At this point in the series, "Lemony Snicket" decided he could do a better job reading the books than Tim Curry. Really? He may be able to play the accordion, but he's no Dr. Frank-N-Furter. (According to Wikipedia, he eventually handed the audio book responsibilities back over to Curry.) So we listened to the first CD (four chapters), but then my cantankarous old CD player wouldn't play the second disk and the book came in at the library, so I read the remaining 9 chapters. This is the installment where the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with an old woman who is obsessed with grammar and afraid of pretty much everything else. Count Olaf masquerades as Captain Sham (see what he did there?) disguised with a peg leg and eye patch. The series is settling into a predictable pattern here, but I still enjoy all the quirky little details Snicket includes. Our favorite quotes: “There are two kinds of fears; rational and irrational - or, in simple terms, fears that make sense and fears that don't. For instance, the Baudelaire orphans have a fear of Count Olaf, which makes perfect sense, because he is an evil man who wants to destroy them. But if they were afraid of lemon meringue pie, this would be an irrational fear, because lemon meringue pie is delicious and has never hurt a soul. Being afraid of a monster under the bed is perfectly rational, because there may in fact be a monster under your bed at any time, ready to eat you all up, but a fear of realtors is an irrational fear. Realtors, as I'm sure you know, are people who assist in the buying and selling of houses. Besides occasionally wearing an ugly yellow coat, the worst a realtor can do to you is show you a house that you find ugly, and so it is completely irrational to be terrified of them.” “Business cards, of course, are not proof of anything. Anyone can go to a print shop and have cards made that say anything they like. The king of Denmark can order business cards that say he sells golf balls. Your dentist can order business cards that say she is your grandmother. In order to escape from the castle of an enemy of mine, I once had cards printed that said I was an admiral in the French navy. Just because something is typed - whether it is typed on a business card or typed in a newspaper or book - this does not mean it is true.” “There are men and women who are experts in the field of handwriting analysis. They are called graphologists, and they attend graphological schools in order to get their degrees in graphology. You might think that this situation would call for a graphologist, but there are time when an expert's opinion in unnecessary. For instance, if a friend of yours brought you her pet dog, and said she was concerned because it wasn't laying eggs, you would not have to be a veterinarian to tell her that dogs do not lay eggs and so there was nothing to worry about.” “If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats.” “Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it would be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it.” “For some stories, it's easy. The moral of 'The Three Bears,' for instance, is "Never break into someone else's house.' The moral of 'Snow White' is 'Never eat apples.' The moral of World War I is 'Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand.”
The Wide Window's the strongest installment of A Series of Unfortunate Events thus far. There's humor:There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational--or, in simpler terms, fears that make sense and fears that don't. For instance, the Baudelaire orphans have a fear of Count Olaf, which makes perfect sense, because he is an evil man who wants to destroy them. But if they were afraid of lemon meringue pie, this would be an irrational fear, because lemon meringue pie is delicious and has never hurt a soul. There's philosophy and moral instruction:Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house , and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it might be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it.And there's grammar, a murder mystery, food allergies, creepy clown restaurants, leeches, horseradish, an inland hurricane, and androgeny. Quite the eclectic combination!I said at the beginning of this review that I liked the third installment better than the first two. All three stories have been well written lightning quick reads. All three have been dark, dark, dark. But Handler's/Snicket's ratcheting up of the dark humor in #3 shows his increasing confidence. So what keeps me from giving The Wide Window four stars instead of three? A major reason is Mr. Poe. How naive and self-deluded can you be, despite the mountains of evidence proving the Baudelaire orphans aren't malicious morons. Believe them, for Pete's sake! Another reason is the repetitive storyline--the Baudelaires have a fortune held in trust, Olaf really wants said fortune and is willing to kill for it, the Baudelaires foil Olaf's attempt to steal their money, Olaf escapes only to try again in the next book. The premise is getting stale. Will Handler/Snicket mix it up in future installments? Will more be learned about Snicket and Beatrice? Whatever's needed to add some suspense, I'm for it.
What do You think about The Wide Window (2000)?
Does it count as reading when you listen to the audio version?Tim Curry isn't reading this version. Instead we get the author "Lemony Snicket", aka Daniel Handler. He's quite nasaly and not as cool to listen to than Tim Curry.The story is still good and intriguing. So far we like the series and my girls beg for it to be on in the car. We are on the Miserable Mill now, and still stuck with Lemony Snicket's voice (at least in the movie we got Jude Law!) I looked it up and we are back to Tim Curry for the next book, The Austere Academy. Yay! His voice is so soothingly evil and tantilizing all at once. Makes it very easy to listen to and get into the story.
—Jennifer Morrill
Only discovering these books now and I´m absolutely in love with these. The content is surprisingly mature for a children´s book series, so I understand that not everyone will like them. I listened to the first 2 volumes on audiobook (narrated by Tim Curry) which I really recommend.
—SuxOrz
I know this is a children's series, but I am LOVING it! This is the third book in which Daniel Handler writes under the pen name of Lemony Snicket in A Series of Unfortunate Events. The story is sad, as 3 orphans continue to find misfortune as they try to find a happy home after their parents died in a fire. Throughout the series, they are fleeing from Count Olaf, who is seeking their fortune. I love Snicket(Handler)'s writing style. Who writes this on the back cover?Dear Reader,If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and the one you are holding may be the worst of them all.If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signaling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair.I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.With all due respect,Lemony SnicketHow many authors do that to introduce the story to their readers? As a teacher, I love this approach - using some suspense and a bit of reverse psychology, if you will, to gain readers. I would love to use this series as a read-aloud one day in my classroom. I love the idea of using a series to get kids into reading. Another thing I like about the writing style is the way Handler introduces new vocabulary and common phrases to the reader. For example: ...Placing her hands underneath the table, she unwrapped three peppermints, using the utmost - the word "utmost", when it is used here, means "most" - care not to make any of those crinkling noises that come from unwrapping candy and are so annoying in movie theaters.There are several instances in the book(s) where this is done, which is great, especially since the book is written for kids. If you have kids, I would recommend this book! If you don't have kids are just want to read it yourself, I would still recommend it, especially if you are just looking for something fun and easy to read. 3 in the series down, 10 more to go!
—Amanda
