The Austere Academy

"Kidnapping!" redirects here. For other uses, see Kidnapping (disambiguation).

The Austere Academy
First edition cover
Author(s)	Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
Illustrator	Brett Helquist
Cover artist	Brett Helquist
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	A Series of Unfortunate Events
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	August 31, 2000
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	225
ISBN	ISBN 0-06-440863-9 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	43952131
Dewey Decimal	[Fic] 21
LC Classification	PZ7.S6795 Au 2000
Preceded by	The Miserable Mill
Followed by	The Ersatz Elevator

The Austere Academy is the fifth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was released in paperback under the name The Austere Academy: or, Kidnapping! The Baudelaire orphans are sent to a boarding school, overseen by monstrous employees. There, the orphans meet new friends, new enemies, and Count Olaf in another disguise.

Plot summary

The book begins with the Baudelaire orphans and Mr. Poe on the grounds outside of the school, Prufrock Preparatory School (Prufrock Prep for short). Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire meet Carmelita Spats, a rude girl who calls the Baudelaire orphans "cakesniffers". Mr. Poe tells the children to go to Vice Principal Nero's office. On their way there, they notice the schools' motto: Memento Mori (Remember You Will Die) which Klaus, being well read, understands.

They soon meet Vice Principal Nero. He explains the rules of Prufrock Prep and tells them that his advanced computer system will keep their enemy, Count Olaf, away. He also tells them about the fine dormitories they have, but that unless students have parental permission, they must sleep on hay in a tin shack (known as the Orphan's Shack). He considers himself to be a genius and thinks that he plays the violin well, but in fact he is unworthy, stupid, mean, arrogant, obnoxious, annoying and cannot play the violin well at all. Nonetheless, students must attend his lengthy violin recitals every day, or else they must buy him a large bag of candy and watch him eat it.

Reluctantly, The Baudelaire orphans go to the shack and find that it is crawling with crabs, dripping fungus and has horrible wallpaper (green with pink hearts). The orphans then go to lunch, where two women with metal masks serve them their food. Carmelita Spats mocks them again as they try to sit down. They are rescued by Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. The Quagmires tell about themselves. They are in a similar situation to that of the Baudelaire orphans. They are triplets, but their brother, Quigley Quagmire, died in a fire along with their parents. They, like the Baudelaire orphans, were left an enormous fortune (in the form of sapphires). Duncan would like to be a journalist, and Isadora is a competent poet (particularly in the form of [couplet]s). They both have notebooks, or commonplace books, which they use often to write down observations and notions. They become good friends with the Baudelaire orphans.

Violet's teacher, Mr. Remora, is a man who tells very short, dull stories while eating lots of bananas, and the children take notes. Klaus's teacher, Mrs. Bass, has an irritating obsession with the metric system. She makes her students measure countless objects, then she writes the measurements on the board. Because Prufrock Prep doesn't have a class for babies, Sunny becomes Nero's administrative assistant doing work that a baby shouldn't.

They are then introduced to Coach Genghis. The Baudelaire orphans immediately recognize him as Count Olaf in disguise but pretend not to recognize him. He makes an unusual remark about how orphans have stronger legs. Then they all rush to the auditorium to listen to Vice Principal Nero's daily concert, where they are forced, along with the rest of the school, to listen to his six-hour violin playing. At the concert, the Baudelaire orphans decide that they will go to Vice Principal Nero's office the next day to drop hints about Genghis. However, when they attempt to do this, Coach Genghis enters. The Baudelaire orphans try to unmask him, but he eludes them.

At lunch, Carmelita Spats delivers the message that the Baudelaire orphans are to meet Coach Genghis on the front lawn at sundown (at the time of Nero's violin concert). Genghis makes them paint a circle, and then run "Special Orphan Running Exercises" or S.O.R.E. laps around the luminous circle at night, for nine days. As the Baudelaire orphans run the laps, they become tired. This causes Violet and Klaus to fail their tests, being too exhausted to be able to tell one end of a metric ruler from another. Sunny is unable to find any staples because she ran out of them.

Then Vice Principal Nero tells the children that if they keep failing their tests, they are going to be tutored by Coach Genghis, and that Sunny will be fired. He says that they will have extra-hard comprehensive exams the next morning. He also demands that they give him nine bags of candy each, as punishment for missing his concerts, and give Carmelita earrings for each time she brought them a message.

The Orphans then go see the Quagmires and tell them what happened. Then the Quagmires plot a plan. The Quagmires disguise themselves as the Baudelaire orphans, get a sack of flour to represent Sunny, and do the exercises (at night), for them so that the Baudelaire orphans can study and make staples (Coach Genghis doesn't know that it's the Quagmires that are running because it is night time and he can't see them). The Quagmires leave their notebooks with Violet and Klaus so that they can study. Violet invents a staple-making device (using a small crab, a potato, metal rods, creamed spinach, and a fork) and makes staples while Klaus reads the notebooks.

