Lemony Snicket

“There are two reasons why a writer would end a sentence with the word “stop” written entirely in capital letters STOP.”

Of course, STOP is written to mark the end of a sentence in a telegram. But Lemony Snicket is really stressing on the second usage of the word STOP to his readers when he opens up this book. He is asking his readers, quite emphatically, to STOP reading the tale of the three Baudelaire orphans. There is no surer way to guarantee that a reader, after reading such a warning, will plunge into the book at full speed.

The Baudelaires have been moving from one bad situation to a worse one, ever since the a fire consumed their parents and house. They were placed in the care of Count Olaf (Book #1), only to find out that he was a criminal who only wanted to steal the Baudelaire fortune. Since then the three children have moved on to different guardians, living with Uncle Monty who loved reptiles (Book #2), stayed with Aunt Josephine who was mortally afraid of almost everything (Book #3), worked at a mill (Book #4), worked at an academy (Book #5), lived with the Squalors (Book #6) and finally fled from a village of fowl devotees (Book #7).

Being hopelessly lost, the Baudelaires fall in with the Volunteers Fighting Disease and end up at the Hiemlich Hospital where they finally stumble upon a piece of information that is about to change who chases whom. The existence of a “Baudelaire file” puts the children at grave risk, and they stumble upon a single photograph that contains a clue that the orphans (or not?) must decipher. But before they can get anywhere with the information, they once again fall into the hands of Olaf’s associates.

I grew to enjoy this series, when I first began reading it a decade ago. The tricks of the villain aren’t too innovative or jaw-dropping but Lemony Snicket writes with a dry, clever wit, that keeps you wanting to read ahead. By this point, the series has dragged out pretty far, and there are still 5 more books to go! It’s a good thing they are quick reads, or the reader would the run the risk of giving up in the middle of the series.

More than the Baudelaire story, I’m curious about Lemony’s. I love how he drops those subtle hints about Beatrice in his dedications at the start of every book

For Beatrice –
Summer without you is as cold as winter.
Winter without you is even colder.
…or how he writes to his “editor” at the end of every book, telling him where to find the next “manuscript of the Baudelaire story.”

Don’t miss the Jim Carrey, on-screen version of the first three books of this series, titled “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. It is funny, colorful and a good watch for the youngsters.… (more)

Re-read (Pajama Storytime) May 2024

Laszlo is afraid of the dark, though he often goes down to the basement to say hello to it, thinking that if he visits the dark there, the dark won't visit him in his room at night. But one night, the dark does visit Laszlo, and invites him to come downstairs...into the basement...and open the bottom drawer in the chest of shelves...which is full of light bulbs! Klassen's stark art and Snicket's whimsically ominous (or ominously whimsical) text pair perfectly here.… (more)