The Bad Beginning

I honestly don't get the love for this series. It's super repetitive and the only character with any actual personality is the narrator. The Baudelaire children's dialogue is exclusively exposition. We're told everything about them. It's just boring. And the vocabulary lessons! The constant inclusion of definitions is grating. Given the mature themes of the story, this is a serious disconnect. The author seems to both think that children don't know much and need to be spoon fed and that they can handle death, abuse, and neglect. Maybe I give kids more credit than most adults, but I believe most kids don't need the definitions. I understand it's kind of a joke, but if that's the main purpose of the definitions then it's far too repetitive. However, definitions done like the one on page 74 are great. And finally, the poor communication trope is frustrating. I understand the charm in this series, and I plan to finish it out, but it really does it's best to irritate me.

Still as good as I remember.

I first read this back when I was a kid and I remember loving it. I read over half the series but eventually had to stop because it was too depressing for me. As an adult I'm hoping to get through the entire series and see how it will end.

This first book ended up being so fast! I remember it being much more drawn out, so I was shocked at the pacing, but honestly didn't mind. I don't think it really needed much more. I love the foreshadowing throughout and how the author mentions certain things over and over to give hints to how things will work out.
The ending also made me eager to read the next book, so it is cool how that is included.
As an adult the parts where he explains what words mean can be a bit dull or seem repetitive, but I love that it is included for the target audience, so hopefully it will help their vocabulary.

This is a re-read from childhood that I picked up again so that I can I have a record of reading it. I also picked it up because I never finished the series originally, and I would like to see the netflix adaption now it has finished.

This book was weirdly formal throughout, but well written. I still found it enjoyable as an adult, but it felt like a really insubstantial book. I think the course of the book really occurs over a week or so, and it shows. Additionally, the conflict and resolution of the book is carried out in the last two chapters very quickly so it didn't feel as satisfying as it did as a kid.

I'd recommend it if you're the market age range, if not I'd suggest you watch the tv show. I still want to complete the series to see if it gets better.

Please give a helpful vote to my Amazon review - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1CA7LZF6KT4Y0?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

I just finished off the Netflix series with my 20 year old daughter, and I thought I would see how the book compared to the series.

I wish I had discovered this book ten years ago so that I could have given it to my daughters when it was more age appropriate. The story zips along quickly enough to keep the reader entertained. It is also very humorous in its presentation of characters and situations. The writing is amusing and well-done. However, I think the best thing about the book might be the way that it introduces the young reader to a larger vocabulary through the narrator's quirk of telling us what a word “here means.”

As an adult, I have to say that while this book is really very short - it took me no more than an hour or two to polish it off - it has the trait of a lot of good children's entertainment that the writer pitches jokes on several levels so that on one level an adult might catch the humor of a sentence that would sail over the heads of a child.

So I wanted to know what this series is about, so I listened to the first book. Thank goodness Tim Curry was the narrator. He at least brought some enjoyment to the book. I get that the trope of orphans living with bad relatives is being stretched and made fun of. I get that adults are particularly stupid in this trope. But it was too much for me. I can't imagine kids reading this book or series and enjoying it let alone ‘getting' it.
I guess I know what it is about now.

It was entertaining, but simply not interesting enough to read the other books.

Listening to the audiobook of this novel was the best decision. Tim Curry narrating is pleasurable to the ears! Plus I feel accomplished after listening to the entire book in one evening. Ive read this book before, but I wanted to listen to it to refresh my memory of it. I cant wait to listen to the rest!

4.0

This was such a quick read! It only took me like more or less an hour to finish this. Actually, I remember reading this book in my Elementary school's library before, and re-reading it made me realize how intriguing this book is. It's a good book to start off the ASoUE series and it doesn't disappoint at all. The Baudelaire siblings were introduced and you can't help but immediately sympathize with them. Count Olaf left a really convincing impression as a villain. The story/plot teaches a lot of valuable things from real life skills, to grammar & vocabulary. I am pretty much looking forward to reading the next 12 books of this series. In fact, I'm about to start the 2nd book of this series - which is “The Reptile Room”.

I think I just wasn't in the right mood/headspace to be reading this book at the time, but the writing style REALLY did not do it for me.

Lang lang geleden had ik de eerste paar boeken van A Series of Unfortunate Events gelezen. Zo lang geleden dat er nog maar een paar waren.

