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Summary: Lemony Snicket Makes Unfortunate Events Funny!
Review: The Bad Beginning is about the three Baudelaire children named Violet, the eldest, Klaus, the middle child, and Sunny, the baby.The Baudelaire children are very bright children. Their family is very rich, but they are not spoiled. They are very nice people. Unfortunately, their parents die, and ever since that day, they have had a very unfortunate time.After their parents died, the Baudelaire children, now orphans, moved in to live with their relative Count Olaf, who they never met before. Count Olaf is a scary man... This is a book full of sad and unfortunate events but Lemony Snicket is able to make it humorous, by his writing style. It is a strange book, but is really funny and witty, as odd as that might be for a book about sad things.
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Summary: How aptly titled
Review: A bad beginning to a dreary series. Can't believe that anyone would like the way these are written. The story could actually be better without all the sidelines giving definitions to the reader. But then I suppose the author was working under a deadline and word count. No, this is not Harry Potter and should not even be considered in the same class. Drivel, in this I mean it is badly written.
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Summary: "Readers" enjoy
Review: I loved this book. From the gothic looking covers, end papers, and rough cut edges to the dry satire inside. I enjoyed the narrator's use of pretentious vocabulary -- carefully explained in an aside to the audience -- to describe the action. This would be an excellent read aloud book if you love the sound of the English language. I plan to read the rest of the series, and hope I continue to have fun with the Baudelaire's misfortunes.
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Summary: Slight and fun, but don't expect Harry Potter
Review: While sometimes awfully clever, don't expect from this slim volume either the giddy imagination or the emotional pull of the Harry Potter books. There is something sillier going on here, something more cartoonish. As an adult reader, I find the Potter books fulfilling in the way that "Star Wars" or Greek mythology is fulfilling; they nourish the soul at the same time that they entertain. (Pretentious as that may sound, I think it's true.) "The Bad Beginning" (and presumably the rest of the books in the series) is very much a story for children, albeit one that teaches the valuable lesson that life is not always a bed of roses.
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Summary: After all the hype it has gotten, I expected something more
Review: As my title suggests, I thought this book was a failure. I found the plot simple and, although imaginitive, extremely predictable. The author came across completely full of himself, in more ways than one. The constant little reminders that "If you like stories with happy endings, you should quit reading here," were constant and, for lack of a better word, annoying, as I found nothing frightening at all about the book, and felt them a waste of paper. The only reason I gave the book two stars was because I thought the idea, that nothing good shall ever happen to the children, was a good one.But it got way too old, way too fast. I also didn't enjoy the way the story would be interrupted with explanations about "big words." What is the point of that? I have seen Lemony Snicket's books compared to Harry Potter, but I see nothing in common at all. While Harry Potter is a well-written, highly enjoyable series, I found the Bad Beginning to be just that, a BAD book.
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Summary: I'm a librarian and can't recommend this to anyone.
Review: I wanted to like this book, since I am a fan of Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, and other authors in that vein, however this book is VERY poorly written. Besides the forced humor and self-conscious attempt to be clever, the plot is cumbersome and trite, the characters generally unappealing, and the premise (while an interesting one)is not well developed. Also, the idea of a 14 year old girl marrying a much older man who is her legal guardian and her relation is disturbing PLUS the author felt the need to describe her thoughts of sleeping with this man after their married! Tacky, at best. If you e-mail any comments to the address on the dustjacket of this book, you will receive an auto-reply which does not address specific questions. Save your money and buy a Dahl or Rowling or another worthy author other than this one.
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Summary: Spellbinding, terrific, wonderful, etc.
Review: After reading tremendous reviews of "A Series of Unfortunate Events", I purchased them from Amazon.com. Was I impressed? You bet! From the beginning chapters, when the parents of 14-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Klaus, and the newborn Sunny were killed in a monstrous fire, I was enthralled. The orphans were taken to live with the horrendous Count Olaf, who hit them, made them work, and tried to steal their fortune. Among the aspects that amused me was one of Sunny saying a nonsense word which the author described as meaning something relevant, such as "Gack" meaning "Look at that mysterious figure emerging from the fog." Some parts truly are sad, and some are morbidly funny. Unlike some of the reviewers on this website, I have an imagination and I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its sequels. I am eagerly anticipating the release of #5: The Austere Academy. Read these books and I guarantee that, if you have any sort of imagination, you'll love them!
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Summary: A wonderfully dark and clever book.
Review: An excellent beginning to this series. The trio of Violet (the one with the inventive mind), Klaus (the one who loves reading about animals) and baby Sunny (the one who loves anything related to chewing) are extremely sympathetic. You can't help but do so when their chance of a happy ending are constantly ruined by such vile characters as the evil Count Olaf (not a good sort at all) and his creepy henchmen (like the hook handed man). If you like happy endings or chipper tales, turn right away. But don't let the dark tone fool you. Lemony Snicket juxtaposes a light narrative over these dire circumstances making for a very enjoyable read.
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Summary: Derivative, smug, and dressed-up-to-sell
Review: The School Library Journal review for this book summed up most of what I might write. Will Amazon feature it here? These are slow-moving downers, self-consciously written and pretentious. The gimmick of using big words and then defining them got pretty stale, even for my fourth-grader. Couldn't a big publisher devote the same amount of energy finding and packaging an original book that will last? Ursula would not be amused. Adults can write for children. Will anyone publish them?
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Summary: The Bad Beginning
Review: I really liked The Bad Beginning. It was really interesting because all these bad things keep happening to these kids. But I am seriously kinda confused as to why someone would actually write a book about all these bad things that happen to someone. Don't get me wrong, Im going to continue reading, and hopefully enjoying, this series, but i was just a little confused. I hope that in the end everything works out, but then what would be the point? What kind of story doesn't have a happy ending, perhaps this one could be a change?
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