Pam's Book Log

26 March, 2003

Regular readers might note that the rate at which I'm reading these books is on the upswing. This is because the series keeps improving, and over time "Snicket" has injected enough mystery and suspense into the series that I really want to know what happens next, and it's getting harder to restrain myself from running out to get the next book as soon as I finish one.

I wholeheardedly agree with Sue Bailey that this is the best entry in the series so far. The Baudelaires are sent to yet another new home, this time as part of the "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" program, in which an entire town becomes the guardian of one or more orphans. The Baudelaires choose to go to V.F.D., because this town has the same initials as a terrible secret involving Count Olaf, which the Baudelaires have been trying to uncover since book 5. Life in V.F.D. is not particularly great, but it's not the worst situation the Baudelaires have faced, and they actually get another decent caretaker. They live with Hector, the town handyman, who is happy to indulge the orphans' interests (inventing, reading, and biting) and cooks delicious Mexican food for them.

Shortly after arriving in V.F.D., the Baudelaires receive a cryptic message from their friend Isadora Quagmire, who (along with her brother) has been kidnapped by Count Olaf. The Baudelaires conclude that their friends must be nearby, and become determined to rescue them. They also become involved in the case of a man named Jacques, who comes to V.F.D. and gets arrested because the townspeople mistake him for Count Olaf. Jacques, you see, has the same eye tattoo on his ankle that Olaf has! What could be the significance of that? We don't find out, because Olaf himself intervenes and sends everything straight to hell, as usual. Olaf sinks to new lows in this volume; not only is he involved in the usual kidnapping and murder, he commits a horrible crime against fashion:

The children's hearts sank, and they turned to see Olaf standing in the doorway of the jail, wearing another one of his absurd disguises. He was wearing a turquoise blazer that was so brightly colored that it made the Baudelaires squint, and a pair of silver pants decorated with tiny mirrors that glinted in the morning sun. A pair of enormous sunglasses covered the entire upper half of his face, hiding his one eyebrown and his shiny, shiny eyes. On his feet were a pair of bright green plastic shoes with yellow plastic lightning bolts sticking out of them, covereing his ankle and hiding his tattoo. But most unpleasant of all was the fact that Olaf was wearing no shirt, only a thick gold chain with a detective's badge in the center of it. The Baudelaires could see his pale and hairy chest peeking out at them, and it added an extra layer of unpleasantness to their fear.

Oh, the horror.

It is noteworthy that Olaf doesn't actually appear until rather late in the book, and that the pre-Olaf part of the book is full of action, what with the attempts to find and rescue the Quagmires, and the mysterious man Jacques.

When I discussed Book 3, I said that I expected all the books in the series to have exactly the same plot, and that, anyway, these aren't books one should read for the sake of the plot. Well, I was wrong on both counts. I sure can be an annoying know-it-all, can't I? The basic formula (new home, Olaf plot, escape from Olaf) persists in this book, but it's more like a framework on which the story is hung, than the story itself. The Vile Village ends with the Baudelaires having solved one of their problems, and acquiring a new one. (Highlight for spoiler:)

They help the Quagmires escape (yay!), but they end up getting accused of murder (boo!), and now they have to prove their innocence.

Most importantly, the book ends with a definite break from one of the components of the formula: the orphans will no longer be relying upon the incompetent Mr. Poe to find them new homes. They set out on their own with the intention of being "self-sustaining." Sure, they're just a bunch of kids, but they can hardly do worse than Mr. Poe has. The overall plot arc is turning out to be rather deeper than I initially expected. The real story, I'm thinking, is about how Count Olaf, the Baudelaires, and Lemony Snicket are all connected, and the true circumstances surrounding the incineration of the Baudelaire parents. On that front, we get some more tantalizing hints in this book. I can't wait to see where this is going. At some point, I'll have to reread the series and pay more attention to whatever clues might be hiding in the earlier volumes.