After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get their fortune.
Read this to my kid after we'd watched the Netflix show together.
I really enjoyed the asides to the reader. They reminded me a bit of The Hobbit even if the tone was quite different.
It's definitely very dark. My kid and I share a taste for the macabre so we both ate it up. It starts with a tragedy, then moves into a nice mix of farce and heartbreak. I'm excited to start the next one.
A dark children's story about three orphans who get farmed out to their evil & conniving relative, who has eyes only for their fortune. The baddies are over-the-top, and the good adults frustratingly disregard the children's inadequate cries for help. Some questionable plot points.
Review of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
I read this series originally as a kid, and I loved them when they first came out. Re-reading them as an adult, I appreciate what they meant to me but I don't know if I'll recommend the series as a whole when I finish my re-read.
THE BAD BEGINNING is the start of Count Olaf's attempts to get the fortune of the Baudelaire children, newly the Baudelaire Orphans, with the deaths of their parents as the book begins. When Count Olaf finds out that merely being the childrens' guardian is not enough to obtain their fortune, he attempts to marry Violet in an elaborate ruse.
It's very up front about terrible things happening to the children, so much so that part of the framing is that the narrator (who is also kind of a character in the series) actively attempts to dissuade the reader from continuing at several points. That …
I read this series originally as a kid, and I loved them when they first came out. Re-reading them as an adult, I appreciate what they meant to me but I don't know if I'll recommend the series as a whole when I finish my re-read.
THE BAD BEGINNING is the start of Count Olaf's attempts to get the fortune of the Baudelaire children, newly the Baudelaire Orphans, with the deaths of their parents as the book begins. When Count Olaf finds out that merely being the childrens' guardian is not enough to obtain their fortune, he attempts to marry Violet in an elaborate ruse.
It's very up front about terrible things happening to the children, so much so that part of the framing is that the narrator (who is also kind of a character in the series) actively attempts to dissuade the reader from continuing at several points. That part of the framing holds up rather well, generally.
One of the villains is a large non-speaking person of indeterminate gender… and that’s pretty much it as the story’s justification for monstrosity. They’re socially marginalized and in the proximity of Count Olaf, therefore they’re creepy. While being in Olaf’s troupe is indeed sufficient grounds to be deemed terrible, this person is described in dehumanizing language by the narrator. Even the hook-handed man has specific dialogue where his actions are monstrous separate from his physical abnormality, but the non-gendered person is treated as though their mere existence is monstrous. Because the various troupe members are referred to by physical descriptions rather than names, there is a repeated emphasis on their strange appearances, which just reinforces the issue. I don't consider them to be queer representation because they don't provide any statement of their identity, it's just that the narration states that the Baudelaire children read their gender as ambiguous, which (in this context where ambiguous equals creepy) is judgmental and meaningless.
I know why this series gripped me as a kid, but I don't recommend this book now because of the way it equates physical difference with bad intentions, lumping in choices (like wearing all-white makeup) with physical characteristics (like baldness or being fat). It could have just been that the children are frightened by adults in the company of an adult who has declared his intentions to do them harm, but the way dehumanizing language is used makes it feel like the narrator shares in moral condemnation of the way certain characters look.
In which J. Daniels learns that sentences can have subjects, adjectives aren't nouns, it's OK to cut down on the word "fuckin" just a little and things don't fall apart, women can be strong and confident and funny, dude bros are boring, and men don't have to be control freak possessive assholes.
Review of 'The Bad Beginning - Book 1 of A Series of Unfortunate Events' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Bu kitap mutlu bir şekilde başlamaz ve mutlu bir şekilde bitmez. Buna rağmen ara sıra mutlu olaylara da şahit olacaksınız. Lemony Snicket'ten üç yetim çocuğun sıra dışı hikayesi.
Review of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Another cracking installment of Lemony Snicket's series. More stupid adults, more coughing from the worlds most useless man...Mr Poe….more devious plotting by Count Olaf and more resourcefulness by the children.
This has to be my favourite so far, the narrating is top notch, so much doom and gloom in his voice, and the plot itself, whilst silly, was very interesting. Maybe a bit more on the actual hypnotism would have added more to the story.
Miles better than Harry Potter and fun to read to my daughter. Need to try and find a copy of book 5 now.
Review of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events Box: The Complete Wreck' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I love this series! Lemony Snicket is one of the best authors I have ever read. The way he integrates himself into his stories is interesting and really moves the story to the next level. I would recommend this book to almost anyone. Just make sure you don't break down and cry whenever somebody dies because if you do you'll be crying continually.
Review of 'The Bad Beginning - Book 1 of A Series of Unfortunate Events' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Second read completed. My daughter has become obsessed with this since starting watching the TV series so I ended up having to read this book again to her.
It is a fantastic gloomy story, I love how the narrator is constantly interacting with the reader. Also the characters are so vivid it becomes very easy to give them voices, something that Roald Dahl was always good at doing.
I've only got copies of the first two books which have both been read, hopefully this time we'll be able keep up the momentum and see where the story goes.
