A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Twelfth
I’m glad that the author defined the word “penultimate” early on as the one that precedes the ultimate. Otherwise, I’d have needed to look it up in front of my kids and appeared less smart than I really am. Hard to believe I’ve never come across that word before—to my recollection.
The Baudelaire orphans have made it thus far through their series of unfortunate events moderately unscathed. They have learned many of the secrets of V.F.D. They have deciphered the group’s secret messages. They have learned about this important gathering organized by J.S. on Thursday at “the last safe place.” But just as the noble, fire-fighting volunteers have chosen to gather at The Hotel Denouement, so too have the arsonists from the other side of the schism.
Here in this next-to-last book by Lemony Snicket, all the villains and friends of the previous tales gather in a sort of reunion, and the strolls down memory lane are pleasant, to a point. I was musing as it all played out that this would have made a fine “ultimate peril,” with its circular, twelve-part structure.
As it is, Snicket uses this book only to make the Baudelaire children’s lives even more miserable, with a false trial, contemptible judges, and a final crime that almost makes us lose faith even in sweet little Sunny. It ends with the children as nearly in cahoots with Count Olaf as we’ve ever seen yet, and even their dearest friends have failed them. This truly is an unfortunate installment to the series.
I really liked the design of the hotel as a library with floors and rooms following the Dewey Decimal system. It is an epic display of the author’s love for libraries. His creativity is on full display in this one.
The questionable behavior by all offers points of discussion, if parents want to go there. How poorly even the children’s closest friends are treated! Friends like Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor! How terrible is their decision to help Count Olaf in the end, even setting fire to a hotel filled with their fellow human beings! So much guise to dig through, so good luck trying to seek any semblance of justification.
We’re really looking forward to finishing this series, and we’re now just one book away! There doesn’t seem much more for the children to learn about their lives, but having Count Olaf now in their skiff as they flee out into the sea, well, something’s bound to occur.
©2021 E.T.
Read More in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket:
1. A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)
2. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (1999)
3. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket (2000)
4. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket (2000)
5. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket (2000)
6. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket (2001)
7. The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket (2001)
8. The Hostile Hotel by Lemony Snicket (2001)
9. The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket (2002)
10. The Slipper Slope by Lemony Snicket (2003)
11. The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (2004)
12. The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket (2005)
13. The End by Lemony Snicket (2006)