The next morning, Vice Principal Nero and the two teachers (Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass) come to the Orphans Shack. They test Violet and Klaus, and give Sunny a stack of papers to staple. Then Coach Genghis arrives. He has discovered, by trying to kick Sunny, that Sunny had been substituted with a sack of flour. Genghis uncovers the Quagmires' disguises as a result, and gives them canteen duty. The orphans, unable to stand it any longer, attempt to reveal that Coach Genghis is Count Olaf. About that time, Mr. Poe comes to deliver the candy and earrings. Vice Principal Nero tells him that the orphans have been caught "cheating", and announces that the Baudelaire orphans are going to be expelled.

The Baudelaire orphans tell Mr. Poe that Coach Genghis is Count Olaf. Coach Genghis runs out of the shack, and after the orphans manage to remove his disguise, he succeeds in kidnapping the Quagmires. The two lunch ladies with metal masks are revealed as being Count Olaf's assistants, the white-faced women, when they remove their masks. The orphans see Olaf's assistants shoving the Quagmires into an old car. Before they close the door, Duncan yells to the Baudelaire orphans "Look in the notebooks! V.F.D.!" before they are captured. Unfortunately, Olaf steals the notebooks before they drive away. The orphans are then taken away to be placed with another guardian.

Couplets

"I would rather eat a bowl of vampire bats, than spend an hour with Carmelita Spats"

"It would be a stroke of luck if Coach Genghis were hit by a truck"

"Don't worry Baudelaires, don't feel disgrace, the Quagmire triplets are on the case"

"It's not particularly wise but it's a thrill to be disguised."

Foreshadows

• On the last picture, there is a fish on the bumper of the car, which is a reference to The Ersatz Elevator
• A fancy note to the editor at the end of the book decorated with sea shells says it came from the 667 Dark Avenue lobby.
• At the end of the book is the first appearance of the initials VFD.^{[citation needed]}

Cultural references and literary allusions

• The names Isadora and Duncan came from Isadora Duncan, a famous dancer, who was killed when her scarf was caught in a sports car's wheels.
• Prufrock may be a reference to the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T. S. Eliot.
• Vice Principal Nero is likely a reference to the Emperor Nero, a Roman Emperor whose reign is often associated with tyranny and greed. Emperor Nero allegedly "fiddled while Rome burned." Emperor Nero was also famous for forcing many of his subjects to sit through extended theatrical pieces created and performed by himself. This is reflected in Principal Nero's awful violin recitals.
• Genghis Khan, a famous Mongolian chieftain, shares his name with Coach Genghis, Count Olaf's disguise in this book.
• Mrs. Bass and Mr. Remora share their names with types of fish, as did the former gym teacher Miss Tench.
• When Isadora mentions she writes poetry, Sunny shrieks Sappho, which is the name of a female Greek poet.
• The book's cover is a reference to the classic novel Oliver Twist.
• The UK version of the book cover is completely different. It shows Carmelita Spats glaring at Violet, Klaus and Sunny while they are getting their food.

Special Editions

The Austere Academy: or, Kidnapping!

The Austere Academy; or, Kidnapping!^[1] will be a paperback rerelease of The Austere Academy, designed to mimic Victorian penny dreadfuls. The book will include approximately seven new illustrations, and the fifth part of a serial supplement entitled The Cornucopian Cavalcade, which will include a 13-part comic by Michael Kupperman entitled The Spoily Brats, and an advice column written by Lemony Snicket, along with other additions.^[2]

Audio Book

An audio book of this novel was released. It was the last audio book that was read by the author, Daniel Handler, under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket. All the succeeding audio books are read by Tim Curry.

Translations

• Brazilian Portuguese: ""Inferno no Colégio Interno" (Hell in the Boarding School), Cia. das Letras, 2000, ISBN 85-359-0274-0
• Finnish: "Omituinen opinahjo" (A Weird School), WSOY, 2004, ISBN 951-0-28566-8
• French: "Piège au collège" (Trap at School)
• Greek: "Η Άτεγκτη Ακαδημία"
• Korean: "공포의 학교" (Fear of the School), Munhakdongnae Publishing Co, Ltd., 2004, ISBN 978-89-546-0838-1
• Russian: "Изуверский интернат" (Bigoted Boardinghouse), Azbuka, 2004, ISBN 5-352-00651-4
• Spanish: "Una academia muy austera" (A Very Austere Academy)

See also

Lemony Snicket portal

• Violet Baudelaire
• Klaus Baudelaire
• Sunny Baudelaire
• Count Olaf
• Lemony Snicket
• Arthur Poe
• Quagmire family
• Nero (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

References

1. ^ Amazon.com: A Series of Unfortunate Events #5: The Austere Academy; or, Kidnapping! (A Series of Unfortunate Events): Books: Lemony Snicket,Brett Helquist
2. ^ Now for the Unfortunate Paperbacks... - 4/9/2007 - Publishers Weekly^{[dead link]}