31 March, 2003
The Hostile Hospital, Lemony Snicket (255 pp, HC, 2001)
I've got some good news and some bad news about the progression of this series. The good news is that it seems to have completely shed its formulaic beginnings. The bad news is that all the books now end on cliffhangers. On the whole, it's a positive development in an already-great series. I checked this one out from the library-- and read it-- the day after I wrote up the previous volume; I just couldn't wait to find out what happenned next.
Quite a bit happens next, as it turns out. The Hostile Hospital is packed as full of plot as a 255-page, large print, large page margin children's book can be. It opens shortly after the final scene of The Vile Village. The Baudelaires are on the lam, since Count Olaf has framed them for a crime they didn't commit. In order to escape from folks who want to arrest them, they join up with the Volunteers Fighting Disease (yup, another V.F.D.!), who are a bunch of feel-good hippy types who visit sick people in the hospital, and sing stupid songs, and distribute balloons. One of the Volunteers lets slip that the hospital has a vast Library of Records, which might have valuable information about the mysterious Jacques Snicket, and so the orphans decide that they'll try to get into the Library, and investigate. This is easier said than done, and once they get into the Library, they still need to locate the correct file. This file, incidentally, is about the "Snicket Fires" and according to the Librarian, it contains information on the Baudelaires themselves!
The situation worsens when Count Olaf and his gang arrive, with the intention of locating and destroying the Snicket File, before it can fall into the hands of "the real V.F.D." Not to mention, he'd never pass up a chance to get his hands on Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. There's subterfuge, stiletto heels (with real stilettos!), attempted murder, a daring rescue, arson, anagrams, and more!
Furthermore, we get some real information about the series' meta-plot. It turns out that the fate of the Baudelaire family, the villainy of Count Olaf, Lemony Snicket's perpetual state of endangerment, V.F.D, and the late Beatrice are all part of some great conspiracy involving "a volunteer organization that was swarming with corruption" and a sugar bowl stolen from Esmé Squalor. Although it is not spelled out (as it were), we actually get enough information to figure out what "V.F.D." stands for. (The Baudelaires themselves don't figure it out, because they're too busy running for their lives. Maybe next book.)
As I alluded to above, the book ends on a cliffhanger, with the Baudelaires in a very dangerous situation. I'm afraid I'm going to have to buy Book 9 to find out how they get out of it; I've exhausted the local library's supply of Snicket books.