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The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 10) (Hardcover)
by Lemony Snicket
| Category:
Ages 9-12, Family life |
| Market price: ¥ 148.00
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¥ 128.00
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 Good for Gifts |
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Author: Lemony Snicket
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pub. in: September, 2003
ISBN: 0064410137
Pages: 352
Measurements: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00431
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0064410137
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- MSL Picks -
The Slippery Slope is the latest installment-the tenth thirteen-chaptered book in a series that will eventually comprise thirteen books - in Lemony Snicket's 'Series of Unfortunate Events.'The books are the product of Snicket's tireless research into the wretched lives of the three Baudelaire orphans, fourteen-year-old Violet, an inventor, her well-read brother Klaus, and their preternaturally accomplished baby sister Sunny. The siblings are orphaned in the first book in the series: as they are later informed by the apparently well-meaning but ineffectual Mr. Poe, the executor of their parents' considerable estate, a terrible fire consumes the children's home one day while they are off at the beach. The circumstances of the fire are, one must conclude, highly suspicious.
Mr. Poe's efforts to place the siblings with a guardian land them first in the squalid home of a distant relative, a uni-browed actor by the name of Count Olaf, who begins scheming at once to make off with the Baudelaire fortune. Olaf's villainous activity continues throughout the series and very often involves his employment of outlandish disguises which no one but the Baudelaires is capable of seeing through. ("Some people called this man wicked. Some called him facinorous, which is a fancy word for 'wicked.' But everyone called him Count Olaf, unless he was wearing one of his ridiculous disguises and making people call him a false name.") As Olaf's girlfriend puts it in The Slippery Slope, "money and personal satisfaction" make Olaf's relentless efforts to seize the Baudelaires' fortune worth the trouble: "Once we have our hands on the Baudelaire fortune, we'll have enough money to live a life of luxury and plan several more treacherous schemes!"
Olaf's villainy is a constant throughout the series, and so is the author's linguistic playfulness--his clever aphorisms ("Taking one's chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck") ; his amusing verbal tics ("a phrase which here means..."). There are also hints throughout the series about the enigmatic, rarely photographed Snicket's curious life. References to his "pulling aside a bearskin rug in order to access a hidden trapdoor in the floor", for example, or to spending months on a mountain with "only a lantern and a rhyming dictionary for company" slip into the narrative. Snicket is evidently on the run-from whom it is not clear - and so he wisely employs as his legal, literary, and social representative a certain Daniel Handler, who is himself, as coincidence would have it, the author of novels for adults.
I should confess that I am half in love with Mr. Snicket, and I would pledge myself to him eternally were it not for a previous commitment of my own and Lemony's apparent devotion to the deceased Beatrice, to whom he dedicates each of his books (for example, "To Beatrice-darling, dearest, dead"). But I 'can' pledge myself to the task of promoting his research into the Baudelaires' lives, and urge you to buy Snicket's books, however filled with horrors they may be, and however much your possession of them may imperil you.
(Quoting from Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece. )
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Lemony Snicket is the author of all 170 chapters in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Despite everything, he is still at large.
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From Publisher
Like bad smells, uninvited weekend guests or very old eggs, there are some things that ought to be avoided.
Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over. The 10th book in this outrageous publishing effort features more than the usual dose of distressing details, such as snow gnats, an organised troupe of youngsters, an evil villain with a dastardly plan, a secret headquarters and some dangerous antics you should not try at home. With the weather turning colder, this is one chilling book you would be better off without.
