Submitted by AggravatingStudy2084 t3_115efg1 in books
Note that there will be spoilers in this post, too many to mark individually though none very detailed.
I remember loving ASoUE in late elementary and early middle, and though I never finished them all I did get to book … 9? or 10? (Idk, one or two after they live at the circus.)
I wish I’d seen the series to the end, but … I dunno, I got bored with it. At some point the books required too much cumulative suspension of disbelief to be taken at face value, and had too many open plot holes to be taken as effective fantasy. Each subsequent book was reading, at least in outline, like a clone of the previous ones:
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The orphans go somewhere new (Point in the “win” column: Handler does have an art for writing imaginative and macabre settings, not one of which I remember finding dull.)
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They are welcomed by one or more authority figures. About half are downright malevolent; the rest are stupid, craven, or both. None of them show any sympathy for the poor kids — two homeless, recently-orphaned middle schoolers and the baby they are raising alone.
Well, some do, but none who live to tell the tale.
- Enter Count Olaf, the world’s dumbest villain and distant-2nd-dumbest human being overall, with Mr Poe and all the other guardians (except Monty and Esmé) in an ignoble tie for first. The man wears disguises that any blindfolded orangutan could see past, but when the plucky kiddos try to tell an adult, they are scoffed at, in a conversation with more or less this structure:
”Yo, you know that new teacher/firefighter/accountant/concert pianist named ‘F.O. LaCunto’? He isn’t [occupation] at all! He is a COUNT — a count named OLAF!”
”Nonsense! I specifically asked him ‘Are you Count Olaf?’ and he said ‘no’! And just to be sure, I made him promise he wasn’t lying!
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With no outside support, whatsoever, from anyone (poor babies), they put their respective skills to work in ways that — another solid W — are clever and even instructive. I like the literary and scientific references; kids’ books where the heroes are avid readers and learners are rare gems.
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Mr Poe shows up to yell at them for something stupid right before they unmask Count Olaf. Everyone is absolutely stunned at this revelation, he runs away, and the cycle of doom repeats.
Now about those plot holes. Yes, I get that there’s a magical-realist-steampunk motif, but two big ones still bug me:
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In the first book, they are whisked away from Justice Strauss — not even allowed to spend one night with her — because she is not a relative. But with the exception of Olaf himself, neither are any of the other guardians. There’s an old Chinese proverb that says “you can’t be related to a village.” Wise words; you also can’t be related to a boarding school.
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Seriously, was Mr Poe working with Count Olaf? Even setting aside the first plot hole, I simply refuse to believe that any independent adult — never mind a wealthy bank executive — could be that dense. The first time not recognizing Olaf, fine: the kids could be traumatized, having flashbacks, whatever. The second time? I’ll allow it: it may well seem far-fetched that he’d put on a second disguise given how sort-of-miserably the first one sort-of-failed. I will not allow a third chance, Poe, let alone a sixth or seventh. Get yourself examined for brain worms immediately.
To be fair, Handler did make things interesting by adding new puzzles to the books (the eye tattoo, the Quagmire triplets, “VFD,” etc.). These were effective cliffhangers for the first, say, six books. But even fantasies need internal logic, and with fundamental, show-stopping questions — at least the two big ones listed above — remaining unanswered after twelve or so books, that logic started falling apart. All the codes and secret organizations and schisms were like bricks being added to the top of an increasingly wobbly Jenga tower.
The books lend themselves well to the visual, and I like the Netflix series a lot and am not too far in. Given all the above plus the roughly-20-year hiatus since I stopped reading the book series, I’ll probably just fill in the gaps with the Netflix show and move on. So please, stop me now if I’ve got it all wrong and need to go back before I finish watching.
Or — yaknow — just tell me your own thoughts :)
kaysn t1_j91ajoh wrote
I did finish all 13 books when I was 16. So it’s been a while. “Adults are stupid” is the recurring theme in the series. It doesn’t change. The only adults who seem to think are the Snickett siblings and Count Olaf. Mustache twirling villain that he is.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is a caricature. The absurdity is dialed up to the extreme. I would like to think that the real message is people who refuse to listen are at best unhelpful and at worst, perpetuating the crimes and abuse being committed. And they will choose to keep not listening. Because acknowledgement means they are guilty. Nobody wants to say they, along with the world have been horrible.