The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited: Australia, 2017.
First published 1999.
Book 1 in 'A Series of Unfortunate Events.' Followed by 'The Reptile Room.'

A well-known semi-gothic humorously dark children's book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events has been made into a movie starring Jim Carrey (based on three of the books) and a Netflix series starring Neil Patrick Harris (covering all thirteen). I have seen the movie, but only clips from the series. However, what comes through in both adaptations is the very particular style of the books.

Lemony Snicket (the pseudonym of author Daniel Handler) is not just the writer or the book, but a character in his own rights, who comments on the proceedings throughout the book, generally lowering the expectations of any audience member who may wish for 'happy' parts, by assuring us that what begins badly will continue to get worse. 

And it does, but in a strangely light, humorous and children's-book-appropriate way.

The three protagonists are Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, who very quickly become 'the Baudelaire orphans' when their parents are killed in a mysterious fire. Heirs to an immense fortune that they will only inherit once they come of age, the siblings are shipped off to the home of their nearest relative, Count Olaf. When I say 'nearest', I do not mean to imply that Count Olaf is a beloved uncle or grieving sibling to the late Baudelaire parents. As the banker Mr Poe puts it: "He is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed. He is not your closest relative on the family tree, but he is the closest geographically." (page 15). 

Absurd logic like this recurs throughout the book, often adding to the humour of the otherwise dark proceedings. Adults are either well-meaning but distracted and dim individuals, or - like Count Olaf and his theatre troupe - are villains, seeking to gain the Baudelaire fortune by whatever means possible. In this 'episode', Count Olaf eventually decides to marry Violet in order to gain access to the wealth, something fairly distasteful due to Violet being underage and Count Olaf being her legal guardian, but explained away with the logic of the book. Of course, the siblings seek to avoid this occurrence, but must do so without any adult help, and while Count Olaf continues to hold the youngest sibling, Sunny, hostage.

It's faux dark more than truly dark, just as there are 'happy' moments despite Snicket's gravest warnings, with the orphans defeating Count Olaf's schemes and exposing him as a villain, but still needing to be shipped off to their next 'unfortunate' adventure, rather than getting a proper happy ending.

It's fun. Not something I will rush to continue reading, but not something I would actively avoid either.

I can understand why it's popular.

Completed 9 May 2024.

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