Take a photo of a barcode or cover
slithy_tove 's review for:
The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket
Rather than leave thirteen reviews, I will leave my thoughts here. It's hard for me to leave any review that is disentangled from my experience growing up with these books. As such, I will say that this is one of those series, like Harry Potter, where the themes progress in maturity as you go along, and if you read it growing up you will feel the books are growing up, too. I will also say that if you try to get into it way later and only start it much older, you may not love it even if you do appreciate it.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is really unlike any set of books I've ever read before (and since). I guess it always innately appealed to me because inherent in it is an unrelenting sense of mystery and constant reminders that the world is very, very unfair, for no reason. I think that's why some can't bring themselves to like it, maybe? There is no grand plan, no grand reason why people suffer, it just happens, you have to still try to be as kind and intelligent as you can be but you aren't going to get satisfaction to your question of why bad things happen to good people. Philosophically I am very much of this sort of thinking, and I think a lot of people, even some who won't truly admit it, just cannot stomach the idea that there may be no grand plan, nothing really matters, and someday it just ends and that's "it" and consequently there's a precious beauty in every moment.
This theme is not brought on suddenly; it slowly develops over the course of the books. I think, like I said earlier, that it really grows with you if you start as a kid. The most important aspects that you start with are the all the mysteries--very fun to read and speculate about. I remember I was very into that spy stuff as a kid and I would spend hours daydreaming, trying to figure out what the VFD organization was, why they were formed, which characters were members. Handler also leaves clues through his first person narrator/fake author Lemony Snicket, which I would pore over. You also are given incredible main characters, precocious, kind, and brave.
These characters suffer through a lot. I actually find it really well done, subtly. What I mean by that is that it tackles themes of misery and bad behavior, in a mild, non-graphic way. There is no gratuity, the books are in no way inappropriate for children, and yet bad things are openly recognized. And it is equally recognized that so many times, so many people who could have stepped in to change something, don't. I think for anybody who suffered trauma as a child gets that acknowledged and recognized without anything graphic happening in these books. I have still heard some people clutch their pearls about this series because children's books are supposed to be filled with sunshine and rainbows or something, but I think it's actually great validation for children who know that sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people, including adults who should, do not do the right thing or do not listen. I actually find the books rather uplifting because they are constantly reminding you about the values of love, courage, and honesty.
I also always found these books incredibly funny. Handler uses a lot of exaggeration, hyperbole, sarcasm, and his authorial/Snicket voice is incredibly strong. I usually don't like when the narrator inserts himself in the story, but here I thought it brought the whole story together, especially because the narrator himself is another piece in the story. And I think it does speak to Handler's talent for writing; I've read another book that is not in this series and it sounds completely different.
It's very hard to know what else to say because...either you love these or you don't. But I think they're full of heart, great characters, and they taught me something. You can't say that about all books.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but I would say the standout best of this series for me were the 2nd, the 3rd, the 5th, the 6th, the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is really unlike any set of books I've ever read before (and since). I guess it always innately appealed to me because inherent in it is an unrelenting sense of mystery and constant reminders that the world is very, very unfair, for no reason. I think that's why some can't bring themselves to like it, maybe? There is no grand plan, no grand reason why people suffer, it just happens, you have to still try to be as kind and intelligent as you can be but you aren't going to get satisfaction to your question of why bad things happen to good people. Philosophically I am very much of this sort of thinking, and I think a lot of people, even some who won't truly admit it, just cannot stomach the idea that there may be no grand plan, nothing really matters, and someday it just ends and that's "it" and consequently there's a precious beauty in every moment.
This theme is not brought on suddenly; it slowly develops over the course of the books. I think, like I said earlier, that it really grows with you if you start as a kid. The most important aspects that you start with are the all the mysteries--very fun to read and speculate about. I remember I was very into that spy stuff as a kid and I would spend hours daydreaming, trying to figure out what the VFD organization was, why they were formed, which characters were members. Handler also leaves clues through his first person narrator/fake author Lemony Snicket, which I would pore over. You also are given incredible main characters, precocious, kind, and brave.
These characters suffer through a lot. I actually find it really well done, subtly. What I mean by that is that it tackles themes of misery and bad behavior, in a mild, non-graphic way. There is no gratuity, the books are in no way inappropriate for children, and yet bad things are openly recognized. And it is equally recognized that so many times, so many people who could have stepped in to change something, don't. I think for anybody who suffered trauma as a child gets that acknowledged and recognized without anything graphic happening in these books. I have still heard some people clutch their pearls about this series because children's books are supposed to be filled with sunshine and rainbows or something, but I think it's actually great validation for children who know that sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people, including adults who should, do not do the right thing or do not listen. I actually find the books rather uplifting because they are constantly reminding you about the values of love, courage, and honesty.
I also always found these books incredibly funny. Handler uses a lot of exaggeration, hyperbole, sarcasm, and his authorial/Snicket voice is incredibly strong. I usually don't like when the narrator inserts himself in the story, but here I thought it brought the whole story together, especially because the narrator himself is another piece in the story. And I think it does speak to Handler's talent for writing; I've read another book that is not in this series and it sounds completely different.
It's very hard to know what else to say because...either you love these or you don't. But I think they're full of heart, great characters, and they taught me something. You can't say that about all books.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but I would say the standout best of this series for me were the 2nd, the 3rd, the 5th, the 6th, the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th.