World Famous Comics: The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)
The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)
By: Lemony Snicket Publisher: HarperCollins Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: HarperCollins Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 368 Publication Date: October 13, 2006 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: October 13, 2006
You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end. The end of the end is the best place to begin the end, because if you read the end from the beginning of the beginning of the end to the end of the end of the end, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope.
This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can't stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.
It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you I would drop this book at once, so the end does not finish you.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
Amazon.com Review: Picking up from the final pages of the Pentultimate Peril, this farewell installment to the ridiculously (and deservedly!) popular A Series of Unfortunate Events places our protagonists right where we last left them: on a large, wooden boat in the middle of the ocean, trapped with their nemesis Count Olaf, who has armed himself with a helmet-full of deadly Medusoid Mycelium.
The situation quickly and--this being the Baudelaires--predictably deteriorates. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny find themselves tossed in a storm so terrible that our beloved narrator spends four pages describing how he cannot describe it. From this point on, fans of the series' smarty-pants wordplay and acrobatic narrative can rest assured that they're in for more of the same (and how) in this 368-page finale, and Daniel Handler's deadpan Snicket continues to tutor a generation in self-referential humor (including one particularly funny bit regarding three very short men carrying a large, flat piece of wood, painted to look like a living room). Snicket notes, of course, that if you read the entire series, "your only reward will be 170 chapters of misery in your library and countless tears in your eyes."
There's one big question, though, for anyone who's made it through "the thirteenth chapter of the thirteenth volume in this sad history": is the final book a fitting end? That question is probably best-answered by one of The End's most oft-repeated phrases: It depends on how you look at it. Those looking for conclusive resolution to the series' many, many mysteries may be disappointed, although some big questions do get explicit answers. Not surprisingly for a work so deliberately labyrinthine, though, even the absence of an answer can be sort of an answer--and reaction to The End can be something of a Rorschach test for readers. Or, as Lemony Snicket says, "Perhaps you don’t know yet what the end really means." --Paul Hughes
I actually liked the ending! I have found myself in huge fights with friends and family over "How good" this book is. And I continue to stand by my decision that this was not only a fitting ending to the series but a total masterpiece of modern-day children's literature.
And I've seen the complaints about questions left unanswered and series lack of action. My response: Who cares? Is action the same thing as good storytelling? Were those mysteries necessary to the series' main plot and purpose? I say no.
The Baudelaires wind up on an island inhabited by people who have pretty much decided to forgo society. This poses an interesting moral dilemma: Despite how horrible the world can be, are we supposed to just ignore it? Or are we obligated to do our best?
And there lies the point of this series. Thank-you Lemony Snicket or whatever your name is.
This book contains some of the best writing and best emotion of the series--artistic, even, blowing away the talent of other writers as the author somewhat departs from his usual style (don't worry, it's still there with plenty of force) as he winds down the series (again, I don't care about the lack of action) with tender thoughtfulness and extra mysteries. Hey, I thought plenty of stuff fit together well.
I admit that I cried at the end probably more than I should have. Absolutely brilliant.
Very Frustrating Drivel I first started reading this series about two years ago, around the time "The End" first came out. I have to admit, I was caught up in the excitement that surrounded the book's release. At first, I was very impressed. The first few books were wonderful. It started to get a little dull through books four, five, and six. But then, in book seven, when the plot twisted and the children and Olaf switched places, it got interesting again. Also, the introduction of VFD and it's myriad mysteries was a welcome addition.
With each new book I found myself more and more interested in solving the growing mysteries that surrounding Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. When I finally got to "The End," I couldn't wait to see how all the various plot threads would be resolved. Boy, was I disappointed! ALMOST NO QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED!!!!! Yes, we do learn that Beatrice was the Baudelaire mother and that it was Lemony Snicket's love for her that caused him to chronicle the lives of her children. But, what else is answered?!
* Who really burned down the Baudelaire mansion? * Did both Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire die in that fire, or die one of them survive? * What is the final fate of the Quagmires? * Why was there a tunnel between 667 Dark Avenue and the Baudelaire mansion and another under the Quagmire mansion? * What exactly was VFD? (Yes, it was a Volunteer Fire Department, but why was it formed in the first place, why was it a "most secret organization" that virtually everyone seemed to know about or belong to, and why was is SO horrifically ineffective in stopping the villains?) * Why were VFD members constantly following the children but never really helping them? * Was justice ever served on the Man with a Beard but no Hair and the Woman with Hair but no Beard? * What was the importance of the sugar bowl and what was inside it? * What was the giant question mark, or The Great Unknown, from "The Grim Grotto"? * What is the ultimate fate of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny?
