Customer Reviews

Carnivorous Carnival (Series of Unfortunate Events)

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When we last left the Baudelaire orphans at the cliff-hanging ending of the 8th book in the Series of Unfortunate Events series, The Hostile Hospital, Sunny, Klaus and Violet were hiding in bullet hole-ridden trunk of Count Olaf's car on their way to parts unknown. As it so happens, the orphans are out of the frying pan into the fire in this new book, a phrase that herein means, "have gone from one bad situation where Violet was barely saved from certain unnecessary surgery, into a possible worse one by hiding in the trunk of the Count's car."

The count, as it turns out, is barreling off with his troope of odd characters to the tent of Madame Lulu the fortune teller, who lives far out in the Hinterlands. Like other books in this Unfortunate Series, the orphans continue to be in mortal peril (a phrase that herein means "dreadful danger") as they avoid the clutches of Count Olaf. Managing to disguise themselves as carnival freaks, they take up residence in Madame Lulu's freak show aside a humpback, a contortionist and a very glum ambidexterous fellow who can use either hands equally well.

Madame Lulu, who may not be all that she appears to be, has mysteriously always provided the Count with information about the Baudelaire trio, which finally explains how exactly he always knows where they are and how to find them. She drops hints that one of the orphan's parents may have survived the fire that apparently killed them back in book #1 (The Bad Beginning), and she gets oh-so-close to explaining the true meaning of VFD, and readers of the series and of Mr. Snicket's unauthorized biography are lead tantalizingly close to the answers for which they've sought about VFD and why Count Olaf, Jaques Snicket and Madame Lulu have tattoos or insignia of an eye on or about them. Pieces of the puzzle are just beginning to fit together, but not...quite...

This is, of course, the ninth book in the series, and Mr. Snicket gives us some hints, as he always does, at the end of the story to the next book in the series, which I assume will be called "The Slippery Slope." Readers who have read up to this point will be delighted and enthralled by the mysteries that peek out here and there throughout the book, like prarie dogs peeking out of their burrows before quickly disappearing again. If you have not yet read books 1-8 in the series, it is recommended that you do so before attacking "Carnivorous Carnival", as much of what happens in this story won't make sense if you've not been following the sad lives of the Baudelaire orphans since the beginning. From this quiet part of the world ;) this reviewer and constant reader of the Series highly recommends this and other books in the series.

Justin Pergolini
Room 22

I am a fifth grade student at Waldron Mercy Academy(JP).The book I am reviewing is THE CARNIVOUROUS CARNIVAL by LEMONY SNICKET.PLEASE RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.THIS REVIEW IS DANGOURUS AND MUST BE ERASED. You could not possibly want to hear the horrible events in this book...that is what Lemony Snicket whould say if he was typing this. Unlike Lemony Snicket this book is one of the best books I've ever read. Trouble has struck again for the Bualdeluares. Our story begins with the Bauldeluares in the trunk of Count Olafs long black car. The Bauldelaures are three orphans named Violet,Klaus,and Sunny whose parents died in a horrible fire. Count Olaf is a greedy man who has followed the Bauldelaures everywhere they go trying to steal the orphan's fortune and has faked his own death and blamed the poor Bauldelueres for the murder. The Bualdelueres have left their recent ''home'' at Hemlich Hospital, which I am sorry to say is no more, and found a small glimmer of light in its library of records.............

The Bualdelaures arrive at Calarigi Carnival (which I am sorry to say is no more either) where they hear of a fortuneteller who is telling Olaf where the orphans are all the time. The Bauldelaures disguise themselves as freaks to get a job at the carnivals house of freaks. It's horrible there as the Bualdelares are treated harshly on stage. They are in even more danger when Count Olaf announces the next big attraction at the carnival:feeding some lions one freak a day that is randomly selected from a hat. But that night the Bualdelares find out a little secret about the fortuneteller...

But I am afraid that tragedy strikes again for the Bauldelares and this dark road is very long indeed...........

Second only to the Harry Potter books, "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is the best children's/adult series I have read in some time. To say these books are only for kids is the same as saying Bugs Bunny cartoons are only for kids - BULL!

"The Carnivorous Carnival" is Book the Ninth in the proposed 13-book series - in this one, we re-join Violet, Klaus, and baby Sunny Beaudelaire in the trunk of Count Olaf's long, sinister black getaway car; the orphans hid there at the end of "The Hostile Hospital" as their only means of escape, since everyone is looking for them after the local paper, "The Daily Punctilio," branded them murderers of Count Omar - who, in reality, is Count Olaf, and he is very much alive.

