By the time you get to the thirteenth book in a series, you've invested a lot. There is an implicit faith in the author, faith that you will see a return on investment in the form of resolved mysteries and concluded plotlines. With the Series of Unfortunate Events in particular, many hoped to learn more about Lemony Snicket himself, about his beloved Beatrice and about the Baudelaire parents. Some people wanted to learn more about the reflection of the Hotel Denouement, while others wanted to know how Sunny became a celebrity chef, as alluded to in The Beatrice Letters. Some people even wanted a happy ending.
I never expected that much. I had expected a "win at a price" in The End, a conclusion where the Baudelaire orphans would discover some sense of home but would still have to deal with the consequences of a world full of schisms. Did I get what I wanted? It's hard to say. I was left with an overwhelming sense of indifference when I reached the last page of the last volume of the Baudelaire/Olaf saga, and that indifference itself was perhaps the greatest disappointment.
It wasn't entirely unexpected. When I last discussed Lemony Snicket, I noted:
There has been a mystery amid the unfortunate events since about the midway point, when we were introduced to VFD. That mystery grew in the later books, and though I don't have an elaborate theory for how this series will end, the way I do for that other grown-up grabbing kid lit series, I am now, after those last few books, far more curious about how these mysteries will play out. Up until about book nine, all the mysteries were incidental to me. Now, I would probably feel a twinge of disappointment if the series were to conclude without some answers.And, unlike Harry Potter, that's not a given.
I wound up feeling that twinge. Even with my uncertainty about resolution, The End left me unsatisfied, like eating a tuna fish sandwich when what you really wanted was a cheeseburger. I reached the end, but things didn't feel complete. This, in some ways, goes with the theme of the books: Life is messy and it is unrealistic to expect bow-topped conclusions. But the Baudelaires are fiction, and even if they weren't, we human beings tend to give our stories narrative arcs that conclude with some kind of tidiness in the ending. The only part of this story that really concludes is Count Olaf's; with Olaf dead, the Baudelaires will face new challenges.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - Tom Thorogood
Did you read "Chapter Fourteen?". That explains the Beatrice sister and also a little bit more of who Lemony Snicket is by default. Also, it was explained in "The Slippery Slope" that the one person who survived the fire was Quigley Quagmire. It never said specifically that it was the Baudelaire fire.
I agree that it was lacking in answers, especially with the "Great Unknown" however I feel that it w as a better way to end the End than to explain everything. I think it would have been far less exciting to have all the answers and got a lot more out of it having not been spoon-fed everything. There's a lot still to think about, and a lot of hope left for the Baudelaires which I don't think would exist had we been told everything.
3 - Bonnie
Thanks for the comments,. Tom.
I actually realized after posting this that Beatrice wound up being raised as a sibling, so, um, duh to me. Heh.
I don't think I was looking for all the answers, but I also think that I was much more interested, by The End, in the Snicket story than the Baudelaire story. Expecting more of that might have been an unfair expectation, I concede, given the core premise of the series.
4 - JCBH
This is a great book. Increible plot throughout the whole series.
5 - Melanie
I understand what your saying, but I think the whole series was intended as one big mystery. He would leave things here and there throughout the series, at the tme they would seem completely random, but then they are brought up again, the tricky part is finding out the significance of these things.
He also mentioned in this book that you can spend your time trying to figure out the whole mystery, but only to bring up more questions. So I think he was trying to prep everyone for the inconclusive ending.
6 - Doogie
Can someone pelase speekl out to me who beatrice is after all is said and done? I'm still a little confused...
7 - Doogie
sorry for the typos...but after all is said in done...who is the Beatrice that Lemony Sniket loved?
8 - e vaughn
terrible book! The last 2 books have been worthless. As an author you don't make 11 good books and stink on the ending. All the people are saying oooo its good he left it hanging and no answers. That is stupid. He focuses on 1 important thing for a book then doesn't finish talking about them. You don't learn anything in the new book and it seemed just like a filling becase there was no ideas left. You have to at least finish the series well. That was a dissapointing read.
9 - becky
I didn't like the ending at all. I think
mr. Snicket should have explained some of the things. For example- who is beatrice? Is she the Baudelair mother? I mean, come on!!!!!!Also what happened to the triplets, Fiona, and the captain?what happened to the children afterwards!!HELP!!!!!! Would someone plese answer these questions?
10 - Grace
I love it! It's the best book I've ever read. However, I do have some questions that are still unanswered. Like, what does V.F.D stand for? What about the Quagmires? Did one of their parents survive or not.
