The End

A Series of Unfortunate Events #13

By: Lemony Snicket

Narrated by: Tim Curry

Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Dear Listener,

You are presumably looking here for clues to the shocking conclusion of this terminal audiobook, or the ending of the end. The end of the end is the best place to begin the end, because if you listen to the end from the beginning of the beginning of the end to the end of the end of the end, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope. This audiobook is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous 12 volumes, you probably can't stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.

It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you, I would click away from this page at once, so the end does not finish you.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket

Don't miss the rest of A Series of Unfortunate Events or Audible's exclusive interview with Lemony Snicket!

©2006 Lemony Snicket (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Children's Titles for Ages 8-11, 2007

Tim Curry? Interesting choice in voice actor

Tim Curry's Count Olaf sounds like a drunk Jafar crossed with a drunk Scar ..

This is the best story ever. I’ve watched a show in the movie, but I really like the books.

I loved how they told the story almost exactly how it is in the show and movie

The Ersatz Ending

A book series often is worth more the journey than the final destination and A Series of Unfortunate Events is no exception. The End offers nice parallels back to a Bad Beginning, while shaking up the pre stablished formula, doubling down on the underlying themes of the Boudelaires adventure and answering a question or two. But unfortunately, at the same time, it only raises more and more questions and can't for as positively ambiguous it tries to be, it falls short leaving a sensation of incompleteness and that at least a few answers are owed to the reader/listener. Its Ersatzness is further corroborated by the prequel series and all the complimentary material to the Snickerverse that, just like the End, don't actually end or tie any knots. But nevertheless, the Boudelaires' plight seem stronger and more genuine than ever here and for once, I wish I had followed Snicket 's advice and put down this (áudio)book. yet, at the same time, I'm glad I did not.

Finally, The END!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Having read the previous 11 books in the series, I found listening to Tim Curry a bit less painful than reading the book. If you are looking for closure, you will be 50% disappointed. My daughter loved this story. My only plus is that this is THE END!

Which scene was your favorite?

The children in the hiding place sitting in the big comfortable chair reading the diary that had been left by their parents. This part of the closure I found enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

Tim Curry is wonderful

I love it

I was sprized with be it is
and count olf
and kitsniket
and Friday
I love it and the rest of the books I would recommend this series

Epic.

I feel I have been on an epic journey. I started with "All the Wrong Questions" books and I'm glad I did this. I feel it gave a depth to the "Unfortunate Events" series that otherwise would have been lacking.
I'm in a weird headspace now with so many characters, themes, plot points swirling around in my brain. This is not a "happy" book although it is a hysterical one. It reminds me of a line from a musical,"You're so "nice." You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world. I'm the hitch, I'm what no one believes, I'm the witch. You're all liars and thieves like his father. Like his son will be, too. Oh why bother? YOU'LL JUST DO WHAT YOU DO."
Even the altruistic volunteer, watching, observing, making a plan based on careful assessment, and with true eagerness, wanting to better the world... gets everything wrong.
We, the human race, have such good intentions, but we get tossed into the arena and even if we have a concise battle plan we just swing away, mucking everything up. Oh, but the real pisser is there is good, true goodness in us. There is love, kindness, valor, wisdom,empathy and on the rare occasions we get it right.....sublime.
So many thoughts.....what a series.

Tim Curry makes a dreadful end nearly enjoyable

I topstarred this b/c Tim Curry is so amazing. It's not his fault Handler is so committed to a formulaic schtick whose charm wears thin. But the books are a bit of genius because everything that annoys me about them is also what made me fall for the series in the first place. Slyly jabbing at children's readers vocabulary building, moral dilemmas and shifting perspectives, ridiculous repetition and the classic "adults are so stupid and never believe children" of children's media to ludicrous extremes, and the occasional line which is just perfectly placed in the created mood and resonates as A Very True Thing.

In the end, the books are about the nature of people and the nature of storytelling vs. "real life." This is one of those books that improves as you take it apart and you see how things fit together under the gooey layer of schtick, but while you're experiencing it you can't help but entertain the notion that the author is a hack and the ending is a cop-out.
Tim Curry is amazing and listening to the books is more entertaining than reading them, although you do miss out on some things: the illustrations, and if I remember rightly in one of the books there is a gap of several pages, several blank pages creating a white space of suspense. I believe in the audio it's interpereted as a very long dramatic pause. So it's kind of a radio drama trick taken into a book for dramatic effect and transfered back into the audio, terribly meta. ;p
But the experience of it when you are holding a book halfway done in your hands and seeing blank pages is different from having to pull your ipod out of your pocket to confirm you've still got four hours (or whatever) of audio left differs. And sometimes you miss out on Sunny's puns/wordplay babble because they work better on the page.

listened to the whole series

Listen to the whole series with my two boys my youngest (2yr) sang some of the songs in the book and interludes and my oldest (8 yr) loved the books altogether.

Superb story!

Would you listen to The End again? Why?

Yes, actually I would listen to the whole series again. It is fun and captivating. It also contains lots of realistic life lessons.

What other book might you compare The End to and why?

There is no other book that can be compared to this.

What about Tim Curry’s performance did you like?

He is one of the best audiobook narrators.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I do not listen to any book in 1 sitting unless it is less than 1 hour long.

Not the best ending but a great series.

It wasn't the best ending ever, but I loved the series. And the reading is also perfect. Disappointing ending. Sad it's over.