Count Olaf drives his troupe of theater performers/criminals way out to the hinterlands, to the Caligari Carnival. There they greet Madame Lulu, the owner of the carnival and a personal friend of Count Olaf. At their first opportunity, the children escape the trunk of the car - but where to go, now that they are stuck way out in the hinterlands, with everyone thinking they are murderers?

Easy - they adapt Count Olaf's methods of trickery and disguise. In each previous book, Count Olaf has found the orphans in their newest home and, in disguise, plots to get his hands on them and their fortune. Now it's the Beaudelaire siblings' turn - using stuff found in the count's own disguise kit, the children dress themselves up as freaks and actually join the carnival with Violet and Klaus as the two-headed freak Beverly/Elliot, and Sunny donning an old beard Olaf wore from a previous book and becoming Chabo the Wolf Baby. When they join the contortionist, hunchback, and ambidextrous man in the freak show at Madame Lulu's House of Freaks, right under Count Olaf's nose, the orphans think they will finally be able to learn the secrets of V.F.D. and whether one of their parents really may have survived the fire that had made them orphans in the first place.

But everything is not what it seems at Caligari Carnival, and soon the Beaudelaire's are in more trouble than ever before. After eight books of Olaf in disguise trying to steal the Beaudelaire children (and their fortune), it was a great twist to find the children in diguise trying to thwart Olaf's latest scheme! Really, these books are THE BOMB, funny and exciting and real page-turners for anyone of any age. With each book we feel we are closer to finding out all the secrets hinted at, but then something happens to tease our curiosity even more, making us wait breathlessly for the next installment. I thought "The Hostile Hospital" ended on a cliffhanger, that was NOTHING compared to "The Carnivorous Carnival," and with 4 more books to go (there will be 13 total, as there are 13 chapters in each book chronicling the sad, unlucky lives of these unfortunate orphans), Lemony Snicket will surely drive us readers crazy by the end with our unanswered questions about V.F.D., Beatrice, the possible survival of one of the Beaudelaire parents, what the eye tattoos mean, and if Count Olaf will ever get his just desserts. Heartily recommended but you have to start with Book One and read them in order, or they won't make sense. An incredible series for ALL ages, and I eagerly await "The Slippery Slope"!!

This story was one of the best books I've ever read. I found myself staying up all night reading it. It's about 3 sibs, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. They've been running from an evil man named Count Olaf. He's been finding the children by asking a fortuneteller who seems to always get the right answers. Now the 3 sibs are in disguise as a 2 headed freak and a half wolf half baby named, Chabo the Wolf Baby, in a freak house at the Caligari Carnival. Then Count Olaf buys a bunch of lions to put in a pit and guess which freak has to jump in with the lions.

I loved this book because it's really suspenseful, especially when Violet, and Klaus were about to jump to the lions. I really like this author's style of writing. I could really picture the carnival. Compared to the other books in the series this one's my favorite. I rate it 5 stars, because I liked it a lot, and it had great suspense.

Anna Flynn-Meketon

Sorry 'bout the title. But seriously, this is a book you won't to miss the new book in the series. Sometimes you'll find that people say that Lemony Snicket's(Daniel Handler actually)occasional comments are intrusive and annoying, but I find them to be interesting,explanatory,decisive,humorous, and they build up the suspense.
In the book Violet,Klaus,and Sunny find themselves in the trunk of Count Olaf's car. Then in a "carnival" the Baudelaire children dress up as freaks in order to obtain information about the possibility of a surviving parent. They are rudely insulted along with the other not so freakish freaks, when they find out one freak will be thrown into a pit of lions(won't tell you the rest, you'll have to find out for yourself!).
I just got the book today, and when I started I couldn't put it down. I just finished it a few hours ago, and it never gets boring.LEMONY SNICKET HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, this is the latest in the Unfortunate Events series (Book 9). I think it is of on the best. I love how Snicket is moving on with the series and does not always have the same plot. The first 5 books were quite similar, Baudelaires get new home, Olaf finds new home, tries to get the Baudelaires... etc. But in the recent books, it has gotten better. The stories are more connected to one another, and are more exciting to read.

In the beginning of the book, the children are in the trunk of Olaf's car, without him knowing it. Then they disguise themselves and remain under Olaf's nose. Lions, meat eating ones, are involved (what good can come of that?)and then murder comes too (what's new?) There are more unfortunate events occur (duh), and they remian in peril again.

