Chapter-by-Chapter: The Grim Grotto

Next week we’ll be starting the third book from the end of The Series of Unfortunate Events, this one is The Grim Grotto, Book the Eleventh. It’s of comparable length the the previous book, The Slippery Slope, so I foresee some long chapters ahead of us.

This book has a sort of greeny-blue spine, presumably to emphasis the underwater component of this book. The border down the side of the cover is slightly different in that it isn’t like a ribbon, instead it’s a little pattern of mushroom silhouettes alternating a big one with a small one.

The actual cover picture itself has the three children in diving helmets and suits, well, Sunny just seems to be inside a helmet, and in the distance behind them is another figure in a diving suit. We can’t see who this fourth person is but the children seem to be trying to get away from them. Klaus is kind of bursting out of the frame here as well, it’s definitely like they’re trying to escape from something.

I remember relatively little of this book. As I’ve noted the whole way through this read through, I’ve remembered less and less of each book as I’ve gone through the series, presumably because I’ve read this one comparatively fewer times compared to the earlier ones which were reread each time a new book came out.

What I do remember of this is that there is a submarine and a new female character who is about the same age as the elder Baudelaires. I don’t remember what her name is but I think that her older brother is one of Olaf’s henchmen… possibly hooky.

I think her father or uncle might be on the submarine as well, though perhaps I’m just making that up. I do think there are some references to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea which I’m looking forward to because I’ve recently read that. I’m wondering if there might be a Moby Dick reference as well, that’s cool if there is because I’ve read that as well since I’ve read this book last.

I know that there are poisonous mushrooms in this book. I wasn’t sure if they were in this one or the next one, but having seen the mushrooms in the picture clue at the end of the last book I know that they crop up in this one. I know it’s Sunny who gets poisoned but I don’t remember the cure or anything else that happens.

We’ll start this one on Monday afternoon. See you there.