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A review by notwellread
The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
4.0
WARNING: This book spoils the plot of [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601352433l/15823480._SX50_.jpg|2507928]. Fortunately I had read that already, and I would advise other readers to read it first, but this presents a dilemma given that [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601352433l/15823480._SX50_.jpg|2507928] is a long and complex book for adults and this is a short book for children. So in conclusion, I would say read it first if you have the capacity to do so; otherwise prepare to be spoiled or just skip the section where the book comes up.
Review under the spoiler tag below.
Unless it is just wishful thinking, it seems with this volume we are finally nearing the climactic point of the series, and starting to get some answers to the bigger questions. We get much more of a picture of what VFD actually were and what membership entailed, and how the Baudelaires and Quagmires have been quietly prepared for membership by their parents, giving them vital skills within the context of their circumstances — they will now have to be volunteers without a department, fitting with the melancholic themes of the series, whether there is a Baudelaire parent alive or not. We also see the Baudelaires continue to struggle with moral relativism, seeing that there are people in the world considerably more evil and sinister than Olaf (the Man with a Beard But No Hair and the Woman with Hair But No Beard, who seem to show no remorse for violence and wickedness at all) and themselves planning to trap Esmé in a pit, only to decide that the end does not justify the means after all.
I am somewhat uncomfortable with the implied flirtation between Violet and Quigley, which is much more strongly implied in the show between both older Baudelaires and some of the Quagmires, but seems to be present here when Snicket gives them some time alone. In my opinion they are still a bit young for this, at least in terms of characterisation. However, I appreciated the narrative detail here of giving Violet some privacy, as it seems to imply some measure of guilt in his apparent spying on and reporting the movements of the Baudelaires through his narration. I am excited to see how this aspect of the story’s underlying conflict is resolved (if at all).
This doesn’t seem as dark as some of the previous instalments, and the Snow Scouts in particular lighten the tone considerably, which is surprising, but this volume is mature in a different way: we get a considerable jump in development from Sunny, who tellingly utters her very first full sentence — “I am not a baby”. I was particularly moved by the equivalent moment in the show, when Violet asks her little sister, who has chosen to stay with Olaf’s troupe in order to perform reconnaissance, “How did you get to be so brave?”, and Sunny simply points back at her, perfectly expressing the connection, admiration, and love between the two of them. This was by far the highlight for me, and I look forwards to more culminating moments of character development, presumably alongside more substantial plot revelations, as we near the close of the series.
Review under the spoiler tag below.
Spoiler
The Baudelaire orphans now head towards the mountains where the VFD headquarters are located, investigate the ruins they find instead, and have to rescue Sunny once she is kidnapped by Olaf and his associates. I vaguely remember listening to an audiobook of this particular instalment as a child, but I lacked then the full set of books before this one and lack now the memory to recall the details, so besides the Snow Scouts’ motto it was like approaching the story for the first time.Unless it is just wishful thinking, it seems with this volume we are finally nearing the climactic point of the series, and starting to get some answers to the bigger questions. We get much more of a picture of what VFD actually were and what membership entailed, and how the Baudelaires and Quagmires have been quietly prepared for membership by their parents, giving them vital skills within the context of their circumstances — they will now have to be volunteers without a department, fitting with the melancholic themes of the series, whether there is a Baudelaire parent alive or not. We also see the Baudelaires continue to struggle with moral relativism, seeing that there are people in the world considerably more evil and sinister than Olaf (the Man with a Beard But No Hair and the Woman with Hair But No Beard, who seem to show no remorse for violence and wickedness at all) and themselves planning to trap Esmé in a pit, only to decide that the end does not justify the means after all.
I am somewhat uncomfortable with the implied flirtation between Violet and Quigley, which is much more strongly implied in the show between both older Baudelaires and some of the Quagmires, but seems to be present here when Snicket gives them some time alone. In my opinion they are still a bit young for this, at least in terms of characterisation. However, I appreciated the narrative detail here of giving Violet some privacy, as it seems to imply some measure of guilt in his apparent spying on and reporting the movements of the Baudelaires through his narration. I am excited to see how this aspect of the story’s underlying conflict is resolved (if at all).
This doesn’t seem as dark as some of the previous instalments, and the Snow Scouts in particular lighten the tone considerably, which is surprising, but this volume is mature in a different way: we get a considerable jump in development from Sunny, who tellingly utters her very first full sentence — “I am not a baby”. I was particularly moved by the equivalent moment in the show, when Violet asks her little sister, who has chosen to stay with Olaf’s troupe in order to perform reconnaissance, “How did you get to be so brave?”, and Sunny simply points back at her, perfectly expressing the connection, admiration, and love between the two of them. This was by far the highlight for me, and I look forwards to more culminating moments of character development, presumably alongside more substantial plot revelations, as we near the close of the series.