En dan heb ik de film gezien en die was niet alleen leutig maar vooral helemaal zoals ik het mij inbeeldde als ik de boeken las, en dan heb ik de tv-serie gezien en was het gewoon worden aan een nieuwe Uncle Olaf maar dat wende redelijk snel en toen was het ook helemaal zoals ik het mij inbeeldde als ik de boeken las.

Da's niet altijd goed wegens boeken en film/tv ander medium en zo, maar hey. Seizoen twee van de tv-reeks eindigt bij boek vier, ik had denk ik maar een tot en met drie gelezen, en ondertussen waren er nog tien boeken verschenen en — belangrijker — was de serie afgelopen met deel dertien, The End.

Wat doet een mens dan? Uiteraard, beslissen om alles nog eens te lezen en te herlezen.

Er zijn ongetwijfeld allerlei geleerde dingen te zeggen over intertekstualiteit en metavertellingen en watnog, maar het komt hierop neer: Lemony Snicket, de auteur, is niet echt maar eigenlijk een personage in het verhaal. De onderwerpen van de de serie onfortuinlijke gebeurtenissen zijn de Baudelaires, Violet, Klaus en Sunny.

Ze zitten aan het strand als ze de boodschap krijgen dat hun ouders overleden zijn in een brand waarbij hun huis en al hun bezittingen in de as zijn gelegd. Ze worden door de bank, bij monde van Mr. Poe, geplaatst bij hun oom Olaf. Waarvan ze niet wisten dat hij hun oom was, en die eigenlijk een slechterik is die het fortuin van de Baudelaires wil inpikken.

Klaus leest veel boeken en weet veel, Violet kan vanalles uitvinden, en Sunny, die in orakelachtige uitingen spreekt die alleen haar broer en zus begrijpen, heeft sterke tanden waarmee ze kan bijten.

Onfortuinlijke gebeurtenissen, Olaf die met Violet wil trouwen om zo het geld te krijgen, maar het loopt allemaal goed af. 't Is te zeggen, het loopt niet goed af. Dit plan mislukt, maar dat brengt hun ouders niet terug, en het geeft ze nog altijd geen controle over hun eigen lot.

★★★½☆

This book didn't get me completely. It's such a shame, I really wanted to like it!! But I think I'll try to read the rest of this series, too :)

I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong.


But the children knew, as I'm sure you know, that the worst surroundings in the world can be tolerated if the people in them are interesting and kind.


Sometimes, just saying that you hate something, and having someone agree with you, can make you feel better about a terrible situation.


Unless you have been very, very lucky, you have undoubtedly experienced events in your life that have made you cry. So unless you have been very, very lucky, you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.


I'm sure you, in your life, have occasionally wished to be raised by different people than the ones who are raising you, but knew in your heart that the chances of this were very slim.


It is very useful, when one is young, to learn the difference between “literally” and “figuratively.” If something happens literally, it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it's happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, for instance, it means you are leaping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but are saving your energy for other matters.


But by immersing themselves in their favorite reading topics, they felt far away from their predicament, as if they had escaped.


There are many, many types of books in the world, which makes good sense, because there are many, many types of people, and everybody wants to read something different.


They didn't understand it, but like so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so.

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

RESEÑA DE TODA LA SERIE

Una cosa muy curiosa que me ha pasado tanto con los libros como con la película basada en los libros es que siempre, pero SIEMPRE, pasa algo que no dejaba terminar de leerlo o verlo. Pero esta vez, cual Lemony Snicket, cogí los libros y me encerré en un bunker bajo tierra para que nadie siquiera piense en interrumpirme. No Olaf, no VFD.

Los trece libros que conforman esta serie me los termine en un poquito más de una semana, quizá ocho días. Como dije, el primer libro ya lo había empezado antes, pero no pude continuarlo. Esta vez, empecé uno en la mañana, terminaba el siguiente en la tarde, empezaba el que le sigue en la madrugada y lo terminaba a penas despertar. Sep, casi tres libros por día. ¿Que tiene tanto de especial la serie? A pesar de que el escritor te dice una y otra vez que no leas los libros, para mi fue literalmente imposible parar.

