A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto

Book the eleventh in Lemony Snicket’s chronicles A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Grim Grotto is even more mysterious and enthralling than its predecessor, The Slippery Slope. 

It seems that the tables will never turn to the Baudelaire children’s favours. Although they managed to rescue Sunny and escape from Count Olaf for the umpteenth time, they find themselves in rather grim circumstances as they are violently washed and buffeted down the freezing waters of the Stricken Stream, separated from their newest friend and cohort. But as luck would have it, they are rescued by a passing submarine and inside they meet Captain Widdershins, his stepdaughter Fiona, and reunite with an old optimist. Aboard the Queequeg, the children put their inventing, researching, and cooking talents to good use as they assist Captain Widdershins in his mission to find the sugar bowl; a curious item that harbours many secrets and will also bring about the defeat of Count Olaf, once and for all. 

I have read all these books twice before and it amazes me, reading them again, how much I have forgotten about what happens. From The Slippery Slope, the series gets really, really intriguing, as the bigger story comes into view and on every next page there is some sort of new mystery or startling surprise. 

You have to applaud Snicket for keeping his readers on their toes like that. The series is almost quite contrary in a way because, as the story gets more and more engaging, Snicket tries harder and harder to deter his readers from continuing to read the books. The Grim Grotto is a classic example of this as Snicket continuously delves into a long, boring, and repetitive description of the three phenomena that make up the Water Cycle, which he then later explains he does in the hope of causing the reader to fall asleep and not persevere with the following chapter, which contains certain drama or grimness. His way of writing is very inclusive and seems to speak directly to the reader, which is something that not many authors do nowadays. It’s good. 

Filled with famous authors, poetry, mycology, a neglected birthday, absurd outfits, child labour, and a family reunion, The Grim Grotto is an enthralling read that will have you flipping pages feverishly until there are no more to flip and you must move on to book the twelfth. It’s a great little series.