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Amazon.com (MSL quote), USA
<2008-02-20 00:00>
What would you do if you found yourself trapped in a runaway caravan hurtling down a precipitous mountain slope? Fourteen-year-old Violet, the oldest orphan of the three Baudelaires, decides to try to slow the velocity of the caravan with a drag-chute invention involving a viscous combination of blackstrap molasses, maple syrup, maraschino liqueur, peanut butter, etc. If plummeting to their death weren't scary enough, Violet and her brother Klaus have been separated from Sunny, their baby sister who is in a car headed in the opposite direction up the mountain with the "facinorous" Count Olaf, his "villainous and stylish" girlfriend Esmé Squalor, and their creepy sidekicks. Do Violet and Klaus find Sunny on the mountain? How will they survive the treacherous, snow-covered peaks with not much more than a ukulele and a bread knife, especially in the face of the "organized, ill-tempered" snow gnats? Will they finally unearth the mystery of the V.F.D.? Will they find out if one of their parents is alive after all? The suspense! As ever, the Baudelaires' unfolding tale of woe is sprinkled with Lemony Snicket's ridiculous, hilarious observations such as "Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." The tenth book in The Series of Unfortunate Events takes readers through the Mortmain Mountains to the churning waters of the Stricken Stream with all the coexistent horror and silliness a Snicket fan could hope for along the way. (Ages 9 and older) - Karin Snelson
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AudioFile (MSL quote), USA
<2008-02-20 00:00>
This tenth book in the Series of Unfortunate Events finds the long suffering Baudelaire orphans in their worst predicament yet. Sunny is in the clutches of evil Count Olaf while Violet and Klaus are careening down a mountain in a trailer with no brakes. Tim Curry gives another masterful performance, pulling out more unique voices as the Baudelaires encounter new characters, good and bad. Curry's reading is exuberant, often over the top, but he knows when to pull back and allow the characters their moments of grief and tenderness. The transitional music has a wobbly quality that doesn't play well, but fans of the series won't mind. Listeners will walk away ready for the next installment. A.F. 2004 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine - Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine - This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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Booklist (MSL quote), USA
<2008-02-20 00:00>
Gr. 3-5. It's clear throughout that Snicket hasn't lost his sense of the absurd or his momentum in this "Book the Tenth." As in previous episodes, the adventures of the Baudelaire sibs spin out with the zest and cliff-hanger dramatics of old-fashioned serials. Left hurtling down a mountain at the close of The Carnivorous Carnival (2002), Klaus and Violet concentrate here on saving themselves; rescuing baby Sunny, who is once more in the clutches of the evil Count Olaf; and continuing their campaign to put a stop to Olaf's evil doings once and for all. Of course, they have their work cut out for them, but with a surprising ally, they stumble through the usual assortment of clues and secret messages that actually seem to get them one step closer to their ultimate goal. Characters are true to form, ridiculous and fun, and, once again, the wry telling is pitch-perfect, with plenty of the joyful wordplay and the quirky imaginative touches Snicket's legions of fans expect. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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A Kid's Review (MSL quote), USA
<2008-02-20 00:00>
When you go sledding on ice covered with snow you may happen to come across a bumpy area and you may go tossing off your toboggan or when you are skating on a lake you may find an area thats rough and you just might be foolish enough to ice skate over it and fall. But, Lemony Snicket's book "The Slippery Slope" does not have one bumpy area in it. Lemony's writing technique is very different, doing some research for a project he said his influences were Roald Dahl and Edward Gorey and I can truly see how he got his unique writing style, being both a Snicket and Dahl fan. This book is truly one of the best books in the series I would have to say. Though still favoring the first, "The Bad Beginning", "The Slippery Slope" is truly my second favorite!The series containing 10 books now, soon to be 11 are really a piece of artwork from Lemony's captivating writing style to Brett Helquists remarkable illustrations these books are really great.
The 10th book starts where the last book, "The Carnivorous Carnival" left off...When we last left off Count Olaf had taken the Baudlaires baby sister Sunny. Olaf was now heading up the Mortmain Mountains in his black automobile with a Calagari Carnival trailer hitched to the back by a complicated knot tied by an employee. Well who is in this trailer..none other than Violet and Klaus Baudlaire, where's Sunny, well she's in the car sitting on Esme Squaler a thin, snotty, stylish woman who happens to be Count Olaf's girlfriend who's continuously poking Sunny with her long manicured hands. Well when Olaf knows the Buadlaires are in the tariler he orders an employee to cut the knot. Well, seeing how these books are so unfortunate the employe does sending Violet and Klaus speeding wildly backwards in a wooden trailer, while Sunny heads up the trail leading to Mount Fraught (Where Olaf & His Troops Will Assemble Later). Violet and Klaus must do something or they will be dead since they can't steer the trailer, plus, their on a winding road on the edge of a mountain. What will Vilolet and Klaus do? Well, Violet will tie her hair up with her purple ribbon and Klaus will start thinking of research he has done on trailers breaks etc. Well both finally come up with a plan together involving a small wooden foot stool, and manys sticky items including strawberry jam, caramel suace, and syrup. I won't go any further becuase it'll spoil the book but...Some other things that you may encounter in this humorous yet unfortunate stroy are a Large Casserole Dish, An Eggplant, Snow Knats, and a strange Fire Dress that crinkles and crackles like fire? What are all these doing in this description of "The Slippery Slope"? You'll have to read and find out! And I'll leave it at that!
Though this is one of his longer books (337 Pgs.) I read the pages rapidly due to the suspence and finished in a day! You'll read these pages fast and they'll slip right through your hands as you keep going until you finish. One thing I am disappointed about was the note at the end of the series, I looked forward to finish the book and read what the next was called and a little description of it. But, Lemony decide to make it interesting and make you solve a riddle, by going to his website which I think is a neat little change.
If you like Lemony Snicket books I also love the Philip Ardagh series as well which are called "The Eddie Dicken's Trilogy.." |
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