If you're allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats

Just knowing that they could read made the Baudelaire orphans feel as if their wretched lives could be a little brighter

Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean that it's nonsense

THE WORLD IS QUIET HERE

“I don't have time to medically examine the Baudelaires, or shove my face into any best-known novels!”
“Wicked people never have time for reading. It's one of the reasons for their wickedness”

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As a child, I would not have enjoyed this book. The story is bizarre. So is the writing style. The author narrates the story like a parent reads to a child.

I've read hundreds of books in my life. I know the general writing formula. Honestly, it's great to find a story that breaks the rules. This book wasn't happy. It was depressing, but it was different. I also really enjoyed the little definitions the author added in. Bravo.

4/5 stars

This is one of my favorite series and it never bores me no matter how many times I read it. I remember how amazed I was as I read, as I had never encountered this type of writing style. I loved how Lemony Snicket warned the readers on each book's cover that the Baudelaire's lives are unpleasant-there is no happy beginning, no happy end, and very few happy things occur throughout the series. I already knew what to expect, but the ways the characters are set up and the events that unfold in each book never failed to captivate me.

Spoilers:
In terms of the first book, we start on a beach where the three siblings are playing. We get a very good description of what to expect from each sibling. From how inventive Violet was to how aggressive Sunny could be, the book goes on to prove this throughout the book with the actions they take in certain situations. After this, we get to meet the series' main villain, Count Olaf. He immediately had them do difficult chores. Even though they tell Poe, he proves himself useless and fails to admit that Count Olaf is evil. I remember resonating with these scenes because they proved how adults tend to ignore them.

As we continue to read, we realize that he is carrying out a plan in which he will marry Violet and threaten her with having Sunny captive to force her to sign. I loved how she managed to figure out a way to ruin his plan while not making it obvious. She used her non-dominant hand to sign, making it invalid. This caused Count Olaf and his associates to flee. Although Justice Strauss (one of the relatively better adults in this book) offers to take them in once again, Poe steps in (this man annoyed me throughout the series). The story ends with them saying goodbye and being taken to another guardian.

~Full series overview here on The Bent Bookworm!~The Bad Beginning as a title does not exaggerate. These poor kids, let me tell you. It starts off with introducing us to the Baudelaire siblings – Violet, Klaus, and Sunny – just as they've lost their parents. Their solicitor, Mr. Poe, is a well-meaning but incredibly thick man who has no idea how to care for children and truly seems unable to see past the end of his constantly dripping nose. The siblings go to live with the evil Count Olaf, who is somehow VERY distantly related to them (how is it their parents have SUCH weird distant relatives and no near ones?) and cares nothing for them except how to get his hands on their money, as their deceased parents were quite wealthy. They move into his horrid house, where there are treated as little better than slaves. There is some comic relief, and also a consistent ray of sunshine in the form of Count Olaf's neighbor (who, despite being well-meaning, is just as dense as every other “good” adult in this book).The siblings are far from being normal children. They are all extremely gifted in some form, even Sunny – who is still a baby but is able to both communicate and act on a much older level. Violet is an inventor, and Klaus is a devourer of books and therefore just a general compendium of knowledge. Are they believable? Hardly. But neither are the adults.The dark, twisted tone of this book really surprised me. This is for children!?! There are elements of abuse of the Baudelaire kids on all kinds of levels, twisting of the law in the worst possible way...and yet, the siblings refuse to be put down and refuse to give up. They stick together and eventually overcome the evil...but the evil is still lurking...and Mr. Poe is just as dense as ever.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+

I've heard quite a lot about A Series of Unfortunate Events, and tried reading it at 11 years old. Back then I seemed to think that it was awfully sad and so I stopped reading it. But now that I finally read it all, I don't think it lived up to the hype around it, and that's slightly disappointing. I realize that the book is aimed at younger audiences, which is why I think I didn't fully enjoy it. I also don't think it was all that sad anymore, just... unfortunate.

I remember the whole Count Olaf story arc from the film but this book still managed to keep entertained and I think it was basically because of Snicket's style of writing.

I especially liked how the characters were described. Each one had a very rich and entertaining personality. The Baudelaire siblings were very likable and, even though all the characters were eccentric, I still found the children to be very relatable.

The narrator addresses the audience a lot and, as always, I quite enjoyed that. I wasn't particularly a fan of the excessive use of definitions in this book. At the first, I thought that, since it's a book for kids, it was a nice way to introduce new words and help the little ones that were reading the book on their own. But when the same device was being used three or four times per chapter, it became repetitive and I felt it was being overused.

