Customer Reviews

The Austere Academy (Series of Unfortunate Events)

5 star:		(170)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have to admit as much as I've enjoyed these books, by the fourth I was getting a little bored. The structure would stay the same, the victims names would just change. I was so glad then to find the fifth book expanding and bringing in new characters who look like they could be around in future books. Mr Poe packs Violet, Klaus , and Sunny off to a horrible boarding school that has ridiculous rules. Of course you wait to see when the evil Count Olaf will rear his head, but the distraction in the book comes from the addition of two children the same age as Violet and Klaus who become their friends. It gives the series new places to go and breaks the normal story outlines. It's also the longest so far but for me it read the fastest. If you've liked the other books in the series you can be sure you'll like this one as well.

The lives of the three Baudelaire orphans - fourteen-year-old Violent, twelve-year-old Klause, and baby Sunny - continue along their miserable path in The Austere Academy, the fifth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Their latest home is at Prufrock Preparatory School, headed by the nasty Vice Principal Nero, who gives dreaful six-hour violin recitals nightly. Forced to live in a miserable shack, the children only encounter one bright spot - they make friends with two other orphans. But nothing good lasts long if you are the Baudelaires - Count Olaf is in disguise at the school, planning to steal their fortune. I highly reccomend this addition to the series. It is one of the most delightful - eh, miserable - so far.

The Austere Academy, fifth in A Series of Unfortunate Events, will not disappoint fans of the books. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are stuck at a nightmarish boarding school, where they are made to live in a shack that includes territorial crabs, a strange tan fungus, and truly hideous wallpaper. Added to this are incredibly dull classes and a headmaster who cannot play the violin but insists on doing so anyway...for six hours a night at an all-school concert. If only these were the worst of the Baudelaires' problems, they could finally consider themselves lucky. But, alas, the fiendish Count Olaf has tracked them down yet again. Once again the Baudelaires must try to discover his evil plan in time to save themselves and their fortune. Along the way there are more clues about Lemony Snicket's mysterious lady love, the charming and beautiful but unfortunately deceased Beatrice...A great read, but be warned that the ending is a cliffhanger that will leave you feeling very impatient to get your hands on the next volume!

I love the ways Lemony describes the Orphan House, and the violin concert! He has a beautiful way of weaving together mystery and sadness at the same time. I think he should write more volumes as well as other books. Count Olaf's treachery is so real; you can almost feel him taking revenge.If you think all grown-ups should be sensible, and not listen to the children until the last minute; and if you like happy endings; and if you hate child abuse; and if you dispise a terrible man--this is not the book for you. (-:

I have read all the Series of Unfortunate Events books. They are all very good! But I am scared of Count Olaf. He always creeps up and tries to kidnap the Baudelaire orphans, and no one believes them when they say he is in disguise, so they have to stop him themselves. I am glad the Baudelaire orphans are so resourceful and brave, because I would be *very* frightened of Count Olaf. Oh oh oh! Isn't that him there in those fake mutton-chop whiskers and the cowboy hat? Look OUT, Baudelaire orphans! Look out! Oh, I must close the book now and go lie down for a bit to recover from the fright he always gives me.

The Austere Academy is the fifth book in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket. This grimly hilarious children's novel will entertain and intrigue readers looking for a fun book to read. In each book in this series it is fun to meet the different villains, and discover Count Olaf's new disguises. In the Austere Academy Sunny, Klaus, and Violet Baudelaire are shipped off to a boarding school,which has the motto Memento Mori(remember, you will die)! During their stay the Baudelaires encounter snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, six-hour violin recitals by the evil vice-principal Nero who thinks that he is a genius, Special Orphan Running Exercises(S.O.R.E.), and the metric system. I recommend this exquisite book to everyone!

I also recommend: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, the Harry Potter series, and the Orphan Train Quartet.

This, I must say is one of my favorites in the series. These are very Roald Dahlesk books, so if you like Roald Dahl, you will probably like this. Such funny happenings as a baby being forced to be a seceratary, and make her own staples, and nightly 6-hour long violin concerts by a headmaster who can't play the violin worth a hoot. I thought that this book put a nice change in the series that was beginning to be JUST A TAD repetitive. Now that their are new inscentives of Count Olaf and the Bauldeires, the books have a new level of excitment. This book especially kept me reading, I read the whole thing in one sitting. I strongly suggest you read these books in order, but don't stop at the 3rd or 4th one, keep reading and you will get to the really exciting ones.

Out of all the series of Unfortunate Events Novels, the fifth one, The Austere Academy, is one of the most impotant books. If you have read the others, you will know how the Buidlaires became orphans, when their parents died in a fire. You will also know about their fortune which Count Olaf is trying to steal. Count Olaf is a greedy villian who has a crew of members assisting him. They will stop at nothing to get the Buidlaire fortune.
In this book the Buadlaire orphans ,Violet, Klause, and Sunny, will meet some new friends at their new school, the Quagmire triplets. The Quagmire triplets will be important throughout the next few books. Count Olaf will be back!!!!!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK AND THIS SERIES!!!!!!!!!! READ THEM ALL!!!!! I LOVE THEM AND YOU WILL TOO!!!!!!! FOR FUN, ME AND MY MOM TALK LIKE COUNT OLAF!!!!! HE IS SO COOL!!! AND SO IS SUNNY!!! SHE'S AWESOME!!!!! SHE SHOULD HAVE HER OWN TALK SHOW!!!!!!!!! AND COUNT OLAF'S DISGUSTING THEATRE TROUPE IS SOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!! THEY ROCK!!!! VIOLET AND KLAUS ARE COOL TOO!!!!!!! IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, THEN READ THE BOOKS AND YOU WILL!!!

I've read the first book "The Bad Beginning" and this book. Mr. Snicket has definitely improved as he goes along. While in the first book I was sometimes annoyed by his pedantic asides, in this one they made me laugh!

The narrator's story is often more interesting than that of the Baudelaire orphans. He gives out hints about himself, making me wonder how on earth, for example, Mr. Snicket came to be chased by a group of torch-bearing villagers, or why (from the first book) he is not allowed within five miles of my town. Why is he compelled to research the siblings and share their story with the world? We're given to know in this book that the tale is told at a distant remove in the future, although between Gothic elements and modern-day conveniences (computers and cars are mentioned but not television?) it's hard to say exactly where, or when, the story takes place.

The orphans' situation is dismal but in a hilarious way. They are made to live in a tin shack inhabited by little toe-biting crabs and drippy tan fungus! Sunny (a baby!) is to do administrative assistant (a.k.a. secretarial) work and, when she runs out of staples, must make her own! And, lest we forget, Count Olaf returns to make their lives miserable, in a ridiculous disguise that only the Beaudelaire orphans can see through.

The Beaudelaire orphans meet some new friends in this book, the Quagmire triplets--two of them anyway, since the third, well, it's too sad to tell, read the book. In a world of menacing, incompetent, or annoying adults, these clever, kind children win the day...until the unhappy (but still funny) cliffhanger ending which leads us in to Book the Sixth, "The Ersatz Elevator."

While the first book didn't enchant me, this one was great fun and I plan to pick up as many of the series as I can! I'm looking forward to reading Book the Seventh, "The Vile Village" and all the rest of the Beaudelaire orphans' adventures that I've missed.