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As with the previous 12 books, this one is mainly past tense narrative wrapped in the present tense frame of the near-omniscient investigator, Lemony Snicket, the author-participant of the amazingly clever, intricately plotted, allusive, referential, and daring Series of Unfortunate Events.
For almost all of its young readers, it will be their first experience with postmodernism and metafiction, and a wittier, more generous introduction to the genre could not be found. For older readers, the allusions are priceless, adding layers of meaning and complexity to the central problem of the series--the attempt by the Baudelaire orphans to understand the murder of their parents while escaping the clutches of Count Olaf and his minions, all of whom want to get their hands on the Baudelaire fortune.
One indication of The End's success is how polarizing it was for readers. Many hated its refusal to tie up all the loose ends and storylines, despite Snicket's occasional hints that this would be the case--to one of the most notorious of the loose ends, involving a sugar bowl, Snicket manages to position, in fairly close narrative proximity, the word "MacGuffin." Snicket also ruminates on the way stories weave themselves into one another, making it impossible to conclusively say where one story begins and another ends--thus the irony of calling this The End. Older readers, at least, should have seen the ambiguity coming.
For almost all of its young readers, it will be their first experience with postmodernism and metafiction, and a wittier, more generous introduction to the genre could not be found. For older readers, the allusions are priceless, adding layers of meaning and complexity to the central problem of the series--the attempt by the Baudelaire orphans to understand the murder of their parents while escaping the clutches of Count Olaf and his minions, all of whom want to get their hands on the Baudelaire fortune.
One indication of The End's success is how polarizing it was for readers. Many hated its refusal to tie up all the loose ends and storylines, despite Snicket's occasional hints that this would be the case--to one of the most notorious of the loose ends, involving a sugar bowl, Snicket manages to position, in fairly close narrative proximity, the word "MacGuffin." Snicket also ruminates on the way stories weave themselves into one another, making it impossible to conclusively say where one story begins and another ends--thus the irony of calling this The End. Older readers, at least, should have seen the ambiguity coming.