As all the books in the series are quite short and I imagine as entertaining as this one, I'm going to continue the series when I start attending to classes because I won't have much time to anything too long or too demanding.

I know that these books are much beloved and considered at this point children's classics, but I just couldn't love them. And it's not that they're written for younger kids. I have no problem with Harry Potter & I love Gregor the Overlander, but maybe I'm just too much in need of happy endings in kids books. And Mr. Snicket constantly reminds us that these books are not happy ending books. At least he's honest about that. I both love & hate the way so many words are defined in the book. Hate because it gets tiresome when I already know the definitions. It breaks up the pace of the book for me. I love them because thinking as a parent this is a great way to introduce words that kids might not know and define words in a fun and easy to incorporate way.

I do also love the ‘back story' of Lemony Snicket. I love how Daniel Handler created this character and made this entire story to explain why Lemony Snicket is writing about the Baudelaire children.

I'm not saying these are bad books, I just could love them and don't have much desire to finish out the series. Maybe Emma will love them!

4.5 stars

I first learned of Lemony Snicket (i.e. Daniel Handler)'s A Series of Unfortunate Events in undergrad, of all places. I don't remember the specific class, but whatever English class it was, the instructor and a couple students raved about it for nearly ten minutes. “It's the funniest thing ever,” they assured the class. They were cracking themselves up talking about specific scenes and characters; the rest of the class offered lazy smiles—we were on the outside of something big and we were obviously missing out. Until we read this wonderful book we wouldn't know what was so funny.

I've read the book now. And honestly I don't know what was so funny.

In The Bad Beginning, “Snicket” (I hate calling him that) is traveling a path that has been traversed previously in children's literature—I think specifically of Roald Dahl. This is a story that is dark, never sugarcoated and the humor is rather dry. There seem to be many attempts at wit, but, unlike Dahl's attempts, they fall flat more often than not. The characters don't stand out as much as they probably should. Most of the humor comes from the author's “translations” of Sunny's words, but this gets played out fairly early. At some point, every stab at humor is just a rehash of a joke made earlier in the book. I do like the fact that Snicket Handler incorporates such a heavy dose of metafiction in this work as he may be able to play with it later in the series, but in this particular book it aids little.

My two eldest children, whom I am reading this to, say they love it. If you ask me, they love it because of Sunny; they're able to follow the rest, but they only show excitement when Sunny's on the page. In fact, they proposed an idea for a new series entitled The Adventures of Sunny. I think they may be on to something. So I guess their liking of The Bad Beginning means I'm in it for the long haul. Thirteen books. Here's to hoping “the bad beginning” was a true play on words, and that this series improves.

After starting the show on Netflix, we were enticed to start the series. My oldest (9) is reading the books either through the library or Libby and we are all listening to the audiobook on our adventures here and there. While I doubt I would enjoy the series for myself, sharing it with the children has been entertaining. We are about to now start The Miserable Mill after finishing up The Wide Window.

Library audiobook. Library book. Libby to Kindle.

I don't particularly like books with no happy endings, and I don't really know what hit me and made me read this book.
I just the kids were just struck by bad luck and fate was being cruel and playing with them. From rich to poor, that's how their life went. Their parents' death is a mystery to me because there was really no clarification on how the fire started. The kids never cried when they heard that their parents died. I mean, if it was me, I'd cry a river, but I guess they're just tough. I find Mr. Poe as a generous man for taking the kids with him in his house.
When they went to see Count Olaf and mistaken the Judge Strauss' house as his, I thought, they must not be really that unfortunate. But when they saw Count Olaf, I gave up hoping that things would be better for them. The description of Count Olaf was really disturbing, what an unusual person to have only one eyebrow! I can't even live in his filthy house, I'd much rather risk my life on the streets,
I knew from the start that Count Olaf just agreed on taking the kids for money. That's what makes this world go round anyway, money, money and money. It was really clever of Count Olaf to plan and arrange his so-called wedding with Violet to gain their inheritance. And I was really impressed when Violet used her left arm to sign and made the document illegal.
The kids may be really unfortunate, but somehow things turned out well for them in the end. At the end of the day, they're still lucky because they're all together and they have an inheritance waiting for them in 4 years' time.

When was this story supposed to take place? At one point it talks about horse and carriages and shows pictures of model-t type cars, yet at another point they talk about credit cards. I'm confused...