The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 8)

Before you throw this awful book to the ground and run far away from it as possible, you should probably know why. This book is the only one which describes every last detail of the Baudelaire children's miserable stay at Heimlich Hospital, which makes it one of the most dreadful books in the world. There are many pleasant things to read about, but this book contains none of them. Within its pages are such burdensome details as a suspicious shopkeeper, unnecessary surgery, an intercom system, anaesthesia, heart-shaped balloons, and some very startling news about a fire. Clearly you do not want to read about such things.

"But this might be the right VFD" (0/0 people found this helpful)

Let me say before talking about the book that you should not read this review. There are probably happier things to do with your time than read a review that will tell you what to expect from the unfortunate story of the Baudelaire orphans. Therefore, you should click on the x at the top right of your screen right now!

Still, here? OK, don't tell me I did not warn you; here is where we are. At the beginning of the book we find the poor Baudelaires running away from the police. They are wanted for a murder the did not commit. And what is even worse, the supposed victim, Count Olaf, is not even dead! At least the two Quagmire triplets have been able to escape from the evil Count, but they are on an air balloon and cannot communicate with Violet, Klaus and Sunny to explain the secret of VFD.

Violet, the inventor, Klaus, the erudite reader, and Sunny, the ferocious biter, send a telegram to the useless Mr. Poe to ask for help STOP But before getting a reply they have to run away again and join the Volunteer Fighting Disease. Is this the VFD they are looking for? That is how they end in Heimlich Hospital working in the Library of Records. Here, they come across many picturesque characters. The hospital administrator, Babs, communicates with everyone through speakers. She has the theory that kids should not be heard and adults should not be seen. This is just as snippet of Snicket's genius, which he uses to create novel ideas to work with, and thus, make us laugh throughout his stories.

As you can imagine, Count Olaf will show up sooner or later, as will the repugnant Esme Squalor. In that regard, this is the book in which we see Lemony Snicket coming closer to the story of the Baudelaires and drop hints left and right as to his involvement in the events that led to the current status quo. For example, he alludes to his interaction with Esme Squalor, several times throughout the story.

This is the darkest story in the series so far, and it is plagued with dangerous situations. Snicket is at the top of his game in using humor to keep us engaged. He keeps regaling us with expressions by Sunny and their appropriate translations making us laugh non-stop. He also is extremely good at applying common sense in dissecting popular sayings, such as "No news is good news". Everyone knows that "No news is no news".

Even though I know I should not be reading this series and should instead find something happier to do, I will go ahead and plunge into the next book as soon as I finish writing this sad, sad, sad, sad review. I hope you are as miserable reading this installment of the series as I was.

One of the funniest (1/1 people found this helpful)

I loved this book.I read it nonstop and it took me one hour to read.Though that's actually a very long time for me, but never mind.I've read all of Snicket's books and thought that this was the funniest book in this series.I can't explain why.I just did.It was pretty gripping, and you could also have quite a few good laughs and i loved it.One of the best books in the series, that's what i thought.Iwould reccommend that you read this, though you should read the books in order so that they'll make more sense.If you start with this book, you will get very confused and won't know what anyone is talking about.This was a good story and a great read and i loved it.

The Hostile Hospital #8 (Series of Unfortunate Events) (6/6 people found this helpful)

The exitement starts straight in the beginning of the book, where Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire go to a general store to send a telegram to Mr.Poe. However, no answer is coming and soon they must escape with a VFD car to the Heimlich Hospital. They get a job in the Heimlich Hospital archival library where they find a page from the mysterious Snicket file.
Klaus and Sunny try to save somebody named Laura V. Bleediotie from a suspicious person called Mattathias. It turns out that the Baudelaires have encountered him before! I found this book very enjoyable and amazing, so if you like to read a book with an (very)unhappy end this is what you are looking for.
Even my father who hasn't read any other books of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" liked this! "The Hostile Hospital" is great!

Review the Eighth (4/5 people found this helpful)

Okay, so the Baudelaire children walked off into the sunset, unfortunately there was no Mr Poe, white horse or happy ever after. Still running from the law and the burning at the stake village (whom think they killed Jacque Snicket) the Children join V.F.D. (Did I hear you gasp?) Which this time stands for the Volunteers Fighting Disease.

The children then arrive at the half finished Heimlich Hospital and start working with Hal in the basement. The story introduces the always heard but never seen Babs who is replaced by the mysterious (or not) Mattathias. Realising that they can't walk around (or they might be recognised by the newspaper reading public) the children spend their spare time in the unfinished half of the hospital. Eventually they break into the records and try to find out about the Snicket Fires. They find the container only to find that somebody has removed the file leaving one sole page with startling new about a survivor (which here means someone who got away from Count Olaf).

Cornered and caught by Count Olaf's adulterous - which means she's still married to Jerome - , stiletto wearing girlfriend, Violet is stretchered off for a cranioectomy - which is as hard as brain surgery. It is therefore up to Klaus and Sunny to save the day... or at least their sister. And as Esme sets fire to the hospital the Baudelaires jump out of the fire (which they are blamed for) and into the boot of Count Olaf's car.

This book was much better than the last as it felt a if the story was advancing (rather then the Vile Village, which was more of a filler) and leaves the reader wondering whether the Bauldaries have escaped or walked straight into Olaf's greedy clutches. And of course... what does VFD actually stand for? What has happened to Hector and the Quagmire triplets and who is the survivor?

The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 8)

Lemony Snicket

Reader Reviews:

Best of the 13 books!!! (9/9 people found this helpful)

"But this might be the right VFD" (0/0 people found this helpful)

One of the funniest (1/1 people found this helpful)

The Hostile Hospital #8 (Series of Unfortunate Events) (6/6 people found this helpful)

Review the Eighth (4/5 people found this helpful)

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