Penultimate Peril thoughts
Oct. 19th, 2005 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiSome very preliminary (a word which here means "off-the-cuff, and likely to be error-ridden") thoughts on The Penultimate Peril:
These are random thoughts -- no particular order:
● So, the man who the children meet at the car (and who offers them a ride) must be Lemony Snicket, right? Else he's someone completely new. Although we've seen cabbies before (definitely in books 2 and 3, maybe others), and I didn't think Snicket smoked.
● And he stole the sugar bowl, right? Which would explain the wet item (from the lake) that's in the seat next to him. And his accordion is the instrument in the back seat (how appropriate, given Sir's inability to tell the difference between a concierge and a concertina).
● Speaking of which, I was pleased to hear that Fiona and her brother turned on Olaf. Although since Olaf is the one to tell us this, it's not a sure thing.
● The image at the end (all end images have hinted at the next book) shows a flock of birds. Crows, or Eagles?
● The triptych that appears twice (in different sequences) and was a clue on the Nameless Novel website shows an elevator cord being cut, yet we see no such incident in the book. Interestingly, we do see the woman drilling a hole (as shown in the triptych), tossed off as one of the many things that happens at 3PM that one day. There's also a mention of a volunteer breaking into the room inhabited by the rabbi to read backwards Hebrew text (and the Dewey number of that room is 296, for Judaism).
● As for the fire, the question is, who lives and who dies. Since it was mentioned that the children never argued with Carmalita or Esme again, the implication is that the latter two die (or, horribly, that the Baudelaires die), although since Olaf has dismissed them, they could simply fade away. Strauss, since she's on the roof, certainly seems like a goner, sadly, and if she is, her death will forever haunt those kids. As for the rest, there's no way to know who makes it out alive, as far as I can tell.
● Was the one person who kept talking about their mom in any way relevant? I'm assuming it's a joke, but with LS, you never know.
● The September 9 quote from LS on the The Nameless Novel site is "It is often quite frustrating to arrange all of the cloth and the poles so that a tent works correctly, which is why I have always preferred to stay in hotels or rented castles, which also have the added attractions of solid walls and maid service." Was he a guest? The Rabbi, maybe (in this poster, he certainly could be, and we know that the disguise kit includes a hat)?
● So, did the older Baudelaires kills Olaf's parents? And why did Olaf hesitate in killing Dewey?
● The TNN site quote for 8-12 has the Man with a Beard but No Hair saying, "But we know how to solve problems, don't we? Fire can solve any problem in the world."
● The vast amount of ringing (the concierge bells, as well as the clock), implies that a certain amount of Sebald Code was probably used. Once Elayna finishes reading it, a re-read may in order for me.
● In that long sequence of events (which mentions the person breaking into the rabbi's room, etc), a woman was recognized by a chemist. Since we know that Colette is the chemist, who was the woman?
● That same sequence also mentioned a woman in a diving suit. Presumably the woman who retrieves the bowl, and is in the taxi driver's (Snicket's?) trunk?
● Am I the only person who thought of Zelazny when we were presented with a reflected world in the water?
● We now know that the schism started when Kit and Dewey were both 4.
● Are Frank and Earnest a reference to the comic strip?
These are random thoughts -- no particular order:
● So, the man who the children meet at the car (and who offers them a ride) must be Lemony Snicket, right? Else he's someone completely new. Although we've seen cabbies before (definitely in books 2 and 3, maybe others), and I didn't think Snicket smoked.
● And he stole the sugar bowl, right? Which would explain the wet item (from the lake) that's in the seat next to him. And his accordion is the instrument in the back seat (how appropriate, given Sir's inability to tell the difference between a concierge and a concertina).
● Speaking of which, I was pleased to hear that Fiona and her brother turned on Olaf. Although since Olaf is the one to tell us this, it's not a sure thing.
● The image at the end (all end images have hinted at the next book) shows a flock of birds. Crows, or Eagles?
● The triptych that appears twice (in different sequences) and was a clue on the Nameless Novel website shows an elevator cord being cut, yet we see no such incident in the book. Interestingly, we do see the woman drilling a hole (as shown in the triptych), tossed off as one of the many things that happens at 3PM that one day. There's also a mention of a volunteer breaking into the room inhabited by the rabbi to read backwards Hebrew text (and the Dewey number of that room is 296, for Judaism).
● As for the fire, the question is, who lives and who dies. Since it was mentioned that the children never argued with Carmalita or Esme again, the implication is that the latter two die (or, horribly, that the Baudelaires die), although since Olaf has dismissed them, they could simply fade away. Strauss, since she's on the roof, certainly seems like a goner, sadly, and if she is, her death will forever haunt those kids. As for the rest, there's no way to know who makes it out alive, as far as I can tell.
● Was the one person who kept talking about their mom in any way relevant? I'm assuming it's a joke, but with LS, you never know.
● The September 9 quote from LS on the The Nameless Novel site is "It is often quite frustrating to arrange all of the cloth and the poles so that a tent works correctly, which is why I have always preferred to stay in hotels or rented castles, which also have the added attractions of solid walls and maid service." Was he a guest? The Rabbi, maybe (in this poster, he certainly could be, and we know that the disguise kit includes a hat)?
● So, did the older Baudelaires kills Olaf's parents? And why did Olaf hesitate in killing Dewey?
● The TNN site quote for 8-12 has the Man with a Beard but No Hair saying, "But we know how to solve problems, don't we? Fire can solve any problem in the world."
● The vast amount of ringing (the concierge bells, as well as the clock), implies that a certain amount of Sebald Code was probably used. Once Elayna finishes reading it, a re-read may in order for me.
● In that long sequence of events (which mentions the person breaking into the rabbi's room, etc), a woman was recognized by a chemist. Since we know that Colette is the chemist, who was the woman?
● That same sequence also mentioned a woman in a diving suit. Presumably the woman who retrieves the bowl, and is in the taxi driver's (Snicket's?) trunk?
● Am I the only person who thought of Zelazny when we were presented with a reflected world in the water?
● We now know that the schism started when Kit and Dewey were both 4.
● Are Frank and Earnest a reference to the comic strip?