The Reptile Room
 American cover art | |
| Author | Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler) |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Brett Helquist |
| Cover artist | Brett Helquist |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | gothic novel[*], children's literature |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | September 30, 1999 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 190 |
| ISBN | 0-06-440767-5 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 41086597 |
| Fic 21 | |
| LC Class | PZ7.S6795 Re 1999 |
| Preceded by | The Bad Beginning |
| Followed by | The Wide Window |
The Reptile Room is the second book in the children's series A Series of Unfortunate Events, written by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The book tells the story of the Baudelaire orphans, as they are sent to live with a distant relative named Montgomery Montgomery. The villainous Count Olaf arrives in an attempt to steal the children's inheritance, killing their guardian but failing to steal the fortune.
Plot
The three Baudelaire orphans have been placed under the care of their distant relative, herpetologist Dr. Montgomery Montgomery. "Uncle Monty", as he prefers to be called, is a short, chubby man with a round, red face. The children immediately like him. He lets them each choose their own bedroom and informs them that they are going to accompany him on a trip to Peru to study snakes.
The children are fascinated by the many snakes in the "Reptile Room", a giant hall in which Monty's reptile collection is stored. They meet the Incredibly Deadly Viper, a friendly snake with a misleading name, which Uncle Monty recently discovered. The three children are each given jobs in the Reptile Room: Violet is given the job of inventing traps for new snakes found in Peru, Klaus is told to read books on snakes to help advise Uncle Monty, and Sunny's job is to bite ropes into usable pieces.
When Stephano, the new assistant, arrives, the children realize he is Count Olaf in disguise. Count Olaf is a villain who the children used to live with, until he was caught trying to steal the fortune left behind by their parents. They try to warn Uncle Monty, but Stephano threatens them with violence. They manage to talk to Monty alone the day before their trip to Peru, but Monty is convinced that Stephano is a spy trying to steal information from his research and fails to understand their claims that Stephano is Olaf. He tears up Stephano's ticket to Peru. The following morning, the Baudelaires discover Monty's dead body in the Reptile Room.
Stephano still intends to take the children to Peru, where he aims to find a way to get his hands on their fortune. However, as they are leaving the estate, Stephano's car crashes in Mr. Poe's car. They return to the house, where Poe and Stephano discuss what to do with the children. Mr. Poe refuses to believe the children when they say Stephano is Count Olaf in disguise, as Stephano lacks a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. Dr. Lucafont arrives and performs an autopsy, claiming Monty was killed by the Mamba du Mal.
Klaus and Sunny stage a diversion in which the Incredibly Deadly Viper pretends to attack Sunny to allow Violet time to find and open Stephano's suitcase. Stephano, in an attempt at showing off, contradicts his story, making Mr. Poe suspicious. Violet shows up and presents Mr. Poe with evidence that Stephano murdered Monty, and that Stephano used powder to cover up his tattoo. Mr. Poe rubs his handkerchief on Stephano's ankle, revealing the eye tattoo, but before he can be arrested, Count Olaf and his associate Dr. Lucafont (revealed to be the hook-handed man, one of Olaf's troupe members) escape. A man named Bruce arrives to dismantle Monty's reptile collection.
Critical reception
Publishers Weekly said Snicket "uses formal, Latinate language and intrusive commentary to hilarious effect" and complimented Helquist's "exquisitely detailed drawings of Gothic gargoyles and mischievous eyes", which were said to "echo the contents of this elegantly designed hardcover".[1]
Other editions
Audiobook
The audiobook version of "The Reptile Room" was read by Tim Curry. A review at AudioFile gave the audiobook an "Earphones Award", calling it "fabulously funny" and complimenting Curry's "enormous talents".[2]
The Reptile Room; or, Murder!
A Series of Unfortunate Events No.2: The Reptile Room; or, Murder! is a paperback rerelease of The Reptile Room, designed to mimic Victorian penny dreadfuls.[3] It was released on May 8, 2007.[4] The book features a new full-colour cover, seven new illustrations, and the second part of a serial supplement entitled The Cornucopian Cavalcade, which includes the second part of a 13-part comic by Michael Kupperman entitled The Spoily Brats, an advice column written by Lemony Snicket, and the second part of a story by Stephen Leacock entitled A Psychic Pstory of the Psupernatural, along with other novelty additions.[5][6]
Translations
- Brazilian Portuguese: "A Sala dos Répteis", Cia. das Letras, 1999, ISBN 85-359-0143-4
- Czech: "Temné terárium", Egmont, 2001, ISBN 80-7186-619-9
- Dutch: "De Slangenserre", Huberte Vriesendorp, 2006, ISBN 978-90-216-1530-1
- Finnish: "Käärmekammio" (The Snake Chamber), WSOY, 2001, ISBN 952-5418-04-9
- Greek: "Το δωμάτιο με τα Ερπετά", Ελληνικά Γράμματα, 2004, ISBN 960-406-749-4
- Japanese: "爬虫類の部屋にきた" (They Came to the Reptile Room) Soshisha, 2001, ISBN 4-7942-1099-X
See also
References
- ↑ "The Reptile Room". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ↑ "A Series of Unfortunate Events #2". AudioFile. 2001. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ↑ A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room, By Lemony Snicket , Illustrated by Brett Helquist: HarperCollins Children's Books
- ↑ A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning, By Lemony Snicket , Illustrated by Brett Helquist: HarperCollins Children's Books
- ↑ Now for the Unfortunate Paperbacks... - 4/9/2007 - Publishers Weekly Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ A Series of Unfortunate Events ::: NOW IN PAPERBACK!
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