World Famous Comics: The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11)
The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11)
By: Lemony Snicket Publisher: HarperCollins Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: HarperCollins Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 352 Publication Date: October 01, 2004 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: September 21, 2004
Unless you are a slug, a sea anemone, or mildew, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this book, in which the Baudelaire siblings encounter an unpleasant amount of dampness as they descend into the depths of despair, underwater.
In fact, the horrors they encounter are too numerous to list, and you wouldn't want me even to mention the worst of it, which includes mushrooms, a desperate search for something lost, a mechanical monster, a distressing message from a lost friend, and tap dancing.
As a dedicated author who has pledged to keep recording the depressing story of the Baudelaires, I must continue to delve deep into the cavernous depths of the orphans' lives. You, on the other hand, may delve into some happier book in order to keep your eyes and your spirits from being dampened.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
Amazon.com: It's tough when the things that stand between you and your desired sugar bowl are a host of deadly mushrooms and an uncomfortable diving suit. The unlucky Baudelaire orphans find themselves in deep (once again) in this eleventh book in Lemony Snicket's odd-and-full-of-woe-but-quite-funny Series of Unfortunate Events. In The Grim Grotto, the siblings find themselves headed down Stricken Stream on a broken toboggan when they are spotted by the submarine Queequeg, carrying Captain Widdershins, his somewhat volatile stepdaughter Fiona, and optimistic Phil from Lucky Smells Lumbermill. The adventures that follow as the crew tries to get to the aforementioned sugar bowl before Count Olaf are so horrible that the narrator inserts factual information about the water cycle so that readers will get bored and stop reading the book. It doesn't work. As per usual, readers will want to soak up every awf! ul detail and follow the Baudelaires all the way back to the place we first met them--Briny Beach. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson
A bit slow A Series of Un-fortunate Events is good reading material for younger children. They probably will want to emulate some of the characters in the books, which would be fine... especially the calm and intelligent Violet. They are interesting stories and well written, I find some of them slow. Anna del C. Author of "The Elf and the Princess" The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)
One of the slower ones... Alright. I realize most people here are die-hard Snicket fans.
That said, Grim Grotto is where it starts to go downhill. It takes a lot more work to slog through than the other books. For one thing, this is a plot advancement book (finally!) with an abrupt cliffhanger ending rather than the usual clean wrap-up. The repetition is really obnoxious here (how many times does Handler have to copy/paste that essay about water stages?) and it's starting to feel like clever filler that cheats the reader out of substance rather than a narrative device.
There could be some good thrills and chills here but it suffers from too many irrelevant asides.
Come to think of it, The Carnivorous Carnival is looking pretty good in comparison. CC had meaty dialog that moved the story forward, suspense, surprise twists and emotional clout (bummer about the fortune teller).
If we were talking cheese, CC would be a punchy English stilton and GG would be a generic American cheese single. Or that shaky green wannabe parmesan cheese.
Rabid Snicket fans are gonna eat this up - just want to say that of the books, this is the one where I started skipping whole paragraphs and pages because Snicket seemed unable to get to the point. I think Klaus would have done the same.
?VERY GOOD !!
I loved this book. I loved Klaus' ill-fated connection with the mysterious Fiona, the crisis with the mushrooms, and above all the last chapters, where the bigger mysteries of VFD finally begin coming together. The ending is probably the single best ending in the series...
I am now ready for book 12, which unfortunately I am getting only for Christmas. In the meantime a discovered a new very interesting series titled Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2 Totally different story, but how captivating! I am giving it for my younger sister as a Christmas gift.
Grim Reading The Baudelaire orphans continue their search for the VFD and the sugar bowl with the hidden message as they escape down the slippery slope of the Mortmain Mountains and away from the evil Count Olaf. Their toboggan ride down the stream leads them to discover a submarine manned by a Captain, his stepdaughter, and Phil - a man the siblings met previously, all of which are friendly to the search for the sugar bowl and interested in keeping it out of Olaf's clutches. But just when it seems as though the Baudelaires have other people to work with and confide in, Olaf manages to strike again and keep the children on a collision course with disaster. The children must work together and keep their wits about them if they are to hope that they will someday escape from Olaf and his evil henchmen for good.
This installment contributes almost nothing to the overall plot line of the series. After a slight increase in the pace of the series, this one brings the fun back to a screeching halt. The concept is frustrating at this point and ready for the big conclusion. As in some of the earlier novels, the writing at the beginning of chapters is often disjointed and seems in need of good editing. It is good that there are only two books left because if there was no end in sight, I would likely put an end to it myself.
Oh, Dear! The Dreadful Happenings Continue. Dear Reader,
When we last saw the Baudelaire children, they were being swept out to sea after having fallen down a mountain. It was most dreadful. I should have just left them there and not continued reading about their unfortunate lives in THE GRIM GROTTO, the eleventh chronicle of those poor, unhappy Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny.
THE GRIM GROTTO finds them even in more dire circumstances than before. They are misled into believing they have found a former ally of the VFD. Then they have to live in the cramped and tight living arrangements aboard a submarine with no chance of getting out unless they put on these horribly heavy underwater-breathing suits. Aboard the submarine they are threatened from the outside by a giant mechanical monster and Count Olaf and his crew. Then we they finally do get out to walk around they are almost killed by poisonous mushrooms and despite all the precautions they take, disaster strikes anyway.
You'd best stay away from this one. But if do choose to read THE GRIM GROTTO, it's not my fault if anything happens. Sincerely,
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
Keep the wrong people out of your room! Print, personalize, and post this important sign. 
Lemony Snicket has captured the hearts of childen and adults alike with the hilariously gloomy series that began, of course, with The Bad Beginning. Amazon.com had a chance to question the author of this marvelously morbid and delightfully depressing series, and the communication was grim indeed. Read the cumbersome 
Due to the world-wide web of conspiracy which surrounds him, Lemony Snicket often communicates with the general public through his representative, Daniel Handler. We were lucky enough to hear from Daniel, and asked him the questions we ask every author, Amazon.com's The Significant Seven
