... Their beloved parents have recently perished in a fire at their home. Not only have they lost their mother and father, but they have also lost all their possessions. The only things left to them are the clothes they stand up in. Mr Poe, the asthmatic, bronchial executor of their parents' will ... Read review
This excellent book is set in a fantasy year where horses and carriages are on the roads ... more
- but so are motorbikes. Three wealthy siblings have wonderful lives living in a huge mansion with their loveable parents are clever have tonnes of money and p...
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Issuing in paperback for the first time, these much-loved books can be found by a new ... more
generation of readers, exposing many more children to the miserable lives of the Baudelaire children. In 'The Bad Beginning', the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune and cold porridge for breakfast.
Advantages: Clear, precise writing, lots of educational and amusing asides. Disadvantages: Horrendously mercenary, hopelessly derivative.
...also lost all their possessions. The only things left to them are the clothes they stand up in. Mr Poe, the asthmatic, bronchial executor of their parents' will tracks down a relative with whom they must live. Count Olaf is not a nice man. Tall, thin, gaunt and distinctly suspicious, he does not treat the Baudelaire orphans well. They share a room with one bed, their clothes are dumped in a cardboard box and they must spend half the day doing chore ... ...hands on their fortune. With the aid of the kindly Justice Strauss, Violet the boffin with a talent for inventing gadgets and Klaus the clever bookworm must find and foil the Count's evil plan…
Ack. I very much wanted to love The Bad Beginning, but I did not. It is the first in a series of gothic adventure books for children written by a shadowy figure known as Lemony Snicket. Lemony Snicket has spent years researching the fortunes ... more
Violet, Klaus and their baby sister, Sunny Baudelaire are three very unlucky, very sad children. Their beloved parents have recently perished in a fire at their home. Not only have they lost their mother and father, but they have also lost all their possessions. The only things left to them are the clothes they stand up in. Mr Poe, the asthmatic, bronchial executor of their parents' will tracks down a relative with whom they must live. Count Olaf is not a nice man. Tall, thin, gaunt and distinctly suspicious, he does not treat the Baudelaire orphans well. They share a room with one bed, their clothes are dumped in a cardboard box and they must spend half the day doing chore after chore after chore. It is clear to the Baudelaires that Count Olaf has taken them in for only one reason: he hopes to get his hands on their fortune. With the aid of the kindly Justice Strauss, Violet the boffin with a talent for inventing gadgets and Klaus the clever bookworm must find and foil the Count's evil plan…
Ack. I very much wanted to love The Bad Beginning, but I did not. It is the first in a series of gothic adventure books for children written by a shadowy figure known as Lemony Snicket. Lemony Snicket has spent years researching the fortunes of the Baudelaire children and it his "sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales". Lemony Snicket is the alter ego of Daniel Handler, San Francisco novelist and I gather that Handler cites people like Roald Dahl and Edward Gorey as influences. Frankly, I find that hubristic. Yes, there is Dahlesque dark humour in Handler's book, but this is mostly affectation. The Bad Beginning is deeply derivative but it is not derivative of either Dahl or Gorey. It reminds me far more of Blyton's Secret Seven and Famous Five, of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and of that horrid little dullard, Harry Potter. It is an adventure story come mystery in which children are pitted against an archenemy and – after drawing on hitherto undiscovered heroic characteristics – live to fight another day. The gothic, dark, scary, shivery bits are the book's window dressing, not its raison d'etre. As I finished reading The Bad Beginning, I felt overwhelmingly unsatisfied. I had expected much – critics I trust had enthused excitedly on the book's release – but I had received little. The Bad Beginning simply smacked to me of an attempt at creating The Next Big Thing, a money-spinner to rival Harry Potter. I had visions of marketing departments, of films, of toy figures, of branded everythings.
The Bad Beginning is supposed to be dark, scary and depressing. And indeed, Count Olaf is rather dreadful and so are his horrible partners in crime – the man with hooks for hands, the fat lady, the white-faced ladies. However, because these characters are such boringly – and very un-PC for those of you who care about that sort of thing, although I don't - unoriginal stereotypes they fail to build much tension. Moreover, the resolution is deeply unsatisfactory. It is not dark or depressing at all – there is a happy denouement followed by a "buy the next book please" bathetic set-up for the adventure to come. We might as well have watched an episode of Scooby Doo for all the surprises we got.
