The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

Book six begins by reminding the reader that the Quagmire triplets are still being held hostage, and that the Baudelaire orphans are off to yet another new home. This time things actually look good. They’ll be staying with the Squalors in their fancy penthouse. The Baudelaire siblings actually return to their hometown but a few blocks away, on Dark Avenue, the trendiest place in the city. This is epically evident in Esme one of their new guardians, mainly because it would appear that orphans are “in”. As the story progresses, the siblings find that Olaf is posing as Guther the “in-est” auctioneer in town. They attempt to find his hiding spot, which they think is in the abandoned elevator shaft. But instead they find the Quagmire triplets. But alas, no matter what they do, they get stolen away again, this time in a large stuffed fish, and the actual one adult that seemed to care about them, Jerome, abandons them.

I must say though, this book was a bit of a disappointment, epically because I enjoyed the last one so much. I didn’t think that there was a whole lot of plot to this one, only that they lived in the great place, have a great guardian in Jerome, and you know it won’t stay like that. But Olaf didn’t have his usual ever-looming presents in this one. It just kind of seemed he let Esme run the show. Though I must admit, having Esme turn out to be one of Olaf’s cronies, was a wonderful surprise, I like the new introduction of characters and them appearing in more than one book.

Just as a random thought, I’ve noticed more and more of how people with good hearts are typically portrayed as weak. For example, Phil in the Miserable Mill, and Steven (I think that was his name) in The Austere Academy and now Jerome in this book. These three guys are portrayed as weak individuals with good hearts, and you could even though Aunt Josephine in the The Wide Window as being weak but had a good heart. And yet, despite them being good people, it seems like they won’t ever stand up for themselves, and are content with not making waves. Maybe it’s because their scared, or maybe they really don’t want to make waves, but it is becoming more of a theme with each passing book.


So, I guess I'll have to give this book a 2.3 (I added a .3 becuase it made me think a litte about character patterns.).

Cymbeline by William Shakespeare

Cymbeline was one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote before it all came to a close. It’s a Tragicomedy, and contains all the parts a tragicomedy should. It has a happy ending, but still has Cloten’s head being lobbed off in Act IV, and of course the evil Queen dies just after she goes mad at the end of the play. I thought this was one of the easier plays to read, but than again that might just because I’m getting used to the language. I though there were very funny parts, for example of the interchange between Imogen and Cloten after his failed attempt to woo her and Imogen tells him he’s not worthy of Posthumus’ “means’t garment”, and he just can’t seem to get over that. And it has creepy moments, like when Iachimo is in Imogen’s room and sneaking around very stalkerish. However, what I didn’t like was how the ending seemed so rushed. It just kind of seemed that all the loose ends were being tossed together just so it could end.

In my opinion, the most fascinating character relationships to discuss are that of Imogen and Posthumus. I find it interesting that Imogen is put on such a high pedestal and that she is nearly perfect. So should Posthumus have the right to brag in his exile about the faithful ness of his wife? One should think so, but it is that attitude that got him into trouble. Iachimo ended up tricking Posthumus and in a way it lead to Imogen getting into all that trouble later on. It almost cost her, her life when Cloten was seeking after her. And at the end, even though she was disguised at the time, Posthumus strikes her. I don’t know it’s just kind of weird and complex with a simple ending.

All in all I think I’m giving it 3 out of 5.