Customer Reviews

The Trouble Begins: A Box of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-3 (The Bad Beginning; The Reptile Room; The Wide Window)

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

These books are amazing. As a big fan of quality children's writing, I was completely engrossed in these books. Each narrative is strong, compelling, and unique. The author retains his structure while not allowing the plots to get too formulatic and boring. While you can see by the end of book 2 that a pattern is emerging (that is all I'll say here) -- and the fact that the series continues -- it seems to me that this helps the reader know that somehow the children will survive whatever ordeal they find themselves in, which is a great device. It alleviates our anxiety, and more importantly, a child's anxiety, that real harm might come to the kids, while letting us relax enough to enjoy the story as it unfolds.

I once read an essay by Maurice Sendac in which he described how hard it was to get published. The common thinking was that you can't wirte about things that scare children, like death. These dark fears are tabboo. He argued that children do think about such things, and that writing about them in a careful way respects children and their real concerns and provides them with a place to air their deepest fears. The success of his books, I believe, is in large part due to his respect for children.

These books, I believe, provide the same sort of thing, though they are much funnier than Sendac. The children are so bright and clever that they are wonderful heros. The grownups never seem to listen to them or realize that these are really insightful and intelligent people. I suppose this might be interpreted by some parents as undermining adult authority, but the writing is so good and the characters so ridiculous that bright kids would not see them as actual representations of real adults. This is very much along the lines of Roald Dahl, who is known for his horrible grownups who treat children as foolish little no-nothings. Children are much more insightful than many adults give them credit for, and bright kids love reading stories in which they can be the smart heros, solving the mysteries and beating the villain. This has been such a standard plot device for so long that I needn't list how many classic books have used it successfully. Just a few are the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, Matilda (and many of Dahl's books), Treasure Island, The wonderful Tintin series, of course harry Potter, etc., etc.). Kids love being the heros, and, like Harry Potter and many of these others, the key is in making the children heros, while allowing them to be terribly afraid while scary things are happening to them. Without this fear they feel, the stories would, of ocurse, be flat and stale and not ring true.

If Snicket didn't apply the assorted techniques to prepare his readers, I might feel otherwise, but I would have LOVED these books as a kid, and I can't wait until my 3.5 yr old is old enough to read them to her (in several years). Finally, one must read things as they are intended. Many of Grimm's Fairy Tales are very scary and violent, but alas, they are fairy tales. These books are contempory fairy tales. If they one day get produced as movies, they should be made by Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc.) who is one of the few people who could give them that air of unreality which would make them so thrilling and fun, without terrifying children and scaring them for life.

These are fantastic books which I highly recommend buying for the children in your life -- those who are old and bright enough to appreciate them as they are intended. Before you give them away as a gift, though, do sit down for a couple hours one stormy evening, make some tea, turn off the blasted television, and enjoy (at least the first of) these highly entertaining books.

I absolutely had to write a reveiw of this book after reading some of the idiocy posted here. First of all, they are called UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. Not HAPPY ENDINGS. These are NOT "The Happy Golden Years." They are not about Children as victims. They are about two smart cookies and a baby who don't accept the world around them as inevitable or inherently right. They have the best quality any person can have above intelligence: resourcefulness. To those who dislike these books, I can only imagine what technicolor idealist rubbish you would have your children read. Children these days know better than to believe everything ends happily. I believe that they are relieved to finally find in Lemony an adult who understands and acknowledges *sometimes it's tough being a kid*. Children are smart enough to see what is pretend, and surely grow bored with books that have underlying psychological agendas, games where everyone wins, and protagonists who go through life with no negative events. Who can relate to that? As in the case of Cleary's Ramona books, life just isn't like that.

I think that children who read these books (aside from those who have lost a parent or a have a fear of losing parents) will see right through the farce and root for these small heros. Sure, there are some shockers in plot, but the children solve their problems ingeniously. This story has great lessons, and smacks of epic poetry (If you can keep your head about you when everyone else is losing theirs and blaming it on you...) It is no more terrible than Hansel and Gretel. In fact, these children lost their parents to an accident, and I would fear that a child reading Hansel and Gretel would believe that a parent could be convinced to abandon his children. These books are cautiously dangerous, creating the terrible in a careful way.

In the case of this book, it may prompt your children to ask, "Where will I go if you die?" and you, hopefully, will be able to allay their fears with a relative much more pleasant than Count Olaf.

These are wonderful books about children who try very hard, love each other, who keep their brave faces and wits about them even when all alone, no matter what this brutal but loving author throws at them. Violet and Klaus make reading, research, creativity, and cunning wit very very cool. This is so important to our flawed culture that promotes winning through physical force alone. These books are written in an entertaining hand, with wit and sarcasm and a worthy nod to Nabokov. I can't wait to read the rest. I give it four stars because they are not quite the best of their genre, and are definately not long enough. Otherwise, they are excellent tomes I will treasure, and enjoy sharing with the pint sized protagonists in my life.

