The Vile Village (2001)
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The Vile Village Book Review
The Vile Village is a 2001 children’s book written by Lemony Snicket. It’s the seventh chapter in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and it acts as a terrific turning point for the series.
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“There is no way of knowing for sure
whether or not you can trust someone,
for the simple reason that circumstances
change all of the time“
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Yes, this is by far the most important entry after the first one. The children here are sent to live in a painfully organized village of old people, but Olaf and Esme arrive there with the captured Quagmires. The kids eventually find them and rescue them, but are deemed war criminals, and from now on, they are blacklisted even more than Count Olaf.
Yes, that will undoubtedly lead to more interesting stories from now on. And it was honestly imperative to change the narrative structure to the novels which was getting tiring by now. And to me, it’s great how the turning point lies in the right middle of the series. Very well organized structure, I have to admit.
Mr. Poe also isn’t here to “help” them for the first time and that was also a much needed development. I also loved the return of Esme who was disguised here into a policewoman, and she really added to the story, and was ultimately crucial in making the Baudelaires miss their hot air balloon. That entire action sequence was incredibly suspenseful and I am glad that it ended just in the middle – the triplets missed it, but the twins are safe with Hector.
Speaking of, I loved Hector. Yes, he’s another incompetent adult, and one too many maybe, but at least he eventually became brave and stood up for the children and tried to help them in such a gloriously reminiscent way to Pixar’s ‘Up’ which I ate up. He’s a very endearing character.
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And I loved that the Quagmires are finally safe, and what they did with them here is genius as the messaging system they established with the crows was very well thought out, and it made sense. It was a genuine mystery that was wonderfully accentuated, and that poem in particular appealed to me as a linguist.
Count Olaf unfortunately was sidelined in this book problematically. I liked that to a degree as it was different, but still his appearances are all too brief for the series’ core villain. But Esme’s prolonged role is very much appreciated and I hope to see even more of her.
As for the triplets, I really liked all three of them, especially Sunny who actually started walking and pronouncing well some words. That was a great new development that indicates that time is passing in this series. And I really liked the town elders and how crazy they are.
Their stupid, innumerable rules are ridiculous, but they fitted the storyline so well. Again, the book introduces incompetent or crazy adults, but at least they are memorable. And they proved to be additional foes in a way for the triplets in this book that is filled with villains and dangerous situations.
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The dialogue again is at times very on-the-nose and thematically speaking, The Vile Village suffers as it doesn’t teach children anything this time around. However, the imagery is so memorable (The Nevermore Tree and the crows in particular), the action is terrific and this whole memorable village is so well depicted and described that it really led to an authentic, atmospheric reading experience.
The Vile Village has its smaller issues, but overall it is another splendid entry in A Series of Unfortunate Events that is fueled by very memorable imagery, well depicted setting and particularly terrific action sequences and conclusion. It acts as a necessary turning point for the series as it introduces changed, new narrative structures.