I think it was one of the most suspenful. This is a definite buy for anyone who has liked any of the others. Yet, do the Baudelaires ever get a bit of luck? I mean I know the reason for the popularity is because of the negative side ( I mean who likes reading about people who always have the best thing in the world happen to them? fairy princesses get old fast) but one has to wonder how much we can take of these kids having bad luck.... and the predicabilty of this bad luck...Dont get me wrong I love these books. But how much more will the American Public take? We (the readers) are coming closer and closer to the finding out the meaning of the imfamous V.F.D and sadly, the end of the series. But who knows? Maybe it will be a good ending.

I love these books! Ever since the day I read " The Bad Beginning"(the first in the series) I knew these books were VERY different, but that drawed me to the books. The series is about three unlucky childeren. Their parents were killed in a terrible fire. A man named Mr.Poe has been putting them with different parents for a while but each of the parents either can't take care of them or they suddenly die. A man named Count Olaf has been trying to catch them and maybe even kill 2 of the childeren so he can have their fortune(their parents were VERY rich). When they meet friends at a boarding school they find out more about the EVEN DARKER side of Count Olaf. I can't say much more because it would ruin the whole series. In "The Carnivorous Carnival" the childeren have to hid from Olaf at a freak show. They dress themselves up as freaks and then everything goes down hill from there. The ending is so sudden that you won't beleive it! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SERIES EVER, SO READ THEM ALL AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!

The book I read was The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket. I liked this because in this book of the Series of Unfortunate Events. I found a lot of secrets that were reveled. One of the Baudelaire's parents might still be alive! They were in a secret organization called V.F.D. Now Sunny has been separated from Violet and Klaus, that's not going to be good. Olaf's troupe now has three freaks that are going to make the Baudelaire's lives a lot worse.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny sneaked into Olaf's trunk and arrived at the Caligari Carnival. Instead of hiding, they disguised each other to find out what Olaf was up to. They joined the House of Freaks and met Hugo, Collette, and Kevin. They all had to perform skits on how freakish they all were. Then lions came and that show was for the lions to devour one of the freaks. They found out Lulo (a fortune teller at the carnival) was a fake and she wasn't evil after all. Instead of Violet and Klaus being eaten, Lulo fell into to the pit. After that, the kids went off with Olaf and left Violet and Klaus in the middle of nowhere and took Sunny with him.

I think someone who likes adventure, non-happy stories, and suspense. That's because the Baudelaire's always get stuck in a miserable situation, which makes it an adventure. Then there's suspense do to at the end if Olaf gets away or not or something like death is about to happen to a character. Also a reader who likes good voice in an author. Snicket has a knack for talent in that category. His style is very different from the rest he tells you the story like it was an actual event. In the series you have to read the books in order or you will not know what is happening. That's all the reasons why I like the Series of Unfortunate Events.

Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival (Scholastic, 2002)

The main thing there is to be said about the ninth book in the Series of Unfortunate Events, for most everything about the series I have to say I've said in the first eight reviews, is that the books continue to get darker-- a lot darker. Snicket is almost to the point of ranging out of children's territory here. That said, the quality of the writing is about as good as it ever was, and if you like the humor in the series, it doesn't let up here; it just has a much, much blacker twist to it. But then, if you've some this far, even if the book were awful, you wouldn't stop reading at this point, would you? *** ½

This is definitely one of the better books in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (although I would have to say that The Hostile Hospital is still my favorite), and it definitely has the best ending, a phrase which here means, "the darkest and most unfortunate for the Baudelaires". After hitching a ride in Count Olaf's car, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny find themselves at Caligari Carnival, home of Madame Lulu the fortune teller and her freaks. Sensing that Lulu can provide the Baudelaires with much-needed information, the children disguise themselves as freaks in order to safely wander the grounds of the dismal carnival. Violet and Klaus become the two-headed Beverly and Elliot while Sunny poses as Chabo the Wolf Baby.

Some of the best jokes revolved around the treatment of the freaks, in the sense that most of the freaks weren't too freaky, and many of Count Olaf's crew and even the audience members were mistaken as performers in the Freak Show (however, the mistreatment and manipulation of the real freaks was a little sad at times).

Once again, a fire broke out (fires seem to symbolize evil in these books), although assuming that the "F" in V.F.D. stands for fire, it's not that unexpected now.

After this incredible ending, I can't wait to find out what happens next.