7 July, 2002
The Bad Beginning
Lemony Snicket
1999
162 pp
A Series of Unfortunate Events, by the pseudonymous Lemony Snicket, is the latest Big Thing in children's fiction. The series chronicles the amusingly unpleasant adventures of the three Baudelaire orphans. In this, the first of the series, Violet (14, likes to invent things), Klaus (12, likes to read), and Sunny (baby, likes to bite things) lose their parents and their home in a tragic fire, and are sent to live with a distant relative, Count Olaf. Olaf is a terrible guardian, who abuses and neglects the children, and who really only wants to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune (held in trust until Violet reaches her majority).
If this was played straight, the book would be unbearable, with all sorts of implausibly horrible things happenning to the poor kids. However, it's all very toungue-in-cheek. The narrative voice of "Lemony Snicket" is extremely droll, always interjecting silly asides and explanations. (You can get an example of it by looking at the Lemony Snicket web site, linked above.)
If it wasn't for the fact that the books are ten dollars each, I'd buy them all. Even so, the cost alone isn't a complete deterrent, I pay as much for each installment of Lone Wolf and Cub. However, considering that The Bad Beginning took only about an hour and a half to read, the cost-versus-amusement value isn't really low enough to be worth it. Maybe when I have a real job.
P.S. Thanks to Sue O'bara for lending me the book.