A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning

The first book in the thirteen part series A Series of Unfortunate Events written by Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning chronicles the lives of the poor and unfortunate Baudelaire children, possibly the most brave, attractive, and intelligent children heroes to appear on the written page. 

One fatal day at Briny Beach, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were informed by the banker Mr. Poe that their parents and home had perished – a word which here means killed and destroyed- in a terrible fire. Just like that, the Baudelaire Children became the Baudelaire Orphans and soon after this terrible event, they are sent to live with their relative Count Olaf who turns out to be an evil man who’s only interest in the children is getting his hands on their enormous fortune. With no hope of gaining help from any adults, it falls to the children to work out and foil Count Olaf’s evil plan before he can make their lives even more miserable. 

I remember reading these books in primary school and completely loving them even then. What sets A Series of Unfortunate Events aside from any other series is the way in which it is written. What Lemony Snicket does is write the entire series as though chronicling the misfortunes of the Baudelaire children, brilliantly combining their miserable and fictitious tale with characters and events that may or may not have happened n real life. You’re always in two minds about this book; on the one hand you know the characters as fictional, but Snicket’s constant mentioning of his personal investigation into the lives of the Baudelaires, although you know consciously know never really happened, gives the books the a sense of realism. 

The books are written in a combined register of first and third person, as the events of the story are written from the point of view of the observer, but there are certain snippets of personal opinions and Snicket’s own usage of the word “I” scattered spontaneously throughout the story. 

The other thing that sets this series aside is the way in which it is pitched. The blurb, the beginning paragraph, and occasionally throughout the story itself, Snicket informs of its unhappy contents and sometimes urges the reader of put the book down and find something better to read, preferably something with a happy ending. I remember seeing interviews and footage of Snicket almost yelling at children and urging them against reading his books. It’s the best use of reverse psychology that I have ever seen to be sure. 

Filled with drama, suspense, striking characters, terrible villains, dastardly plots, and cold porridge, The Bad Beginning is a wonderfully gripping and easy read, one that can be easily finished in less than a day. I absolutely love this series!