Reader Response #3
Assad Chamas
For this reader response I will be responding to A series Of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket. This is the sixth book in Lemony Snicket’s popular series. The text is fiction just like the rest of the series.
The main characters and protagonists are Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire; They are the main characters of the entire series. Violet is the eldest child at age fourteen and she likes to invent things. Klaus is the middle child at age twelve and he likes to read and research. Sunny is the youngest child who is still just an infant and she likes to bite things. The genre of this text is realistic fiction mixed with mystery and suspense, just like the other books in the series. The setting this time is an enormous Apartment building. The name of the building is never given it is just referred to by its address 667 Dark Avenue. The Baudelaire children have been sent there to live with their new guardians after the tragic events at Prufrock Preparatory School in the previous book. The children’s new home happens to be a few blocks away from where their Mansion used to be before it burned down. The new guardians are Jerome and Esme Squalor who own a huge and fancy penthouse apartment on the top floor of the building. The antagonist is once again Count Olaf and his associates who are still after the Children’s fortune. The conflict is that the Baudelaires are once again trying to lead their lives without the interference of Count Olaf. The children are also worried about their friends who unfortunately fell into Olaf’s clutches while they were back at Prufrock Prep. They are wondering if they will ever see them again. The theme of this story is family and survival because the text is showing how the children work together to get out of life threatening situations. The climax of the story is when the Baudelaires discover Count Olaf’s secret passageway. Foreshadowing is used plenty of times in this book such as the doorman always giving the three children a curious smile every time they talk to him.
RETELL
What stood out from this text is suspense and mystery that the author gives us. This is one of those books that leaves you with more questions than answers but that won’t bother you because of the relentless pace the author offers us with all the twists and turns. Some major events are foreshadowed but they occur in different ways then you would imagine. This is especially true in the ending of the book which in my opinion is the best ending in the series so far. My favorite part of this text was when Sunny (the baby) used her skills of biting to get her older siblings out of Count Olaf’s trap in the secret passageway. This was my favorite part because it was something I totally did not expect, This was the first time Sunny did something that actually stood out in the series. Sunny did performed heroic deeds earlier in the series but nothing like what she does in this book; she really surprised me at how heroic her efforts were. The character I disliked the most was Mr. Poe (the banker in charge of the Baudelaire affairs) because he was completely useless and stubborn. When the children tried to expose Count Olaf’s identity to him he wouldn’t believe them just like every other time they tried. Every time he wouldn’t believe the children that Count Olaf is in disguise under another identity. Even though every time he sees that the children were right, he still for the 5’th time won’t believe them.
Relate
As compared to the other books in the series I think this book is the most emotional. I say this because of all the family and friend relationships that are present in this text. The way the Baudelaires worry about their friend’s safety and risk their lives to try and help them really gets to you. You feel like there is a strong bond between these people for them to actually do the things they do. It’s not just the care they show to their friends that gets to you but also the care that the siblings have toward each other. The children never blame each other on their faults but encourage each other instead. The part of the story when the children are climbing down into the deep darkness of the elevator shaft reminded me of when the children approached Count Olaf on the school field at night in the fifth book of the series. Just like the climb down the elevator shaft the children on the school field didn’t know what would happen at the end when they reached their destination. Also both scenes took place in a dark area which added to the mood of the situation. In other words, these two scenes just feel really close to each other in terms of suspense and set up. If I could talk to one of the text’s characters I would talk to Jerome and ask him why he wasn’t brave enough to argue with anybody even when it seemed necessary to. Jerome always wanted the best for the three children but when his wife says otherwise he just brakes down and says he doesn’t want to argue. There must be some reason why he acts like that and I want to know that reason.
Reflect
I think this text was an effective piece of writing because not only it has a lot of great mystery and suspense but also it has emotional parts to it that can get to you. Plus on top of that the pacing is very well done so the book never gets boring and the author’s writing style never gets old. The author has a style that is completely unique to him; I’ve never read anything that blends suspense, humor and intense moments as well as this series does. This text makes me want to just keep on reading further in the series, after the 4’th and 5’th books I thought the series was starting to go down hill but this book proved me wrong. It took the now getting repetitive formula and added more to it and improved in a way that I can’t wait to see what happens. It’s not my favorite book in the series but it is definitely one of the top 3 best in the series so far. It has given me many questions that I want to see answered later on. When I read this text I felt as if the characters were real. Even though some of the feats they accomplish are a bit unbelievable, the characters themselves feel human with real human emotions. In addition to that all characters were interesting even the villains because they have unique characteristics that characters in other stories don’t have. Basically what I’m trying to say is that these characters are original and they feel like real people.
All in all The Ersatz Elevator is one of the best entries in the series and it improves the series’ formula which was starting to get repetitive. If you like mystery and suspense books you will love The Ersatz Elevator. 3.8 out of 4.
