The Wide Window
Ratings280
Average rating3.7
Full review of the first three books at http://www.mrshields.com/?p=929
Short review. Good young adult books. Tries to take the kids seriously as readers. Love the use of vocabulary. Got a little bored by the end of the third. Not sure if I will read more. Think they would be good for a lot of kids.
4:
For what it's worth, even though this was gloomier than the first two installments from the get-go and infinitely more frustrating, and although it is still following the same formula of the Baudelaires get a new caretaker -> Olaf shows up in disguise -> nobody believes it when the orphans point it out -> Olaf murders the guardian -> the Baudelaires are, yet again, sad and homeless; we can already see there's a tiiiny bit of character development peeking out. The children are getting—justifiably— angry. Sunny MVP all my homies love and cherish little Sunny.
Aunt Josephine was incredibly obnoxious and selfish and ungrateful and, frankly, she was an overall terrible person. Why does Mr. Poe never do any background checks before just handing these traumatized children over to any ol' Joe Schmoe or Plain Jane? But Jo also was very valid. I, too, am afraid of most things.
Anywho, this is the kind of behavior the Baudelaire orphans deal with on a daily basis:
“These are very serious accusations,” Mr. Poe said firmly. “I understand that the three of you have had some terrible experiences, and I hope you're not letting your imagination get the best of you. Remember when you lived with Uncle Monty? You were convinced that his assistant, Stephano, was really Count Olaf in disguise.”“But Stephano was Count Olaf in disguise,” Klaus exclaimed.“That's not the point,” Mr. Poe said.”
RIP to the dummies who don't listen to the kids who are repeatedly right but I'm different.
This book was the best for now! really enjoyed the story and all the unfortunate events that the kids went through. I also like a lot the narrator and the way he is always makes side notes. This notes are about some words and expressions. As english is not my first language it is fun to descover some new words and expressions. I belive that this is an amazing book for kids!!
not my favorite but still love this series. can't wait to keep going. I only made it so far with this series. Snicket is a great story teller, I love that he starts all the books in this series with well if you are expecting a happy ending you are not going to find it here lol. Love love love it.
The third in my series of short reviews for A Series of Unfortunate Events. This one was fine, but over quickly and I would have liked more. I read these such a long time ago that my memory is fuzzy, but I think the later books get longer and more satisfying.
We are now at the point where I no longer remember the plot of the books at all because the film only covered the first three books. I'm looking forward to finishing this series this year.
Same review as The Bad Beginning applies. 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.
The Wide Window is so far my least favorite but man, some guest characters just drive me nuts.
~Full series overview here on The Bent Bookworm!~The Wide Window takes place far and away from the first two books, in a reclusive town and even more reclusive house with, you guessed it, yet another unstable distant relative as guardian for the Baudelaire children. This time their guardian, Aunt Josephine, isn't even actually related to them, but is their “second cousin's sister-in-law.” Who just happens to be terrified of everything. The dock. The lake. The oven. She never eats anything hot for fear of getting burned by either the oven or the food. However! She has an intense passion for grammar.“Grammar is the greatest joy in life, don't you find?”Being something of a grammar freak myself, I found her constant corrections and horror at bad grammar to be quite entertaining and that in itself is the reason this book received a slightly higher rating (3.5/5 stars) than books 1 and 2. It really was hysterical at times, and plays an interesting part in the story.Of course this wouldn't be an A Series of Unfortunate Events book without, well, you know. Horrible bad luck. Of course these kids can't catch a break and when a “Captain Sham” (hahaha ok, Lemony Snicket, you must have had such fun naming characters) shows up with an unhealthy interest in the children and all kinds of sweet words for Aunt Josephine, the terror begins. Once again (I since a recurring plot) the kids are forced to fend for themselves due to the incompetence of their adult guardians, and once again after a great deal of running around and close calls and horrible things happening to certain people, they manage to escape.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+
4.1
Ok this series is getting kinda inappropriate for children. I'm not even sure if it's a children's book anymore, since this one has a lot of dark, scary, and sensitive content in it. Nevertheless, it was still a fun and quick read just like the previous books. I really find it funny when Aunt Josephine keeps correcting everyone's grammatical errors. The kids always find a way to get out of their misfortunes, so there's really nothing to worry about them. But still, you can't help but sympathize. I'm enjoying this series so far and I'm off to read the 4th book, which is “The Miserable Mill”.
De Baudelaires worden ondergebracht bij hun tante Josephine, aan de rand van Lake Lachrymose. Josephine is bang van zowat alles. Een zekere Captain Sham werkt zich in het leven van Josephine en de kinderen. De kinderen zien meteen dat het Graaf Olaf is, maar niemand gelooft ze. Josephine lijkt uit haar venster in het meer gesprongen te zijn en de kinderen aan Captain Sham overgelaten te hebben, maar eigenlijk laat ze in haar zelfmoordbrief een spoor na dat leidt naar een grot waar ze zich schuilhoudt. Daar zegt Josephine dat Graaf Olaf haar verplicht had een zelfmoordbrief te schrijven. Shenanigans ensue, Josephine wordt opgegeten door bloedzuigers, uiteindelijk bijt Sunny het houten been van Captain Sham af waardoor duidelijk wordt dat het Olaf is. Mr. Poe zal een nieuwe voogd moeten zoeken voor de Baudelaires.
Meer van hetzelfde, ja.
It's hard to rate books in a series, especially when the series has thirteen books. In the case of A Series of Unfortunate Events each book, through the third, has been better than its predecessor, but I wouldn't say that book three deserves an extra star over book one. How can I denote its superiority to the other books?
Though The Wide Window follows the pattern set forth in the previous two books, its selling point was that it was much more humorous. Aunt Josephine was hilarious, yet she was also a tragic character, and her interactions with the Baudelaires were among the series' best so far. It's not until book three that the characters start to seem comfortable with their roles. It's becoming natural for Violet to invent, Klaus to piece things together, and Sunny to bite, though at times it still feels a little forced.
The formula is on the verge of growing tiresome and I believe it can only last one more book before it breaks. I have heard that the formula changes periodically in the series, a very wise move for Handler, but I'm hoping either book 4 or 5 mark the changing point.
The kids enjoyed this one more than its predecessors as well. They found Jospehine and her gifts to the children to be very funny.
If I were to assign the books a more specific rating—which I will probably do from this point on to distinguish the many three stars this series will likely earn—it would be as follows.
The Bad Beginning – 3.1
The Reptile Room – 3.2
The Wide Window – 3.6
