Snickety Lemon : A *Good* Beginning
Hello all! This is Wes, and today I am going to review Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the first one at least. I decided to revisit this beloved series after recently binge-watching Netflix's recent adaptation (which is amazing by the way). One issue is that now whenever I'm reading the books, I can only hear the voice of Patrick Warburton (except for dialogue, in that case I hear the character's respective actor). With all of this in mind, let's dive in.
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(no spoilers)
The books starts off with the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus, and Sunny) at a beach. They are having a splendid time when they are approached by Mr. Poe, their family's banker. Mr. Poe doesn't bring good news, rather, he informs the now orphans that they are, well, now orphans. He explained how the children's parents parished, and brings them home. Following the will of the Baudelaire parents, the three orphans are now being whisked away to live with their 3rd cousin, 4 times removed, or 4th cousin, 3 times removed, no one really knows which. It's not like he would fake being their relative, right? Anyways, this is where the action begins and the rest of the story takes place and leads to the next one. I'll let you guys find out what happens in this book
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I am a huge fan of Lemony Snicket, and specifically his A Series Unfortunate Events series. His writing style is rather blunt and gets straight to the point while managing to be funny and even lighthearted at times. He also throws in these moments where he explains words within the context of the situation. One would think that adding these moments in would take away from the story, from the action, but I found that it takes away nothing. If anything, these moments of "breaking the 4th wall" so to speak are what make A Series of Unfortunate Events so defining for me.
Something else I love about A Series of Unfortunate Events are the characters. I will use the orphans as an example. Yes they are rich kids who are now orphaned, but their personalities are so much more than that. Violet is an inventor, Klaus is a reader, and Sunny is a biter. Take Count Olaf even. The main antagonist of the entire series, you still see moments of his humanity. You also see moments of his henchfolk show their inner heart. Snicket refuses to simply make good characters good and all sunshiny and bad characters bad and all darkness. There are moments where the orphans have to do some drastic stuff that has questionable morality and it just makes the reader think. By the end of the series, Count Olaf gets a bit of a redemption arc (somewhat debatable). So, the characters created by Lemony are so complex and interesting. There are too many interesting characters within A Series of Unfortunate Events to talk about.
In conclusion, a big part of what makes the series enjoyable, excluding the plot obviously, is the writing style of Lemony. He creates such interesting characters and interesting moments with what is not difficult vocabulary. There were no moments where I found myself confused by the wording or the vocabulary. Lemony is able to create such an impactful story and impactful characters will keeping his prose uncomplicated. His writing style is truly something unique and I have not read many other authors like him. So, go check out this series. As you could probably tell, it isn't a very happy book, but I strongly recommend *everyone* to check this series out.
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(no spoilers)
The books starts off with the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus, and Sunny) at a beach. They are having a splendid time when they are approached by Mr. Poe, their family's banker. Mr. Poe doesn't bring good news, rather, he informs the now orphans that they are, well, now orphans. He explained how the children's parents parished, and brings them home. Following the will of the Baudelaire parents, the three orphans are now being whisked away to live with their 3rd cousin, 4 times removed, or 4th cousin, 3 times removed, no one really knows which. It's not like he would fake being their relative, right? Anyways, this is where the action begins and the rest of the story takes place and leads to the next one. I'll let you guys find out what happens in this book
---
I am a huge fan of Lemony Snicket, and specifically his A Series Unfortunate Events series. His writing style is rather blunt and gets straight to the point while managing to be funny and even lighthearted at times. He also throws in these moments where he explains words within the context of the situation. One would think that adding these moments in would take away from the story, from the action, but I found that it takes away nothing. If anything, these moments of "breaking the 4th wall" so to speak are what make A Series of Unfortunate Events so defining for me.