On a more positive note, I have some praise for The Bad Beginning. Handler writes beautifully and with a very precise use of language. There are authorial asides and in many of these he treats his young readers to an amusing definition of a word or a phrase and these demonstrate the wonderful possibilities of language in a very entertaining way. At one point, the evil Count Olaf feigns regret at the way he has treated the Baudelaires and describes his behaviour as standoffish. Here is what Handler has to say about that:
"The word 'standoffish' is a wonderful one, but it does not describe Count Olaf's behaviour toward the children. It means 'reluctant to associate with others' and it might describe somebody who, during a party, would stand in a corner and not talk to anyone. It would NOT describe somebody who provides one bed for three people to sleep in, forces them to do horrible chores, and strikes them across the face. There are many words for people like that, but 'standoffish' is not one of them."
I love that dryness! The book is full of similar and super asides. I like the way Handler uses vocabulary to challenge but also to amuse and educate. There is a good strain of dark, satirical humour and there are many "ooh" and "eek" moments. I cannot say that The Bad Beginning is not entertaining, for it is. I simply wish that its two and two did not make merely four, but five or six or seven. It is written well, but it is formulaic and really no more than the sum of its parts. A great book is always more than the sum of its parts. Still, I am in my praising paragraph, so I should add that The Bad Beginning is presented wonderfully in dinky, mini hardbacks with a very gothic, Victorian feel. Brett Helquist's illustrations are just perfect – small, crosshatched pencil sketches – very creepy and shivery.
Because of the dry style, the asides and the challenging but precise use of language, The Bad Beginning would be suitable for reading aloud – and best if you camp it up – and for a wide range of children to read alone. It would fit nicely into the 8-12 bracket, with some leeway either side, I would say. I have not read past this first in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I found it too glib, too superficial, too much with an eye to the main chance. My older son Conor - who is eight - rather liked The Bad Beginning and has made a collection of the sequels. He likes to shiver and he likes to take in all those asides. However, once read, he has yet to return and re-read a single volume, even this first one, The Bad Beginning, and this is unusual for my bookworm son. He treats these books very much as consumables and this makes me feel rather justified in the criticisms I have made. Sadly, I think they are intended to be consumables. My younger son, Kieran – seven – did not like The Bad Beginning at all and has not been past the first chapter. He, like me, looks for soul in his books and The Bad Beginning lacks that emotional engagement needed for him to want to read on.
Ultimately, The Bad Beginning is an opportunity missed. It is soulless. And yes, I am aware that to call a gothic book soulless is an irony in itself. I like my books to speak with real heart – even a black heart – and The Bad Beginning seems to me to be more an exercise in glib vocabulary pyrotechnics than a real desire to tell a story. It is a shame, but this is a sadly hollow book. It is immensely readable, amusing, entertaining, but it is all so… mercenary. The Bad Beginning is – in a deliberate cliché - a disappointing triumph of style over substance. Depressingly and predictably, Jim Carrey is currently shooting the film. He will play the wicked Count Olaf. Watch out for that themed lunch box coming your way soon. Sigh. If you really want to buy in to the corporatisation of the books your children read, then address your browser to www.lemonysnicket.com to find out more.
Advantages: Dark tone creates interest / Narrative is original / Play on words is imaginative Disadvantages: incest theme may raise eyebrows / A little short and sometimes rushed
'''Book Info''': '''Name''': The Bad Beginning
'''Author''': Daniel Handler (AKA Lemony Snicket)
'''Released''': September 1999
'''Series''': Book one in 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'
'''Awards''': Nevada Young Readers Award, Colorado Children's Award, Nene Award
'''RRP''': £6.99
Children's books are special, very special indeed. There is something very imaginative and creative with each one, and a pleasing innocence, even with novels of ... ...Snicket's 'The Bad Beginning' is the first book in a series of 13 wonderfully titled 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'. With only 163 pages, would it captivate my attention or is this best kept for the children?
Lemony Snicket plays the role of the narrator as if he is actually in the book, apparently he is so shocked by the lives of the Baudelaire children he feels it is his sole duty to report these events in the form of a book. Now it is these ...
dan_pentagram 31.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Advantages: Good plot and twists, easy to read Disadvantages: It's not a happy book
...(pseudonym of Daniel Handler) writes the dark comic children's books A Series of Unfortunate Events. After reading the back of the first book in this series I was intrigued and wanted to find out more. The back of the book is written as a letter to the reader. It tries to persuade the reader to put the book down and walk away. "I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three ... ...Lemony Snicket"
I thought the it was very unusual that the back of the book was trying to get you to put it down, as usually this is the selling point. I usually do prefer happy books but I still found that I enjoyed this book even though it is not at all happy. Three wealthy siblings, who have wonderful lives, they live in a huge mansion with their loveable parents, are clever, and have tonnes of money and plenty of friends. It sounds a lovely ...
bluejules 04.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Advantages: Beautifully written, original, intelligent Disadvantages: Sorry, but just not an instant classic for me
...that I don't join in the five star brigade. Don't get me wrong, the last thing I wanted for my return to ciao was to annoy everyone! And (as you can see by my extremely high four star rating!) I feel there is much to commend and recommend Mr. Snicket and his unfortunate events. But I'll admit it from the start: I liked them, I really liked them. I just didn't love them, and that had to be reflected in my rating. Just for the record, although I'll ... ...writing about it in the context of the series.
