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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent beginning..., 15 Oct 2001
For those of us who are sick and tired of the cheery world of children's literature, complete with talking rabbits and other fluffy little creatures whose every problem is resolved to their complete and undeniably cheery satisfaction comes the very opposite. Lemony Snicket makes no pretensions where his books are concerned; each one of these magically morbid tales, of which this is the first, features deaths aplenty and more than a few situations which would have less realistic children's authors of yesteryear spinning in their grave. The whole thing is buoyed along on a bobbing tide of grim humour, and every book contains at least one moment of delicious realisation that the very worst you could possibly imagine is, yes... it's going to happen. The illustrations add a most macabre realism to the proceedings, and the three children's characters are not only depicted lavishly in glowing prose but also shine through in each meticulously detailed image. One can only hope the Baudelaire orphans never find happiness, for to do so would mean the end of a fine series of books.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a Bad Beginning at All, 31 May 2004
The Baudelaire siblings are enjoying a day at the beach when Mr. Poe comes walking through the fog to find them. He has very bad news. Their house has burned to the ground and their parents are dead. To honor their father's wishes, they are sent to live with Count Olaf across town. He treats them like slaves. But that's just the beginning. He also wants to take over their trust fund, and will stop at nothing to do so.I really didn't know what to think about this series. But some friends highly recommended it to me, so I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. This book is rather dark for a kid's book, with lots of sarcasm and dark humor, as well as some tragic events. It does require a certainly level of maturity to be appreciated by kids or adults. I was really taken with the kids, however. Violet and Klaus pull together and don't let anything stop them from trying to make the most of a bad situation. I wish more people, including me, were like that. And Sunny constantly made me smile with her sudden outbursts. The set up of the plot was fairly obvious to me, but I didn't see the ending coming before it happened. My only real complaint was the narrator's habit of interrupting a story to define a word that had just been used. It got annoying seeing this on every few pages. Take the warning on the back seriously. These are dark books. But they are certainly enjoyable as well.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is no fairy tale, but it is great anyway, 31 May 2004
Even though this is a book targeted to kids by its publisher, I think that the author wrote it considering a much broader audience. I would say that as Rowling did with "Harry Potter", Snicket will captivate people of all ages. A word of warning though, the author clearly states that this is an unhappy story and that if you do not like this you should not try to read it. He is not joking! The story is sad and every time there is a glimpse of hope, it is quickly quenched. The three Baudelaire siblings are the main characters in this unhappy story. Violet is a fourteen-year-old who loves to think constantly about possible inventions. Klaus is twelve, intelligent and enjoys reading all kinds of books. Sunny is the little infant that is going through a biting stage and will go at anything with her four teeth. Everything starts out wrong right from the beginning, when the Baudelaire siblings, now orphans, find out that their parents died in a fire. They have a huge fortune, but they will not have access to it until Violet reaches adulthood. In the meantime, Mr. Poe, the executioner of the estate will manage the funds and take care of finding a place for the orphans to live in. Violet, Klaus and Sunny end up living with Count Olaf, in a house that is a disaster and has a weird feeling about it. Also, they quickly realize that the Count's only interest is in the money they have and in nothing else. The kids are forced to take care of the house chores and only find solace in their friendly neighbor, Justice Strauss. But any glimpse at happiness is quickly extinguished by new terrible events. We even get a second warning by the author halfway through the book: "...people who hate stories in which terrible things happen to small children should put this book down immediately". However, my recommendation is: keep reading, you will not be disappointed. The start of the series left me hooked and I will read the following books in the near future. I like the story, even with its sad tone, and enjoy the author's style. He has a humorous way of writing, defining obvious words and explaining some things that do not need explanations, even for kids. I think this is his way of satirizing some children's book that treat kids as if they were unable to comprehend simple matters. Moreover, there is a point in which he will start defining words using other words he defined before. I am extremely satisfied with the experience of trying out this new author and would highly recommend it to people of all ages.
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