Lemony Snicket

[aaron_quinton]

Has anyone here heard of "A Series Of Unfortunate Events", by Lemony Snicket? It is a purported Children's Book series, here are some topics:

The Type font is Caslon Antique, and there is a circular symbol

There are three orphan characters named Violet (oldest, female inventor, whom "snicket goes out of his way to say that Violet keeps her hair up with Ribbons not String) Klaus (middle child, boy, reads lots and lots of books, is very shy) and Sunny (infant female, who communicates by biting persons and things and with indechipherable shrieks)

One of the books is titled: The Reptile Room

The orphans are on the run from Count Olaf, who wants their large inheritance, Count Olaf is part of a Travelling Actor Troupe.

The Unauthorized Autobiography Of Lemony Snicket, contains many old b+w family photos which seem to have nothing to do with the books...

There are T.S.Eliot References that are part of the plot, see book 11, the Grim Groto....

"the violet hour..."

there's more I've found, but let me remind you of what Von said in Postcards from Above The Chemist:
"I know what a good book is and I'm sure I can't write ONE."

well this would be a series...

a series that has a motion picture release this DEC. 17 here in the states..

which will have a soundtrack...

There is plenty of abuse of syntax in these books...

The First One came out in 1999, and the newest one was just released...



Knew You'ld Be Pleased;

AQ

[CorpPunk]

Um...are you implying that Eldritch is posing as Daniel Handler writing as Lemony Snicket? Seems to be an awful lot of bother.

[Petseri]

I have heard of him here: http://www.myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5886

[Izzy HaveMercy]

Thanx CorpPunk, more proof!

From your link above:

"A series of fortunate events for author Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, including forthcoming film, fatherhood"

Fatherhood rhymes with ------- SISTERHOOD


IZ.

[CorpPunk]

@Iz:

ALSO, Daniel Handler's books for adults, written before the Snicket series, have been described as "gothic."

Nuff said.

[Izzy HaveMercy]

And 'Lemony Snicket' is an anagram of:

NICE MOLTEN SKY

A reference to the 'dry ice' The Sisters use during gigs?

MYSTIC NEON ELK

No comment!

LICK MY NEON SET

A reference to the neon lights?

ME ONLY NET SICK

A confession, and finally the reason why we have to wait so long for the new album?


IZ.

[smiscandlon]

I have heard of him here: http://www.myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5886

Thanks Petseri. I thought I was having the freakiest case of deja-vu ever...

[CorpPunk]

Holy krap Izzy, it's true!

[Correl]

Isnt Von a little old to be looking like that....and bald?
Anyhow, Having read one or two of those, I cant say I like them. But they have a rather dark atmosphere. Besides, Eldritch is too sophisticated and smart to write childrens books .

[aaron_quinton]

Well, whether or not Mr. Taylor, known as Mr.Eldritch, wrote any books by Handler known as Snicket is not necessarily in question... but it does seem to me, considering all factors, that one of Von's Fav. US cities is San Fransisco, where Handler is from, and that Handler is 33 around the average age of an old-school g*th or sisters fan, and all the simularities between the text and a ton of sisters lyrics...

something intentional is going on here...

that's all i'm getting at...

anyone interested who's read the books can help me put together a reference list...

pm me...

aaron

[CorpPunk]

Isnt Von a little old to be looking like that....and bald?
Anyhow, Having read one or two of those, I cant say I like them. But they have a rather dark atmosphere. Besides, Eldritch is too sophisticated and smart to write childrens books .

Whereas I would venture to say that many children's books are too sophisticated and smart to write Von.

Or thereabouts.

Howdy, btw.

[Llamatron]

something intentional is going on here...

that's all i'm getting at...

All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Sisters fan. With the possible Sisters references, and the writing style on his web site, I don't think it's too unlikely.

It would strike me a little odd for a fourtysomething lifelong bachelor with no children, and who hates g**hs to be writing g**h children's books, though. I think it's safe to say it's not Eldritch...

On a slightly related note- if he's not going to release another Sisters album, I'd like to see Eldritch take up writing. I'm surely not the only one here who appreciates his literary style? Assuming the plot and characters were halfway decent (We're talking fiction, of course. What Von-authored nonfiction would be about, I haven't a clue. Drugs, probably. ) I'm sure it would be wonderful. Man's got a way with words; clever bastard.