Before I discovered this series, I felt numb about reading. I really didn't care much for anything in the form of words. As a gift for Christmas I recieved these, and I thought, "This had to cost a fortune. My uncle really wasted his money." On New Years Day, I got bored and I looked for something to do. I pulled out book 1 still in place in it's box. As I put it down, I looked at the cruel face of Count Olaf (one of the charecters), and it sparked questions like *Why does he look mean?* and *How do the kids feel?* so I started reading it. Since, I couldn't stop! I had to know what horrible event would happen next! I suggest this book for any person who is in my case. They are great! I can't wait to read book 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9! :)

I saw the covers. I read the backs of the books. I was sold on them in a minute. I instantly thought of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams and I become excited at the prospect of being swept away into a morbid childhood fantasy.

And, quite honestly, the books deliver exactly that, but nothing more. I enjoyed the first book but became increasingly frustrated with the second and third.

The children in these books are powerless. They recognize the bad guy but they can't DO anything. Snicket tells us that the children are smart, brave, and resourceful, but they seem to spend most of their time waiting in helpless terror. Not a very brave, smart, or resourceful thing to do. This really bothered me.

Also, the books follow a strict formula - which I know is popular in books for younger readers. But he clings to the formula with a despairing lack of imagination.

I'm probably being too hard on the books, but that's just because the premise and the style have so much potential.

I enjoy reading these books to my children, and my eldest reads and re-reads them on his own. The only thing annoying to me as a reader is Sir Lemony's habit of explaining what words mean. Yet this annoyance to me is a source of joy to my seven year old, who doesn't have to ask what words mean and thus interrupt the story. This stylistic habit of Mr. Snicket also means that my child is learning a lot of new words -- and that the books are not written DOWN to children but respect their intelligence. Also, the iconoclastic nature of this new genre of book makes them truly fun to read and easy to relish. Children don't really like goody-goody books -- mine, at least (and I bet yours), see at once they are being condescended to. Lemony Snicket's works are both fun, genre-breaking, and, (thus undermining my word "both") terrific reads.

I read this book and at first was a bit put off. However, as I read more, I found the book to be very interesting and did not want to put it down. The book offers encouragement to readers, by generally stating to make the best of an awful situation. The book also gives definitions to words which a reader may not recognize. The reader of this book should grasp the underlying meaning that "bad things happen to good people" and not to give up hope. The circumstances these children face are terrible, but they never seemed discouraged. They keep moving forward. These series may also be helpful for young person going through a rough time, because he/she can identify with the children.

Don't believe a thing Lemony Snicket says - the only way these books of woe will have you crying is if you laugh really, really hard.

Lemony Snicket has a fresh, unique, and hilarious writing style. He speaks very plainly, explaining things along the way with his signature phrase, "a word which here means". Always he reminds his readers that they do not have to read these awful books that will only bring nights of wailing and weeping, although he has sworn to record them. Sometimes Snicket is deliciously non-sequitur - "...you would run much slower if you were dragging something behind you, like a knapsack or a sheriff". And each book is morbidly dedicated to a so far unknown woman named Beatrice. "Beatrice - Darling, dearest, dead."

Although the books are sold as children's books (or perhaps because of it), I would recommend these books to adults who are secure enough in their maturity to read them. Some of the humor might actually be hard for young children to understand unless they are great cynics already.

The basic plot of the story is this: three siblings - Violet, Claus, and Sunny Baudelaire - lose their parents in a fire. They are sent off to live with their "uncle", Count Olaf. Olaf is a horrible, detestable man who will do anything, however evil and dishonorable, to get his hands on the fortune that the Baudelaires will inherit as soon as Violet is of age. The Baudelaires find themselves in frustratingly hopeless and distressing situations, mostly because of the (oh, so aggravating!) thickheadedness of the adults around them. So using their special skills, Violet, Claus, and Sunny try and find solutions themselves - by inventing, researching, and biting things, respectively. They wriggle out of immediate danger, but there is never exactly a happy ending - instead, one that is relieved but forebodes more calamity.

The plot seems very repetitive through the fourth book - the Baudelaires live with various guardians and end up in equally desperate situations with Olaf on their tail. But don't be discouraged! By the fifth book, a larger picture begins to show. A whole mystery opens up - the VFD. What caused the fire which in which the Baudelaires' parents perished? Why are do all their guardians have so much in common? I won't give anything away, but the mystery builds through the rest of the books. The reader picks up little clues and tries to piece things together. The final two books have not been written yet, so don't expect a complete answer soon.

There are eleven books, but they are relatively small and quick reads. When you get through them, read The Unauthorized Autobiography. Snicket himself is an obscure sort of character in his books - he hasn't participated in any action yet, but it seems that he may have to soon. The Authobiography gives loads of tantalizing information (or just more questions) about the VFD.

