I am not a violent man. In my lifetime, I have never been in a fight. I've never seriously threatened anyone with violence, never made anyone feel afraid by my physical presence, never even really seriously considered doing violence to another person.Having said that, the feelings this book evoked in me were... violent.Not because Lemony Snicket has written a book where terribly unfortunate things happen to small children - I have no problems with that and in fact encourage it; it builds character. I want to do violence towards Lemony Snicket because he's a terrible writer who should never have been allowed to have his words put to paper. His pens should be broken, his notes burned, his hard drive wiped and, if possible, his writings should banned by an Act of Congress. The First Amendment can only go so far.You may be wondering what has roused this level of bibliorage in me. By all accounts, this series is extremely popular, loved by many. On various book review websites, this book routinely gets at least four stars and high praise. It was even made into a movie starring Jim Carry, and if that's not the Seal of Public Approval then I don't know what is. It would seem that one of two things is true: Either I'm seriously overreacting to a tiny aspect of Snicket's (AKA Daniel Handler's) writing style or the rest of the world is full of blind ignoramuses who wouldn't know decent writing if they woke up in bed with it after a bender in Vegas.As a reviewer, I, of course, choose to believe the latter.Snicket has taken what should be an entertaining story, filled with untimely death, physical violence, extortion, deception, and pedophilic overtones, and corrupted it by treating its audience like a bunch of drooling idiots.I am, of course, referring to his habit of defining "difficult" words within the text, with no regard for the flow of the story or the necessity of the definition. For example:Page 2: "...occasionally their parents gave them permission to take a rickety trolley - the word 'rickety,' you probably know, here means 'unsteady' or 'likely to collapse' - alone to the seashore...."Page 13: "...over a dull dinner of boiled chicken, boiled potatoes and blanched - the word 'blanched' here means 'boiled' - string beans."Page 18: "'Please get out of bed and get dressed,' he said briskly. The word 'briskly' here means 'quickly, so as to get the Baudelaire children to leave the house.'"Page 44: "...the kitchen grew cozy as the sauce simmered, a culinary term which means 'cooked over a low heat.'"And so on.There are a few occasions where a word is defined well, in context and occasionally in character, and I don't mind those. But the constant shoehorning in of definitions made me want to take a sharpened number two pencil and work it under Mr. Snicket's fingernails until he apologized sufficiently for being a hack.I've gotten feedback from people who like this style, especially parents, who say that it saves them from having to put down the book and explain to the child what "blanched" means. Full disclosure: I am not a parent, nor am I likely to ever be one, but I think that teaching a child to figure things out for him or herself - or, god forbid, learn to use a dictionary - is part of what will make her or him grow up to be an inquisitive, intelligent adult. In my real job, teaching English as a foreign language, I find that my students are more likely to remember a word if I make them work for it, rather than if I just tell them what it means.Let's face it - if this book is written for adults, then the author should treat his readers like adults. If the book is written for children, which this ostensibly is, then the author has to choose whether to talk up or down to them. In a book where the main characters' parents die before the first page and where the eldest daughter nearly becomes a child bride to her blood uncle, one would think the author has judged his audience mature enough to deal with these themes. If that's so, then overtly defining "difficult" words is an insult to his readers, and that is unacceptable to me.I am reminded of a passage in Terry Pratchett's book, Wee Free Men, where the main character, a nine year old girl named Tiffany, asks an itinerant teacher about zoology:"Zoology, eh? That's a big word, isn't it.""No, actually it isn't," said Tiffany. "Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite short."I think Mr. Pratchett may have read Mr. Snicket's book as well.