[CorpPunk]

Just a note about Caslon Antique: It's been an incredibly popular book-jacket font for years now, so it's not necessarily an intentional reference. See Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel and the new hardback edition of Good Omens for recent uses.

(Plus, it could very well be a shout out to Les Misérables, the musical, which pretty much cornered the market on Caslon Antique umpteen years ago.)

Naysaying is my specialty.



Okey dokey?

[aaron_quinton]

It's caslon antique, not carlson antique, and Johnathan Strange and Dr. Norell does not use Caslon Antique as it's typefont on the cover... I was just looking at that book last night, by the way the author, Susanna something or other, was born in England in 1959 and went to school at Oxford... kinda ironic you brought that up, CorpPunk...

And there are plenty of other references besides the damned font in the Snicket books that seem clear cut examples of "bonuses for the like-minded..." P.C.F.A.T.C. 1992, Eldritch.

FYI: i will be listing all of these references out for anyone who is interested when I have completed reading the series, which i hope to do just in time for the movie's release. Dec 17, 2004...

There is a diary by Lemony Snicket that has a different quote on each page called THE BLANK BOOK , copyright 2003...

it's kinda like a BLANK CANVAS....

The Great And All-Powerful Q

[CorpPunk]

Oopsie! Just a bit of dyslexia there. But yes, Jonathan Strange... does use Caslon (remember that the Sisters use all upper-case, which actually looks markedly different from the lower-case letters of the font). It's just a popular font these days. But that doesn't mean Handler isn't a closet goth.

[Llamatron]

It's caslon antique, not carlson antique, and Johnathan Strange and Dr. Norell does not use Caslon Antique as it's typefont on the cover...

I have that book with me actually, and no, it's not Caslon Antique. Similar, at first glance, but not it. Just checked.

My copy of Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3- on the stereo right now- uses Caslon Antique, ironically enough. I doubt it's a Sisters reference, though, unless someone at Sony Classical is a big enough Sisters fan to plaster their font onto random CDs...

[Llamatron]

Oopsie! Just a bit of dyslexia there. But yes, Jonathan Strange... does use Caslon (remember that the Sisters use all upper-case, which actually looks markedly different from the lower-case letters of the font). It's just a popular font these days. But that doesn't mean Handler isn't a closet goth.

The Ts and the Rs are quite different. The font on the Jonathan Strange cover is much more ragged and uneven than Caslon Antique. I'm not sure what it is, actually; it's similar, but much more worn looking.

This is what I get for being in the graphics industry, I suppose. Nitpicking over a font on a message board...

[markfiend]

didn't invent Caslon Antique, after all

I imagine it was someone called Caslon?

Without having read any Lemony Snicket stuff, I can't be sure, but IMO people are jumping at shadows here...

Also, from CorpPunk's link way up there:

Asked if [his parents] met onstage, [Handler] rebounds: "Yes, my mother was playing Aida, and she remains to this day the hippest white woman in San Francisco."

Von very rarely discusses his family. But I'm sure they don't live in San Fransisco.

Conclusive? I think so.

[CorpPunk]

Dude, AE is God. He didn't have to invent it. He just thought it and it was.

[markfiend]

Dude, AE is God. He didn't have to invent it. He just thought it and it was.

[Quiff Boy]

gary told me a story about him and andrew sitting in leeds city library pouring over typography books looking for fonts to use for the logo...

apparently eldritch originally wanted to use some heavy, gothic, pointy germanic thing



bloody goth

i dont know if it was gary who suggested caslon antique though, or if eldritch just thought better of the nasty germin thingy all on his loneself

[markfiend]

some heavy, gothic, pointy germanic thing

would surely have looked too much like a dodgy metal band of the Manowar variety

[CorpPunk]

I like pointy things too.

[CorpPunk]

I'm so sorry about that!

Speaking of typefaces, has anyone read Jonathan Strange blah blah? I just bought it a couple of days ago, but considering the weight of it has practically snapped my shelf in half, I'm a bit wary of the commitment. Is it any good?

[Llamatron]

Speaking of typefaces, has anyone read Jonathan Strange blah blah? I just bought it a couple of days ago, but considering the weight of it has practically snapped my shelf in half, I'm a bit wary of the commitment. Is it any good?

I'm about 150 or so pages into it right now, and so far, yes.