Something else I love about A Series of Unfortunate Events are the characters. I will use the orphans as an example. Yes they are rich kids who are now orphaned, but their personalities are so much more than that. Violet is an inventor, Klaus is a reader, and Sunny is a biter. Take Count Olaf even. The main antagonist of the entire series, you still see moments of his humanity. You also see moments of his henchfolk show their inner heart. Snicket refuses to simply make good characters good and all sunshiny and bad characters bad and all darkness. There are moments where the orphans have to do some drastic stuff that has questionable morality and it just makes the reader think. By the end of the series, Count Olaf gets a bit of a redemption arc (somewhat debatable). So, the characters created by Lemony are so complex and interesting. There are too many interesting characters within A Series of Unfortunate Events to talk about.
In conclusion, a big part of what makes the series enjoyable, excluding the plot obviously, is the writing style of Lemony. He creates such interesting characters and interesting moments with what is not difficult vocabulary. There were no moments where I found myself confused by the wording or the vocabulary. Lemony is able to create such an impactful story and impactful characters will keeping his prose uncomplicated. His writing style is truly something unique and I have not read many other authors like him. So, go check out this series. As you could probably tell, it isn't a very happy book, but I strongly recommend *everyone* to check this series out.
Nice review! I remember reading this series a while ago, but I haven't really revisited it since. I really liked that you discussed Snicket's writing style, since I think his "fourth wall breaks," and the general idea of the author or narrator figure talking directly to the reader outside the context of the book was really what stood out to me about the series, since I feel like it really helped highlight the irony and witty humor that makes Snicket's books so enjoyable. I'll definitely have to check out this series again!
ReplyDeleteI applaud you on your fair and interesting review of this series. You are correct in that Snicket provides story arcs for each of his characters and I think it also worth mentioning that he provides these within in the books, especially with the guardians who well *spoiler* die by the end of the book basically every time. Characters play a big part in the mystery of VFD and I think Snicket does an amazing job of inserting his own story line seamlessly into the overall series. Nice job, we have similar opinions, yay.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I remember reading the majority of this series during elementary and middle school, however I never got around to finishing it (there are so many books)! I like how you didn't include any spoilers in the summary, because this series seems to constantly blow my mind with each book, and I think everybody should be able to experience that as well. I would also be interested in reading about your comparison of the TV series and book series, because I know there is also a film adaptation of the first three books which I enjoyed. Overall, you've written an awesome review for an awesome series!
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving no spoilers for this famous series. It is really hard to review a book without spoiling anything, but I think you pulled it off. I liked that you got right into the meat of your review, and discussed Snicket's quirky but entertaining style of writing very well. Good review!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I read A Series of Unfortunate Events a few years ago, and I also thought that Lemony Snicket’s writing style keeps the plot interesting. I agree a lot of people think his interjections to define words are annoying, but I also thought the interjections helped shaped the story. My only complaint with this series is its repetition. The first half of the series is interesting, but it begins to drag toward the end. Overall, your post was concise and didn’t spoil the plot for people who haven’t read it yet.
ReplyDeleteAwesome review, and thanks for no spoilers! I read the first couple of books when I was younger, but stopped because the endings were just too depressing. Your review brings to light the fact that, although the books are sad, they contain so much more than their endings. I like how you described specific things that made the books stand out to you, including the complex character development and blunt but lighthearted style of writing. I can't wait to re-read this series!
ReplyDeleteGreta review! I read the books quite a while ago and really enjoyed the unique writing style and plot that you mentioned in your post. Not including spoilers in the summary was a good move as the plot is quite interesting and changes directions a fair amount and spoiling it would deter readers from the book's excellent story that is best read without too much prior knowledge. This was a very detailed and informative review. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job! I read the whole series a couple of years ago, and I thought your summary perfectly summed up the major points of the series without giving away too much. I agree with your analysis of Snicket's writing style, as his unique voice is what made the series so entertaining to read. I did not know that there was a new Netflix adaptation to this novel, and I will be sure to check it out soon. Thanks for your review!
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