A Series Of Unfortunate Events is a brilliant premise. The Bad Beginning introduces us to the three incredibly likeable, supernaturally decent and intelligent Baudelaire children- Violet (14), Klaus (12) and Sunny (infant). (Von Bulows,- no, I can't spell it- anyone?). Each has a talent, respectively inventions, reading and biting, and all are law-abiding, obedient and loving. When their parents die ...
ruth_cole 30.12.2002 (31.12.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Advantages: a good book for children Disadvantages: a little repetitive
...have just finished reading for the second time.
Who is the author? º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º
The author is Lemony Snicket. It is an author very mysterious, difficult to know who it is really! It was born in a small city from the United States, and now lives in a large city, with by that one do not know anything him.
The bad Beginning
º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º°º°"˜º
"The bad Beginning" is the first book of a "Series Of Unfortunate Events". There is ... ...children. The story :
- - - - - - - -
The Baudelaire children are three: Violet, 14 years ; Klaus, 12 years and their small sister Sunny, a baby. At the beginning of the book, they will become orphan because their parents died in a terrible fire.
The Baudelaire children are then entrusted to the horrible Olaf tale. That is thinks of only one thing : to seize the heritage of the children. It for that will do everything to arrive there, it is very ...
coquinnette 31.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Advantages: very Funny, hard to put down, and generally well written. Disadvantages: Not good for people who like a happy ending.
The story sounds a bit depressing. Three orphaned children, with nowhere to go except to stay with a cruel uncle, who lives in a dirty house, has a strange obsession with eyes, and is plotting a plan to get his hands on the Baldaire Orphan's fortune. Sad, isn't it? Not in the slightest! No, don't think of me as a morbid and evil being, but the way in which the novel is written is actually very funny! For example, instead of toys to play with, the ... ...Things only get worse for the Baldair orphans, when we find out that the evil Uncle (Count Olaf) and his theatre group are plotting to steel the Baldaire fortune. From here, the story uncoils in twists and turns. The story goes from a fuss about Roast Beef to poisoned raspberries to a baby suspended 30 ft high in a cage. Read it and find out! But just when you think the Baldaire orphans are going to live happily ever after with the kind neighbour ...
mailmekm 06.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
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Advantages: Nicely presented text Disadvantages: Monotonous, repetitive, patronising, yikes!
think that the dark quality of the book is best suited for boys, there is enough here to interest girls too.
Another point worth mentioning, that I love about these books, is that the author, LemonySnicket, is also a fictional character within the series and is documenting the tale of the Baudelaires for the public, to bring to the light the evil doings of Count Olaf. The real author however, is American writer Daniel Handler.
My criticism is that the series as a whole is simply awful, uninteresting, repetitive and when I finished all 13 books, I was left with a feeling of 'so what' and annoyed that so many parts of the story as a whole, were left unresolved. However, this one is a good first book. If you're the type of person who has to complete a series, then I wouldn't waste your time with this one. But, if you just want a taster ...
Advantages: Even more delightfully depressing than the first! And longer too! Disadvantages: None!
LemonySnicket is back in full force with the fantastic, and even more depressing follow up to 'The BadBeginning'. Book the Second is written with the same wit and style as Book The First, and is even more gripping!
The start of the book sees the Baudelaire orphans taking a much needed break from being completely miserable, as they are taken to live with their mad Uncle Monty, who has a snake fetish. The children are told they are being taken to Peru, and are delighted to be able to help Uncle Monty with his research. For once, it seems that things are going well for them, and you even start to wonder if LemonySnicket has had a change of heart and decided to let the orphans live happily ever after, but no. Before you have chance to put the book down in disgust for straying away from its delightfully depressing plot, who should turn ...
Advantages: Nice storyline, Nice book cover and a great series. Disadvantages: May need to have read the books from the start.
*****Authors Review*****
In The BadBeginning, things, well, beginbadly for the three Baudelaire orphans. And sadly, events only worsen in The Reptile Room. In the third in LemonySnicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, there is still no hope on the horizon for these poor children. Their adventures are exciting and memorable, but, as the author points out, "exciting and memorable like being chased by a werewolf through a field of thorny bushes at midnight with nobody around to help you."
This story begins when the orphans are being escorted by the well-meaning Mr. Poe to yet another distant relative who has agreed to take them in since their parents were killed in a horrible fire. Aunt Josephine, their new guardian, is their second cousin's sister-in-law, and she is afraid of everything. Her house (perched precariously on a cliff ...
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