The End

The end of this series was intense and left me with questions which is always fun, in my opinion. For $5, I purchased a book in very good condition, and it still felt like it was basically new. So worth it.

This series has been a roller coaster ride and I enjoyed every single minute of it. Lemony Snicket is a pure genius with his talent and wit. These books are amazing and people who have not read them, should read them. Right away. The End was fantastic and I was sad to see it . . . well, end.

It is unfortunate that I never bothered to write a review for this book early on because I unfortunately assumed that there would be enough competent criticism to help people. Woefully, I discovered that most of the poor reviews seem to simply be people whining about the fact that it did not end like a Scooby Doo mystery in which the gang unveil the perpetrator and commence to explain various things about the plot they couldn't possibly have known. (But don't rate me unhelpful yet! Just read a little bit further!) If you would prefer the above scenario and were never once bored by the fact that Scooby and the gang solved every single case in the same manner and in the same amount of time, this book IS (probably) NOT for you, plain and simple. There are answers, but they only lead to more questions. And every time you find a new answer, two more questions arise, making it a Hydra of a conundrum and unbelievably frustrating to some. If you do not mind philosophical, thought-provoking endings that do not tie all the loose ends into pretty little bows, this book IS for you. "The End" is Snicket's most adult book of the series. All the children I know who've read it loved it, but they did not catch all of the darker tones to the story, as is true of the entire series. The final book is titled in an ironic sense, as it is not really the end at all but a new beginning, and it is meant to be a more serious reflection of life. There will NEVER be a neat little book with all the answers in it for you. It would not be a series of unfortunate events if that were the case. "Now be honest, how do you really feel?" This really was my favorite book of the whole series because I continued to think about it weeks after I'd read it and still find myself jumping into conversations about it any time it's brought up. If the lack of resolution to Stuart Little gnawed at you when you were 8 and continues to do so to this very day, I would not recommend picking up this book. If you enjoy an open ending that is left up to you to decide and mull over, then what are you still reading this for? Go get a copy of the book right away!

I started A Series of Unfortunate Events just expecting a cute children's story that would provide nice light reading on occasion. With the final installment of the series, however, I'm astonished, yet again, at just how much has been done with the series. As a whole, A Series of Unfortunate Events is much more than a comedy/thriller/adventure story. It's an outstanding work of art, and The End, to me, is probably the single best volume of the thirteen. I can understand the criticism applied to The End. I think that people might have been fooled (like I was) by the genre. Books marketed for children are supposed to be pretty safe reads. Everything's wrapped up and makes sense in the end. Perhaps the genre made people expect this. But, in way of defense, I do think that sort of safe ending would have tarnished the series. Clearly, part of the message the books send is that the world doesn't always seem to make perfect sense. Life, at times, can be cruel and ugly. Injustice persists. Evil exists, and it's not even always easy to perceive the difference between evil and good. In other words, unfortunate events happen. Things are not all going to be wrapped up at the end. But despite all of this, the books also argue, there is still such thing as beauty and nobility and justice and love. And with the characteristics the Baudelaires display--courage, honesty, creativity, forgiveness, loyalty--the good may be perceived and pursued in the midst of a mercurial world. Had all of the mysteries been answered at the end of the series, the author would have undercut this message. He would have been no better than Ishmael, attempting to give his readers a depiction of a falsely safe world and leaving them less prepared to face the inevitable unfortunate events of life. In the end, the author, thankfully, isn't willing to provide such false shelter, and instead, he offers a challenge for the reader to live as courageously as the Baudelaires.

I knew coming into The End that there was no way Lemony Snicket could possibly resolve everything (i.e. the sugar bowl, Beatrice, the question mark, etc.) and still make a good book. Still, I decided to be as impartial as possible while reading it. I found the usual quirkiness and overly literal humor that I have come to love so much, as well as characters that completely refuse to do anything other than conform and a Count Olaf more endearing with every page. Eventually, though, I realized I was coming to the end of The End, and I couldn't help but notice that hardly anything had been done to satisfy my curiosity. Then came Chapter the Fourteenth. A chapter to add more confusion to the series, especially read alongside the artwork done in The Beatrice Letters. But the unexpected happened--the book ended, very little was explained, and I loved it. It didn't matter that I still had no idea what the significance of the sugar bowl was. All that mattered was that Lemony Snicket left me entirely complacent. Something about the end of The End made everything seem okay...in the end.

