The Slippery Slope

4:

Annoyed beyond reason because I couldn't stop misreading ‘Mortmain Mountains' as ‘Mountain Mountains.' A thousand curses upon you, Lemony Snicket.

(Quigley Quagmire, Sunny character development, Esmé tobogganing down the side of a mountain! This book had everything!)

I didn't like it as much, though there were some very nice bits.

The third Quagmire Triplet. Sunny being held hostage. Winter. This book was a high point in the series thus far, and any time spent trying to unravel the mystery behind VFD, at this point, is absolute gold.

Klaus en Violet slagen erin om hun val te breken, komen in een grot terecht waar een groep sneeuwscouts zit — met onder meer Carmelite Spats en een jongen met een sweater die ze helpt te ontsnappen naar het hoofdkwartier van V.F.D. Ondertussen wordt Sunny verplicht om te koken voor Olaf en Esmée en de andere slechteriken. Het hoofdkwartier van V.F.D. blijkt recent afgebrand te zijn, en de jongen met de sweater Quigley Quagmire, de derde van de drieling die ze dachten dood te zijn. Shenanigans, Klaus ontdekt dat er een zeer belangrijke suikerpot was die in het water gesmeten is, de kinderen zetten een val voor Esmée maar bedenken op het laatste moment dat ze op die manier zélf slechteriken worden, nog shenanigans, de kinderen redden Sunny en ontvluchten op een bevroren rivier, maar Quigley verdwijnt in de verte.

It's been interesting to watch the evolution of this series. The first four books certainly followed a particular formula with slight changes. The tone was almost gothic, with an attempt at dark humor. The next two stepped out a little farther, but remained close to that formula. Each book seemed to become more action based. With the seventh book, the arc that made this a series began to tighten. Over the next few books, the series became more of a mystery. And here, with book ten, The Slippery Slope the facts begin to come together; finally, I am drawn into more than just the individual plight of the Baudelaire children—I want to unmask the global conspiracy that lies at the heart of these unfortunate events.

The Slippery Slope wasn't the funniest in the series. It certainly wasn't the most action packed or memorable of the stories. What it is however, is that moment of reward—the “we're finally getting somewhere” moment. And that can be one of the greatest moments of a series. People don't want answers, they want those moments before they get their answers, as they sit on the edge of their seat waiting. Think about it, The X-Files was at its best when Scully's cancer was a big unknown and Mulder's life-long belief was being tested. Lost was at its best when we were given glimpses of the past and the future, but had no idea what the common thread was. I have a feeling A Series of Unfortunate Events will shake out the same way. I'm eager to have the answers, but I think the next couple of books, the moments when the clues are falling but haven't been pieced together yet, will be the best of the series.

A Series of Unfortunate Events:
The Bad Beginning – 3.1
The Reptile Room – 3.2
The Wide Window – 3.6
The Miserable Mill - 3.3
The Austere Academy - 3.4
The Ersatz Elevator - 3.3
The Vile Village - 3.1
The Hostile Hospital - 3.4
The Carnivorous Carnival - 3.9
The Slippery Slope - 3.6

The latest installment of The Series Of Unfortunate Events picks up right where the last one left off - with Sunny Beaudelaire in the villianous clutches of Count Olaf and Esme Squalour, and Sunny's siblings, Violet and Klaus, about to be dropped off a cliff. [return][return]In this volume, new characters are met up with, much more is learned about the mysterious VFD, and we get to see the characters of the Beaudelaires explored some more. Oddly enough, I used to enjoy this series because of how repetitive and formulaic it was - and yet, with the last few volumes, it's perfectly eschewed the conventions it set up in the first six parts, and I'm still enjoying it greatly.