11 - Julie
Thank you, Bonnie, for putting my feelings about The End into words. My frustration in the lack of answers this book provided has also somewhat tarnished my feelings about the series in general. I can think of many works that have, in a sophisticated way, forced me to consider the great unknowns in life, but The End was not one of them. Instead, I was left considering how unforgivably lazy Handler, in whom I had put so much faith, had become. There is word of a new tangential book to the series, entitled Horseradish, that may or may not answer some of the series' lingering questions, but I'm not sure I can even muster the optimism to scour it for the clues that should have been integrated into The End.
12 - Jess
hi. i loved this book too!
13 - Jess
im so sad the series has come to an end. This is a great book too! :)
14 - James
Oh boy, i'll answer some questions. Ok beatrice is the baudelaire mother, he actually did say that, it was just a little subtle. Second question some people had, the other beatrice was the daughter of kit snicket. If you read the beatrice letters, you would have found out that beatrice met up with the baudelaires but then got seperated again. So yes, one of the parents did survive. Quigley was from a different fire, not the snicket fire. Lemony supposedly wanted to marry beatrice but she said no. That is how the families are linked. And for the person who said he was a bad author I STRONGLY DISAGREE. He would have been stupid to feed us all of the answers, its part of his style if you pay any attention to that. Personally, being given all the answers in one book would have been tiring and unfullfilling, I bet he is going to make another tangetial book that leads us to the answers if we put all the books together. Just like any good detective, you shoul;d know that no one clue makes sense by itself, but when combined with others, they begin to fall into place.
15 - Matt
wut is the great unknown like is it good or bad, did it save quagmires and them or kill them did, why was count olaf and captain widdershins scared of it???? i wanna kno
16 - Jake
P.S. Snicket wrote at one point that there are worse things in the world than Olaf, and never elaborated, and had Olaf say in the end of the book after the Baudelaires told him he burned down the house, "That's what you think" leaving yet another unanswered question. If Snicket does not write at least some short story telling the true ending, a lot of people are going to be very disappointed.
17 - Matt
i agree we don't know if olaf actually did it or not but i really wanna kno wut the great unknown is and who is in it(if submarine)
18 - pop
i hate this book
19 - Metruzero
I loved the book! I love a book that has a mysterious ending! At the end, it said that the bauderlairs series has come but the baby's story has just started. Does that mean he's going to write another series about the baby and her experiences.
20 - Matt
could be
21 - Chuint
I loved the book!
Although it left me feeling like it's unfinished. I need to read the other books like the "Beatrice Letters".
And Im gonna miss good ol' Olaf. ;_;
22 - S.U.E.girl
I always loved the series of unfortunate events. i have never been more disappointed in my life, though. i cant believe it. but if u want to know more, read the book
LEMONY SNICKET UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY.
READ IT!!!!!!
although it just makes things more confusing. have a pencil out and ready because your going to need to write a lot of things down in the book. it doesn't really solve any mysteries, it just pops up more n it hints solutions to them. oh, well:). i didn't solve anything, but some one else might. someone read it and post anything you learned, ok? i'll be checking!!!!
23 - S.U.E.girl
ok, fisrt of all, if you read the back of every book, (no, the the back of the back, but the inside of the back cover) where it tells about the author, lemony snicket, and the artist, it always says that Lemony is always on the run. could that contribute to the Snicket mystery?? i dont know. oh, and in one of the books, it might have been a mistake, there was two pages of the same thing, with nothing on the back. for example:
pg 13*
ch 4*
the baudelaire orphans were really tired now. they had been walking for what seemed like days..........................................................
and so on.....
pg 14*, back of pg 13
blank.
pg 15*
ch 4*
the baudelaire orphans were really tired now. they had been walking for what seemed like days.............................................................................
and so on.....
pg 16* back of pg 15
blank
*= numbers were randomly chosen
so you see? it could have been a mistake. typo or something. but i think that it could mean something. i really want to figure this out. really bad. im sue obsessed. tell me if you figure anything out.
24 - S.U.E.girl
I WANT ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I WANT A BOOK THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!
IF I MADE A LIST THAT WROTE DOWN EVERY MYSTERY THAT SNICKET MADE, IT WOULD TAKE 7 OR MORE DAYS!!!!!!
I THINK SNICKET JUST GOT LAZY AT THE END AND COULDNT WRAP IT ALL UP.
25 - shannen
James is wrong. Beatrice isnt the baudeliares mum coz when u read that 13th secrets revealed thing it says that lemony snicket is one of the siblings.and i HIGHLY doubt he'd be in love with his own mother...