I am as surprised as you are that I am writing this post, after resurrecting this dead blog not even twenty-four hours ago, but I have decided to start with a general review of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, real name Daniel Handler. Published by Egmont in the U.K, but HarperCollin's Children's Books in America.
Proof I own the books.
This picture took me ten minutes to set up, because of the pesky The Bad Beginning wanting to lay down.
I initially began reading these books in 2004, aged around nine, when the tenth instalment was published in the U.K. After been gifted the first book, I distinctly remember using my pocket money to buy the next ones (I apparently did not ever feel the need to buy them all together, considering nine of the thirteen books were in shops by the time I came about reading them - one at a time was fine for me, I must have loved the suspense). I have fond memories of reading The Austere Academy out-loud to my mother, while she was ironing on a Wednesday evening. It was raining outside. I was still in my school uniform, and for some reason, I was standing up. Weird what you remember!
Anyway, re-reading these (in 13 days, may I add!!) made me remember why I want to go into children's publishing. These books contain - obviously - unfortunate events, that would never be allowed to happen to children, and as an adult, they are frustrating to read, because most of these events would have been avoidable. That being said, I completely and utterly blame Mr. Poe. In my opinion, he is worse than Count Olaf - at least he KNOWS he's a villain. Mr. Poe, probably aptly named after Edgar Allan, is a complete liability. But this is the thing, this is what Snicket/Handler does. He shows kids the black and white version of evil vs. good, through the Baudelaire's and Olaf, but he also shows the grey area - all the guardians and carers of the children who turned their back on them, out of fear mostly, but pure ignorance on Poe's part. It shows the human condition in all of its forms: friendship (God bless those Quagmire triplets), unity, and often fear. But I'll be damned if it doesn't also show the sheer perseverance and intelligence of young children (especially those who are keen readers). I wish I was that intelligent, even now. I google things like 'how to hashtag on a Mac' at least twice a day (yeah, that's how regularly I use #hashtags), and yet Violet Baudelaire was a self-confessed engineer at fourteen.
These books made me feel like an adult the first time round, and a child the second time. At first, I felt so much older than I was because they were the first big books I read independently, I understood big words (or if I didn't, they were defined in context for me), and there were minimal pictures (beautiful illustrations by Brett Helquist); later, I was clinging to my parents when they returned from work, thankful they came back alive, and my brother, sister and I had luckily escaped the possibility of living with the local villain.
The situations that the Baudelaire's find themselves in get more and more ridiculous, implausible, and down-right questionable with every page, and the self-depreciation, and anti-self-promo that Snicket/Handler exhibits is something I had never read before, even as an adult. As mentioned before, the in-context definitions of words children may not understand was revolutionary to me, and again, to this date, it is something that I have never witnessed anywhere else. I loved this style, and I think it played a big part in the shaping of my sense of humour.
Many people will look at these books and think that they frighten children unnecessarily, and to that I say: fair enough. If your children scare easily, give it a miss. But for kids, young teenagers, over-grown twenty-one year old unemployed graduate children, these are the books that they will sink their teeth into, not unlike Sunny Baudelaire, and become/reaffirm as a book worm, not unlike Klaus Baudelaire, and maybe even become a world-class engineer, not unlike Violet Baudelaire.*
If you are a child reading this blog post, hello, I hope I didn't swear, and please go and ask your parent/s, guardian, carer, or nearest adult for some money to buy these books, or go to the library.
If you are an adult, read them - in amongst the strange events, silly costumes, and infuriating disbelief of the Baudelaire children, there are some gems in there, such as:
"It is so rare in this world to meet a trustworthy person who truly wants to help you, and finding such a person can make you feel warm and safe, even if you are in the middle of a windy valley high up in the mountains."
(Credit: Lemony Snicket, The Slippery Slope, p.203)
I think it is very admirable for an author be able to create such an deep, extensive story that operate on many levels - entertaining for all, but in different ways. A classic.
If you cannot read, watch the Netflix series, with Neil Patrick Harris as Olaf - it's as meta as the books, and an absolute treat.
Recommendations all round.
Recommendations all round.
Bye x
* The latter is not applicable to myself.
P.S. How long do you think it took me to come up with that title? (The answer is about 30 seconds, because I am imaginative, and smart. Please hire me).
P.P.S. I am not being paid to write this, but if Lemony Snicket is reading this, hello Sir, thank you for your books, I do take cheques.
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