What can I say? These books are amazing. Lemony Snicket does not dumb things down for children, and for that I am eternally grateful. He uses great words in this book, such as: insipid, aberrant, declaim, predicament, Molotov cocktails, incur, adroit, relinquish, nuptial, posthaste, in loco parentis, and mulctuary. Most of these words are explained in a great, kid-friendly way. A few are not, and that's when the child reaches for his/her dictionary. This is a great way of teaching children new words.Some people, especially older people, have expressed to me their strong dislike of books that are popular today - such as Harry Potter, Divergent, Hunger Games, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. They have told me that they are concerned. Aren't these books too dark for children? Won't reading about death and fighting and hard choices make them scared and confused? I think a lot of people forget that these very things are what hold a child's interest. Worrying about the characters, wondering what will happen to them, feeling a sense of dread when the protagonists land in some sticky situations...all of this leads to the children reading another page and another...to find out what happens. Dumbed-down books with no difficult words and no "scary" situations or difficult choices make for dull reading. People forget that the original versions of fairy tales were very dark and scary, and that children love complicated puzzles and complex situations.In addition, this book makes it extremely clear from the onset that it is going to be dark and full of difficulties and distress. It is, after all, called A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. Actually, a good bit of humor comes from Snicket's warnings about how dire the circumstances are in the book and his frequent suggestions that you "stop reading immediately." This, of course, has the opposite effect, and only makes the reader more interested. Actually, in spite of their dark and dismal content, these books are hilarious! Snicket's descriptions are charming and he has a way of writing to his audience that is enchanting and magical. I adore this idea of a "gothic novel" for young readers. Adults will love it too, and that makes it even better.When these books came out, I was no longer a child, but I was lucky enough to have a loved one read them out loud to me. I would drive this person to places quite frequently, as that person had no car, and as I drove I was read to out loud in a superb array of voices. I still remember how each of them sounded and they sound the same way in my head even now! Nowadays, I am the one reading this books out loud to children, and I still use those same great voices that my loved one used when reading these books to me! Children LOVE the voices and LOVE the stories. Currently, I know many children who do not read much and tell me that they are "not into reading", but have made an exception for this series. Especially since they see the series as "cool" and "not dorky". Shrug.I have never seen the movie with Jim Carrey and have no desire to.Another thing that I admire about these books is the strong, loving relationship between the Baudelaire orphans. Relying on and trusting each other, they always have each other's backs. They are smart, brave, inventive, and kind. I have a special place in my heart for books with strong sibling relationships, since I truly believe your siblings can be your best friends in life. Even in the most depressing situations, the Baudelaires know that they have each other, and that makes them strong. Family can be a surprisingly stunning asset to have, even when one has no money, no friends, and even sometimes, no real home.
What do You think about The Bad Beginning (1999)?
wow, loved it!! i really love to see a good work of juvenile fiction. i always feel like there aren't a lot of great kids' books these days ... but this was really good. although the story is dark, it's one of the most hilarious things i've read in my life at the same time. (the irony!!) i also love how the author defines certain vocabulary words; but he doesn't do it in a preachy, dictionary-definition kind of way, which i like. overall, really funny, unique, original, great characters, great tone, great pace, very well-written ... it was awesome. i'm going to read the sequel right away.
—Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!*
I read this in a night while visiting my folks. They went to bed and my mom has all the Snicket books so I thought I'd read one. I'd seen the movie and thought it was great and I've heard nothing but excellent things about this series. I sat down by the wood stove, started reading and, forty five minutes later, I was done.It was a great forty five minutes! The writing style is so funny and quirky and engaging. The story is superbly paced and the characters are a lot of fun. Whoever this Lemony Snicket is, he’s done something of high and lasting quality. And, not to get too deep, but the way the story plays out as a series of unfortunate events (of course) and people die and bad things happen, I’d say these books would do a fabulous job of giving kids an idea of what life’s really like. These books could very well be a great parenting tool, given some good discussion with mom and dad. Maybe I’m reaching but, y’know, why not let little Johnny and little Suzie know there’s trouble ahead and why not prepare for it?The illustrations, by the way, are killer but only appear at the beginning of each chapter. What can I say? I like pictures.Very, very good stuff. Well more than enough fun to justify the price of admission.
—East Bay J
While almost everybody I knew was hung up on Harry Potter, I read A Series of Unfortunate Events when it first came out and fell for it immediately. For some reason, I could never get into J K Rowling's writing. There was something about her storytelling voice that put me off, but I was drawn in to Lemony Snicket almost immediately, and it left a huge impression.Even though it hadn't been that long ago since it was written (a little more than a decade), The Bad Beginning stands the test of time. Both the writing and story translate very well to audiobook because the story is written in an style that mimics the oral traditions of fairy tale--original fairy tales where actions have consequences, not those sickly sweet Disney versions.One of my favorite things about the narration when I was younger was how it always opened a chapter with an anecdote that led into the story and how it stopped occasionally to define an unfamiliar term or explain a particularly complex grown-up problem, like how grief and loss affect everyone differently and how some people never recover from such an experience. I don't find these short interruptions as fascinating as I used to, mostly because I'm older now and have lived through these experiences, but I still think the interruptions are a necessary part of the story.Plus, Tim Curry is the narrator for the audios. Can't pass that up.
—Mimi
