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Snicket Weather
Oct. 28th, 2012 09:19 pmIt was with great pleasure I discovered that a favourite author of mine was to revisit a favourite series of mine and write four new books which were purportedly to shed some light on favourite characters of mine, who are more or less in the background of the original series. If I could have any fanfiction in the world, I have maintained, I would have VFD fanfiction,* about the older generation, their traumas and tragedies and spurious research before, during, and after the schism ... And here it was to be, from the author himself!
Adding to the thrill was the return of Snicket weather ...
A Series of Unfortunate Events has always been an autumnal thing for me. I fell in love with it one fall, running to and from the library at lunch hour devouring audiobook after audiobook. The books that came out after I got into it always dropped in October, so yellow leaves on wet pavement became emblematic of rushing to the bookstore on laydown day to pick up the new one. It won't be Snicket weather in LA for a couple months yet, but I got a taste of it a few weeks ago when visiting my old haunts, and the seasonal appetite returned.
Because of my former ritual, when the new book was announced, I promised myself that even though there was no bookstore within walking distance and the pavement would almost certainly not be wet, I would at least walk into a bricks-and-mortar bookshop and buy a dead tree edition of the book, for old time's sake. This I did not do on laydown day (see above re: walkability) but did manage on Saturday. As of approximately 4 P.M. Sunday 28 October 2012, I have finished All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be At This Hour?
I suppose the most succinct (if unfair) way I could sum the book up is: Well, it's not the fanfic I would have written. ( Verbose but Frivolous Dispatch )
Interestingly, a word which here means "only of interest to the author of this blog post," had I picked up and read the book the day it came out, I would have missed something which amused me. I have long been of the opinion that "the city," as mentioned in this world, is rather heavily based on San Francisco (rationale can be supplied upon request). Just yesterday I caught a radio piece which introduced me to the fact (or rumour?) that San Francisco is underrun by a network of secret tunnels, which play something of an important role in The Ersatz Elevator, and make a reappearance in All the Wrong Questions. I dug a very little bit and found an article which, read through the right lens, is a Snicket story. Amusement survives.
I close with one question; I don't know if it's the wrong one or the right one, but I'm pretty sure it is at least a unique one: When did Lemony Snicket start liking coffee? Because he turned me on to macchiatos (not the Starbucks kind) and I could not be more grateful.
*So far the most satisfying VFD fic I have found is How Would the Snicket Characters Eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup?", which is just as deep as the title implies, but ... Jacques ... A certain author of my acquaintance keeps telling me the thing about fanfic is, if you don't see what you like (or like what you see) you write it yourself, but HOW many projects do I have on the go these days? Or rather, not on the go, because there are too many to focus on one?
Adding to the thrill was the return of Snicket weather ...
A Series of Unfortunate Events has always been an autumnal thing for me. I fell in love with it one fall, running to and from the library at lunch hour devouring audiobook after audiobook. The books that came out after I got into it always dropped in October, so yellow leaves on wet pavement became emblematic of rushing to the bookstore on laydown day to pick up the new one. It won't be Snicket weather in LA for a couple months yet, but I got a taste of it a few weeks ago when visiting my old haunts, and the seasonal appetite returned.
Because of my former ritual, when the new book was announced, I promised myself that even though there was no bookstore within walking distance and the pavement would almost certainly not be wet, I would at least walk into a bricks-and-mortar bookshop and buy a dead tree edition of the book, for old time's sake. This I did not do on laydown day (see above re: walkability) but did manage on Saturday. As of approximately 4 P.M. Sunday 28 October 2012, I have finished All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be At This Hour?
I suppose the most succinct (if unfair) way I could sum the book up is: Well, it's not the fanfic I would have written. ( Verbose but Frivolous Dispatch )
Interestingly, a word which here means "only of interest to the author of this blog post," had I picked up and read the book the day it came out, I would have missed something which amused me. I have long been of the opinion that "the city," as mentioned in this world, is rather heavily based on San Francisco (rationale can be supplied upon request). Just yesterday I caught a radio piece which introduced me to the fact (or rumour?) that San Francisco is underrun by a network of secret tunnels, which play something of an important role in The Ersatz Elevator, and make a reappearance in All the Wrong Questions. I dug a very little bit and found an article which, read through the right lens, is a Snicket story. Amusement survives.
I close with one question; I don't know if it's the wrong one or the right one, but I'm pretty sure it is at least a unique one: When did Lemony Snicket start liking coffee? Because he turned me on to macchiatos (not the Starbucks kind) and I could not be more grateful.
*So far the most satisfying VFD fic I have found is How Would the Snicket Characters Eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup?", which is just as deep as the title implies, but ... Jacques ... A certain author of my acquaintance keeps telling me the thing about fanfic is, if you don't see what you like (or like what you see) you write it yourself, but HOW many projects do I have on the go these days? Or rather, not on the go, because there are too many to focus on one?
