A journey that started with ‘The Bad Beginning’ has finally come to ‘The End’. I have quite enjoyed Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” - an experience that turned out to be much more than what I had anticipated. From an adventure story that was sometimes ridiculous, sometimes dangerous, this Series ended up being a slice of life, and one complete story arc rather than 13 separate adventures that 3 children go on.
The Slippery Slope starts the wrap up; it introduces the first of many returning characters from the Baudelaires’ past and also delves deeper into the search for the ubiquitous VFD. This book also reveals a great turning point in the character of the Baudelaires - an issue that will be addressed in detail later, and a matter that lay at the heart of the great Schism.
The Grim Grotto was for me, visually, the most interesting book! The search for an all-important sugar bowl takes us down into a submarine, and from there, into the heart of a grotto. Miles underwater, we are faced with many dangers from the poisonous Medusoid Mycelium, to Count Olaf, to The Great Unknown (one of the many unresolved issues).
The Penultimate Peril completes a circle, as Briny Beach becomes the starting point of the final lap of this adventure - led this time by Kit Snicket, further strengthening the link between the author and the main characters. I thought this and the last book of the series were very strong - all the characters and themes came together cohesively in a fantastic finale at Hotel Denouement. The curiously angled hotel with its mysterious reflection in the water became the scene of some of the greatest drama and action of this series.
The End, the thirteenth book of this series, was truly awesome. As we are washed up on a secluded island inhabited by strange people led by the dubious Ishmael, a lot of our questions do get answered - but equally, so many remain unanswered that we realize that there can never really be an End. Yes, we get a little more insight into VFD and the Baudelaires’ history and the great Schism, and even see the original Series of Unfortunate Events … but when all is said and done, nothing is neatly tied up with a pretty little bow. As Lemony Snicket notes, just as The Bad Beginning was not really a beginning, The End was not really an end, but more ‘in medias res’. Perhaps the greatest question raised, pertains to definitions of noble and evil. This book did not continue in the humorous, over-the-top melodramatic vein as its predecessors (which was a lot of fun while it lasted) but became a gentle comment on readily accepted demarcations of good and bad, as the perennially good Baudelaire children were shown to possess a villainous streak and the established villain Count Olaf was shown to have a beautiful, even tragic, side.
I really liked the way the story went through a range of emotions from depiction of a series of unfortunate events to unravelling a mystery in a very cohesive manner - woven, within the story by common characters and such running themes as Fire; and outside it, by wonderful storytelling elements from impressive illustrations to strategically placed literary and cultural references! Overall, this was a very enjoyable work by an author whose “hobbies in life include nervous apprehension, increasing dread, and wondering if his enemies were real after all”.
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