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The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1)
 
 
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The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1) (Hardcover)

by Lemony Snicket (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Customers buy this book with The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 4) by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1) + The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 4)
Price For Both: £9.43

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 180 pages
  • Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd; New edition edition (12 May 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1405208678
  • ISBN-13: 978-1405208673
  • Product Dimensions: 18.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5,848 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #1 in  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators > S > Snicket, Lemony

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Product Description

Book Description
The Baudelaire siblings suffer all sorts of misfortunes in this, the first book of their adventures.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1)
86% buy the item featured on this page:
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1) 4.3 out of 5 stars (85)
£4.19
The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 2)
5% buy
The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 2) 4.8 out of 5 stars (25)
£4.19
The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 3)
4% buy
The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 3) 4.3 out of 5 stars (18)
The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 4)
3% buy
The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 4) 4.1 out of 5 stars (14)
£5.24
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Customer Reviews

85 Reviews
5 star:
 (52)
4 star:
 (19)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (85 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Bad Beginning at All, 31 May 2004
By Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Bad Beginning with Frame (Series of Unfortunate Events) (Hardcover)
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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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I have ever read!, 18 Jan 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1) (Hardcover)
If you don't like soppy stories, read this book and you will be astonished of what you can find in a story. I don't normally read books but the first time I read this book I couldn't put it down. It's not like your normal stories - it's about 3 children who become orphans after their parents die in a house fire and they have to go live with an evil man called Count Olaf. From then on they encounter trouble where ever they go! Josh aged 10
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent beginning..., 15 Oct 2001
This review is from: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events No.1) (Hardcover)
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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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brill
Three years ago i read and bought these books after my brother enjoying them. I enjoyed all of them, they're worth reading. you never know whats going to happen next. Read more
Published 26 days ago

5.0 out of 5 stars And here we go!
When I read this book, I was utterly amazed. Lemony Snicket's story telling is brilliant. He knows how to really get you involved in the story. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Dunning

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good,but very sad.
(This review is written by Sian Prest age:10).This book is really exciting and you're always eager to find out what is going to happen next. Read more
Published 12 months ago

4.0 out of 5 stars Bad beginning was fantastic
In this short book alone, the three youngsters, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, and a disastrous fire. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mehajabeen Farid

2.0 out of 5 stars a series of unfortunate events
the books themselves had some really good ideas in them but i dont think that the author did them any favours, some pages dragged on for hours whilst others skipped past... Read more
Published 20 months ago by emily hathaway

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, grim and tragic story, yet sooooo good!
this book is the first in a series of unfortunate events, written by suspicous author Lemony Snicket. Read more
Published on 1 Jul 2007 by Penny J

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for girls too
My 8 year old spent the whole of half term reading this and her sister , 6, enjoyed listening to the story. Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by C. A. blaiklock

4.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly a fairy tale...
The Lemony Snicket books are very popular among the boys in my Year 4 class, largely because they turn the predictable, good-characters-live-happily-ever-after,... Read more
Published on 31 May 2007 by M. J. Pucci

2.0 out of 5 stars I felt cheated
It's clear from the other reviews I've seen that this book appeals to children, but as an adult I found it frightening and disturbing - the idea of three children being left... Read more
Published on 29 April 2007 by Anna Lowenstein

4.0 out of 5 stars Addictive for children and adults alike.
"An unhappy tale about three very unlucky children" - That is how Lemony Snicket himself describes The Bad Beginning, genltly encouraging the reader, who enjoy pleasent things to... Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2007 by Louise Amkaer

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