If you're looking for answers to any of this questions, or the countless others the preceding twelve books created, don't waste your time reading "The End." THE ANSWERS. SIMPLY. ARE. NOT. THERE. In fact, aside from not resolving these many, many mysteries, the book creates another plenitude - a word which here means "a ridiculous amount" - of new mysteries. Here's just a few...
* Why and how does everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, seem to find its way to the island? * What is Olaf's connection to Kit Snicket? * Why do the children suddenly become content to simply let the mysteries go unresolved?
I've read a lot of reviews saying none of this matters because that is just Handler's writing style. Well, I'm sorry, I don't find that convincing. A unique writing style is no excuse for not offering a resolution to a series in which so many people have invested so much time, money, and emotion. And simply saying "Some mysteries can't or shouldn't be explained" is a cop out plain and simple.
In short, this book was a terrible let-down to an amazing series. If you're looking a good series that doesn't simply leave you hanging at the end, read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" or "The Return of the King." Both of those authors, unlike Mr. Snicket, offer stories that aren't just mostly meaningless, tangential filler and perfectly tie up all loose plot threads.
The End In this book the author gives a great deal of information on the youngest child, Sunny. Sunny is the smart child that is new to the world. Sunny hasn't developed much language yet so she still uses strange words. Sunny has a special tendency to bite things. Later, in the series Sunny develops a cooking skill that comes in handy along the way. In this story Sunny and her two other siblings , Klaus and Violet, are abandoned on a strange island, along with a few other islanders. Ishmeal, the island facilitator, has strict safety policies for the islanders so schemes don't occur. The island is a place full of peaceful serenity and every time a storm arrives the islanders scavenger for useful things and out of those things were the three siblings. Unfortunately Count Olaf there enemy arrives on this peaceful island. Apparently Olaf was kicked of the island and all the rejected stuff was hauled to the abourtium. This story is about the adventure of the Bauldelaire siblings journey when a islander girl finds the three outcast washed up ashore. The sassy girl rejects Count Olaf of the island as the Bauldelaires live on their life peacefully. Soon the Bauldelaires start unraveling clues about the island facilitator. Soon the realize the facilitator happens to be their dead parent's friend and they find a secret house hidden in the forbidden abourtium. The conflict begins when Count Olaf manages to get on the island with a helmet full of a very dangerous poison. Eventually the children's long lost friend washes up on the island pregnant! Sadly the children try to warn the villagers about the poisin but they wouldn't listen. Later the islanders kick the children of the island because they think the children are plotting a scheme. But when trouble arises the children's friend is ready to give birth their is no one to help. She then gives birth and sadly dies due to poisoning. The children survive due to the fact they ate allot of horseradish apples with happen to be the cure for that poison. Along with the newborn baby the children live happily up in the house hidden in the abourtium. The theme if the story would most likely be live life to its fullest extent.
13, and all the books, are fantastic, if you think about it I finally realized what these books are. They're Nancy Drew on steroids, with a strong anti-adult anti-society synecism thrown in. You figure out in book five that it's all about VFD. Then in books 6 through 11 you find out that everything everywhere has those initials. Then in books twelve and thirteen you start looking back and thinking, wait! Maybe that's not an annoying cooincidence. And by then it's already hopeless because everything from Very Fancy Doilies to the smell of Lousy Lane ends up have something to do with something. You have to eventually give up. Otherwise you end up as frustrated as one reviewer who couldn't believe Snicket didn't answer all the questions. I'll admit it. I wanted to know what was in the Sugar Bowl. But Sunny tells us when she says "McGuffin." (I could be misquoting, so look it up." There are a couple of answers to a few questions, especially if you read the unauthorized biography of Snicket and learn how to break the Seibold Code. Otherwise shame on you and shame on me for expecting a normal happy resolution to these books, when he kept promising us the opposite. I totally expected the happiest ending possible to be the words "They died eventually." Compared to that, he practically had flowers and music.
Strongly Recommend.
Once I've recovered, I will probably read them to my own children. If I dare have children. But the second time through I'm going to have a commonplace notebook.
A Fitting Ending A lot of people complain that the final book didn't have enough answers... Heck! I just think we were silly for expecting them! With the weave of mysteries in the book, how could everything possibly be explained?
But a lot WAS explained. Everything necessary. And you find out the end of the tale of the Baudelaires.
I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the other books in the series. It was fun, unexpected, and yet... very tragic. I did cry at the end.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
