The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)

by Lemony Snicket

For no matter how safe and happy the three children felt, no matter how comforting Uncle Monty’s words were, you and I know that soon Uncle Monty will be dead and the Baudelaires will be miserable once again.

“I think we’ll always miss our parents. But I think we can miss them without being miserable all the time.

Important facet of grief - honoring the memory of a loved one is not only about the misery that accompanies loss

the word “dumbly” here means “without speaking,”

“Brummagem” is such a rare word for “fake” that

the Baudelaire orphans had dashed upstairs to hash out the situation, without even saying good night to the man who now lay dead under a sheet in the Reptile Room.

It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know.

Another important note on grief

this dark and curious feeling of falling that accompanies any great loss.

What happens in a certain place can stain your feelings for that location, just as ink can stain a white sheet. You can wash it, and wash it, and still never forget what has transpired,

the word “insipid” here means “not worth reading to someone”—of

Sometimes even in the most unfortunate of lives there will occur a moment or two of good fortune.

“Nice girls shouldn’t know how to do such things.” “My sister is a nice girl,” Klaus said, “and she knows how to do all sorts of things.”