My 11 year old son and I just finished 'The End.' I had been reading it to him over the past few days since its publication and he would occasionally take it to bed with him, unable to wait until the next evening's reading. I, of course, had finished it days before, at least as eager as he to find out what happened. It is not at all what was to be expected. 'The End' is as different from 'The Bad Beginning' and the others which followed as can rightly be expected from the likes of Lemony Snicket. If you are looking to have the answers to any of the riotous puzzles posed in the earlier volumes, be discouraged, be very discouraged. If you are looking to hear from or even hear of earlier characters, be very, very discouraged. My son's comment this evening, unable to stop after beginning Chapter Twelve, was, "Oh, Daddy, it is so sad," which echoed my feelings exactly. The Baudelaire Orphans have had to grow up so quickly and have given up so much in the process. Doubtless Mr. Snicket would have a good laugh at any idea that his 13 volume joke could be taken seriously, or worse, evoke feelings of empathy for his outrageous characters and situations, but at least for me and my son, that is exactly what happened. We lived the Baudelaire's lives and ultimately reaped the very bittersweet rewards that they did. 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' achieves nothing less than the exact opposite of what its author (perhaps) set out to do. A literary joke that gradually evolves into a minor masterpiece of dark humor and a subtle - and sometimes not-so-subtle - investigation of the human heart. Snicket's wordplay and encyclopedic knowlege of many things, continue unabated in this latest and last volume of the series. His names and jokes on literary names connected to islands (Caliban, Pitcairn, Bligh, etc.) alone will keep my son and I busy for a long time. We both agreed that we cannot wait to begin the series all over again. Indeed, I have a head start, having just begun 'A Bad Beginning' with my six year old daughter ... Jokes, double entendres, literary recycling and derivativeness notwithstanding, 'The End' and its twelve preceeding volumes are very funny and deeply beautiful series of fortunate events for this reader and his children.

There are two things that surprise me. Firstly, I have no idea how he does it, but Snicket/Handler managed to pull off a terriffic feat; that is, writing a 13 installment series of books that never dulls, never lags, and constantly suprises. Not many authors can do that - most series start with a bang and end with a whimper, as the author loses steam and begins to lag in creativity. ASoUE, however, manages not to fall into this trap, and, instead, had a rousing end. I must admit that 'The End' was the only book in the series that actually made me depressed (slightly) and almost tearful (then again, I get teary at some pretty interesting things). However, it really was touching seeing this series come to an end. And yes, I really do believe that this is the last book in the series. Perhaps Snicket will delight us with another book akin to 'UA' or 'BL' to clear up a few things (wouldn't you love an 'Unoffical Guide to V.F.D.'?) but as for the 'canon', I truly believe that it is finished. Having said that, I will also warn readers that this review does contain spoilers - and lots of them, so if you don't want it ruined, don't read this. My second surprise is the number of negative reviews here. For those wondering, yes, Snicket does answer TONS of questions, including 1. Who is Beatrice? 2. What does VFD stand for? 3. What is the point of 'The Beatrice Letters'? I think he also tells what was inside the sugar bowl, as well as what happens to the Quagmires. Also, (and this is just my opinion) but I'm pretty certain that it was Dewey and Kit, not Olaf and Kit. Like all good/great series, the 'bad guys' get their just desserts, and although good does not necessarily 'triumph over evil', the moral compass reigns true. One great thing in the series is seeing how the Baudelaires grew, changed, and matured. In the first book, they could barely take care of themselves, by the end of 'The End', they're trying to save the world (or what they can save of it). Handler did an incredible job inserting himself into the story and creating Jacques, Kit, VFD, etc. Now, for my theory about the sugar bowl; Snicket has it. In PP, the mysterious man in the taxi is most likely Snicket (who else could it be?) and the text clearly states that he has an object from the sugar bowl. It was a great plot device (Sunny, I believe, even calls it a 'Mcguffin' :) )and for an extremely unusual theory, I believe that the ring was inside the sugar bowl. ('R'? That could stand for Rhaldeen, as in Linda Rhaldeen, who's mentioned in 'UA' and is the Duchess of Winnipeg. 'Linda Rhaldeen' is an anagram for 'Daniel Handler' (!)) So, Lemony got the ring from 'Linda Rhaldeen' and gave it Beatrice who gave it back, etc., etc. Just a theory... Anwyay, I hope this was helpful...