In summary, The Series of Unfortunate Events is a hilarious, well-written action-and-mystery story, and just as suitable for brave adults as for children.

Lemony Snicket is the author, Brett Helquist is the illustrator, and man, I have no idea what's the deal with these books but they all are MARVELOUS!

The Bad Beginning is about the three rich Baudelaire orphans who have to go live with their distant relative, Count Olaf, who is the epitome of evil. He forms a plot to marry Violet, the eldest, to get their money, but the plan is discovered and Violet fixes it so that the marriage was false. Olaf runs away with his cronies, and Violet, Klaus (the middle child) and Sunny (the youngest, who's only a baby and can't talk yet) go and live with another relative.

The Reptile Room: takes over where The Bad Beginning left off. The orphans are headed down Lousy Lane to go live with their scientist relative, Montgomery Montgomery. He has a large house with a huge museum of reptiles (hence, THE REPTILE ROOM). Montgomery is actually nice to the orphans, and he says that they're all going on an expedition to a foreign country to look for reptiles. All of them are really excited, until the new helper-man that Montgomery hired named Stefano is discovered to be the evil Count Olaf. Olaf kills Montgomery, and the kids try and get their guardian, Mr. Poe, to understand that Stefano is a murderer. Everything ends up not-so-great, and Stefano runs away again with his cronies while the children go to a new relative's.

The Wide Window: takes place at Lake Lachrymose where the orphans have come to live with their widowed Aunt Josephine who's an incredible scaredy-cat. She's an fanatic about the English language, and she has to have perfect grammar. The orphans and Josephine meet a 'seafarer' named Captain Sham, who turns out to be Count Olaf (are we starting to see a pattern here?), and Aunt Josephine kind of develops a crush on him. The children try to warn her, but alas. Aunt Josephine runs away to a cave, and leaves the children a note with grammatical mistakes that tells where she is. The children go to find her, and she is a COMPLETE wimp and eventually ends up in the lake and eaten by leeches. The children escape from Count Olaf's clutches (he'd tried to adopt them after Aunt Josephine had supposedly deserted them). Mr. Poe was oblivious to this, even after the kids had warned him. But, eventually, Olaf gets away adn the kids go off to another relative.

My opinion: One of the best things about these books are the pictures, because they're really funny and interesting to look at. Also, even though the plot stays mostly the same throughout every book, you never get tired of it, because everything is JUST SO FUNNY. If you were a kid fan of Harry Potter, I would definitely recommend this. Even if you were an adult fan, I think that you would get the hidden meanings and acronyms better than the kids do. All in all, this is a great series and definitely a must read!

What grabs you first is the prose style. The elaborate introductory letters on the backs of the books, for instance, signed with the somewhat ambiguous closing, "With all due respect --- Lemony Snicket." The drily witty text of the stories reads rather like Miss Manners has been up all night and drinking entirely too much coffee.

The authorial voice intrudes, commenting on events, and providing definitions of words. These are sometimes congruous to those usually found in dictionaries. They are occasionally not --- in which that incongruity is usually both a plot element, and the subject of further comment by the authorial voice. The introduction to the concept of "dramatic irony" in the second book of the package is memorably amusing as well as educational.

I suspect that, as children's books, these will be appreciated mostly by highly verbal and sensitive children, those who have the ability to see behind the text and grasp exactly how their leg is being pulled. For these children, these books will not only be amusing, but valuable: they are written in a literate style, ironically formal, and the author's intrusions introduce a fair number of interesting words. Appropriate adults will find entertainment here too: the literary allusions, the Baudelaires and Poes, add depth to the stories, and clues to the clued-in as to what is really happening here.

Children --- or adults --- who can't or won't follow the ironic premise of the series are less likely to enjoy these.

I had originally thought that this series was nothing more than a Harry Potter clone..how wrong I was. This boxed gift set contains the first three books in hardcover: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window.

Much tragedy and unfortunate things befall the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. They were on the beach when a family friend, Mr. Poe, told them that their parents had died in the Baudelaire mansion in a fire. Mr. Poe explained that their parents had instructed that the children be put in the care of a relative, and the fortune would remain untouched until Violet was of legal age. It was decided that they were going to stay with Count Olaf, because he was the relative that lived closest to the Baudelaires' home, so he adopted the children. They all hated him from the moment they met him. Count Olaf was planning ways to gain control over the Baudelaire fortune.

It is so refreshing to find an author who is funny without assuming that kids need potty jokes to laugh. The humor is dark, twisted, and hilarious. While the Baudelaire Orphan's series are written for children, they can still be appreciated by mature readers. You truly root for Violet, Klaus, and Sonny and feel sadness and anger over their plight. Count Olaf is truly a degenerate villain for whom nothing is too extreme even murdering a child. Very few villains can be so simply crafted yet inspire such revulsion from the reader. Oddly enough this is a feat rarely accomplished by other more widely recognized by the public.

Those who criticize it's "dark" tone just don't get it.