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3.5
I needed something relatively easy to read yesterday while I rested and this was just the ticket. The story is unusual and intriguing, the pacing is excellent, and the language used is interesting enough to keep you engaged even though the sentence structure is often very simple. As far as kids books go, it's up there as one of my favourites.
While I devoured this series as a kid, it's not quite as good as I remember, not quite as eloquent or clever, and sometimes a little clumsy. That seems to be the case with a lot of books I loved as a kid, namely Harry Potter. (If you haven't already, go back and reread Philosopher's Stone and you'll see what I mean.) Still, they're great stories and I will probably reread them a few times in my life for fun, because why not?
That said, adult me has a few pet peeves, because we all know I'm a raging feminist who is never happy with anything:
There's a fair bit of domestic violence apologism. Disclaimer: I am not saying this book promotes domestic violence or says it's ok. But it does make excuses for it. I'm saying that kids reading this book might get the wrong idea about being able to go to adults for help and might start to feel responsible for their own abusive situations, should they be in one.
Most infuriatingly, the adults give zero fucks about the physical abuse Olaf inflicts upon Klaus. As a kid you might think that there's no point coming forward or seeking the help of an adult if you've been abused because no-one will care, and thus you must handle the situation yourself. Violet is presented as blaming herself for her siblings' predicament and holds herself responsible for fixing it. The whole premise of the series is the children rescuing themselves, which is cool in theory because it gives kids confidence in their own abilities to problem solve. Unfortunately, most kids don't have super inventing powers or an extensive knowledge of the law, so taking on the entire burden of resolving a domestic abuse dynamic could be kind of a problem. Regardless, no child should have to feel responsible for any abuse they endure. Unhelpfully, this book says "keep your chin up." Like, it literally says, "keep your chin up," which means "try to stay cheerful."
There's also some transphobia towards the person who "looks like neither a man nor a woman" and who is described as looking non-human and referred to as "it". There are so many better ways they could have conveyed that character's appearance and essence without throwing non-binary people under the bus.
I also have one stylistic peeve: The constant defining of words gets irritating. Sometimes the effect comes off well, others it's unnecessary. For example...
"But thanks to her adroit inventing skills--the word "adroit" here means "skillful"..."
Definitions 101: Don't include the phrase defined in the definition. "Her skillful inventing skills..."? This little aside is genuinely pointless.
A Series of Unfortunate Events has its problems, but it was fun to revisit. I remember finding it thrilling because it was so twisted and unusual. From memory it gets pretty dark and that's when the fun starts. The next time I have a rest day I'll start on the second book.
While I devoured this series as a kid, it's not quite as good as I remember, not quite as eloquent or clever, and sometimes a little clumsy. That seems to be the case with a lot of books I loved as a kid, namely Harry Potter. (If you haven't already, go back and reread Philosopher's Stone and you'll see what I mean.) Still, they're great stories and I will probably reread them a few times in my life for fun, because why not?
That said, adult me has a few pet peeves, because we all know I'm a raging feminist who is never happy with anything:
There's a fair bit of domestic violence apologism. Disclaimer: I am not saying this book promotes domestic violence or says it's ok. But it does make excuses for it. I'm saying that kids reading this book might get the wrong idea about being able to go to adults for help and might start to feel responsible for their own abusive situations, should they be in one.
Most infuriatingly, the adults give zero fucks about the physical abuse Olaf inflicts upon Klaus. As a kid you might think that there's no point coming forward or seeking the help of an adult if you've been abused because no-one will care, and thus you must handle the situation yourself. Violet is presented as blaming herself for her siblings' predicament and holds herself responsible for fixing it. The whole premise of the series is the children rescuing themselves, which is cool in theory because it gives kids confidence in their own abilities to problem solve. Unfortunately, most kids don't have super inventing powers or an extensive knowledge of the law, so taking on the entire burden of resolving a domestic abuse dynamic could be kind of a problem. Regardless, no child should have to feel responsible for any abuse they endure. Unhelpfully, this book says "keep your chin up." Like, it literally says, "keep your chin up," which means "try to stay cheerful."
There's also some transphobia towards the person who "looks like neither a man nor a woman" and who is described as looking non-human and referred to as "it". There are so many better ways they could have conveyed that character's appearance and essence without throwing non-binary people under the bus.
I also have one stylistic peeve: The constant defining of words gets irritating. Sometimes the effect comes off well, others it's unnecessary. For example...
"But thanks to her adroit inventing skills--the word "adroit" here means "skillful"..."
Definitions 101: Don't include the phrase defined in the definition. "Her skillful inventing skills..."? This little aside is genuinely pointless.
A Series of Unfortunate Events has its problems, but it was fun to revisit. I remember finding it thrilling because it was so twisted and unusual. From memory it gets pretty dark and that's when the fun starts. The next time I have a rest day I'll start on the second book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
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