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A review by morningtide
The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.25
I think I have to admit I may be enjoying these later books in the series more as an adult than I could have as a kid. Maybe it's also that I never made it this far in the series before "growing out of it" and the past few books have been where the deeper plotlines start to pull together, but I truly am enjoying the themes in the story.
The Baudelaires are in the belly of the beast (that one counts) after they have to choose to hitch a ride with their literal worst enemy against his knowledge rather than perish in the fire at Heimlich Hospital. They know they can just run - but have the wits to realize Olaf will only just keep chasing them, and it while it is a more dangerous choice, sticking around to gain more knowledge may have them get ahead of their enemies rather than be chased by them. To do so, the children have to take a leaf out of Olaf's book and disguise themselves, not only to hide from Olaf himself, but because of the false accusations from the Daily Punctilio stating they are murderers.
I love the ongoing discussion of the guilt the children feel when they have to make choices that remind them too much of the villains - are they just as bad, when they are doing the same things for a different reason? Is it still bad if they are just trying to level the playing field when the world is wrongly against them?
Even after being disappointed by so many guardians and being betrayed by adults they thought they could trust, I loved that we are reminded the Baudelaires are still, deep down, hopeful about other people and want to have faith in them. They see Olivia/Madame LuLu as someone not too far gone to the wrong side of VFD, and they want to save her and give her a chance. And while it's made clear in the last moments of the book that she did give their identities away to Count Olaf - I like to think she still could have found the courage to do the right thing in the end, had she not been eaten by lions, of course. And the children continue to show their goodness by feeling sad and remorseful about her death despite the fact that she let them down. She seems like one of the adults that had the potential to be a better person if she had made better choices, ranking her somewhere closer to Aunt Josephine rather than Jerome Squalor on the scale for 'Adults in the Baudelaires lives who may not be actively trying to hurt them but sure haven't actively tried to help.'
The Baudelaires are in the belly of the beast (that one counts) after they have to choose to hitch a ride with their literal worst enemy against his knowledge rather than perish in the fire at Heimlich Hospital. They know they can just run - but have the wits to realize Olaf will only just keep chasing them, and it while it is a more dangerous choice, sticking around to gain more knowledge may have them get ahead of their enemies rather than be chased by them. To do so, the children have to take a leaf out of Olaf's book and disguise themselves, not only to hide from Olaf himself, but because of the false accusations from the Daily Punctilio stating they are murderers.
I love the ongoing discussion of the guilt the children feel when they have to make choices that remind them too much of the villains - are they just as bad, when they are doing the same things for a different reason? Is it still bad if they are just trying to level the playing field when the world is wrongly against them?
Even after being disappointed by so many guardians and being betrayed by adults they thought they could trust, I loved that we are reminded the Baudelaires are still, deep down, hopeful about other people and want to have faith in them. They see Olivia/Madame LuLu as someone not too far gone to the wrong side of VFD, and they want to save her and give her a chance. And while it's made clear in the last moments of the book that she did give their identities away to Count Olaf - I like to think she still could have found the courage to do the right thing in the end, had she not been eaten by lions, of course. And the children continue to show their goodness by feeling sad and remorseful about her death despite the fact that she let them down. She seems like one of the adults that had the potential to be a better person if she had made better choices, ranking her somewhere closer to Aunt Josephine rather than Jerome Squalor on the scale for 'Adults in the Baudelaires lives who may not be actively trying to hurt them but sure haven't actively tried to help.'