown' after the fire (somehow).

[Jacob]

Well I don't think it was perfect. Quite frankly I think it sucked. I'm sorry I ever even started to read the series period! To be let down at the end. Some loose ends need to be explained and I don't give a damn about the "air of mystery." What happened to all the other characters? Sugar bowl? Snicket file? And why the HELL would he open up more questions at the end? Like Olaf kissing Kit? And saying he would do that one more time? When did he do that first? Worst effing book i've EVER read.