(A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)
by Lemony Snicket
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Publication Date: September 30th 1999
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Pages: 176
ISBN: 9780439206471
Genre: Childrens | Fiction | Fantasy
Source: Library
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Dear Reader,
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
(Goodreads)
I've known about the Series of Unfortunate Events books for quite some time now, but have never actually read them. My kids read the series when they were younger, and while I've been curious about the books before, I never really had the time to pick them up, and didn't plan to anytime soon. That is, until I saw the trailer from Netflix for the new show they created, starring Neil Patrick Harris, and now I want to read ALL THE BOOKS! *Grin*
I didn't know what to expect when I started reading The Bad Beginning. As I mentioned above, I had never read the books before, and have never seen the movie starring Jim Carrey either, so I had no idea what kind of story I was getting into. But, it was very much entertaining! I loved the characters; the children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny were all wonderful kids, who just really had the worst luck. Count Olaf was evil and despicable, and I'm dying to know what he's going to be up to next. There are some interesting secondary characters as well! The storyline was engaging, and very fast paced. Coming in at under 200 pages, this really was a quick read. I'm really looking forward to reading more of the series!
I actually decided to listen to these books in audiobook format, once I discovered that they were narrated by the super talented Tim Curry. I'm SO glad I decided to read them this way, as Tim was an excellent narrator! The voices he made for each of the characters were so much fun, and I can't wait to continue listening to the rest of the books in the series. (Yes, he narrates them all!) So good.
Overall; The Bad Beginning was an interesting start to the Series of Unfortunate Events series! I'm really excited to get started on the second book, The Reptile Room, to see what's going to happen next for the Baudelaire children!
I read the first few books in the series and enjoyed them but never got around to finishing it. I also watched the Jim Carrey movie but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. He wasn't scary as Olaf just kind of corny so I hope NPH does a better job (I'm sure he will). I plan to check out the series on Netflix. If I get the chance I may even listen to the audiobooks sometime. Nice review!
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