The Bad Beginning
Lemony Snicket
Reading Level: 6.4
Interest Level: Middle Grades
The Bad Beginning is the first in A Series of Unfortunate Events; a series of 13 books (of 13 chapters each) detailing the woeful misfortunes of the Baudelaire orphans.
Hardcover
ISBN: 0064407667, Published by HarperTrophy, 176 pages.
Audio Cassette
ISBN: 0807261785, Published by Bantam Books-Audio, unabridged.
The Baudelaires, Violet (the eldest, she invents things), Klaus (the middle child, he reads and researches everything) and Sunny (the baby, she has sharp teeth and likes to bite) start off well enough at the beginning of the book, but things rapidly go from worse to worser to worst.
The terms of their parents' will dictate that the children be placed with a relative. They are sent to live with Count Olaf, a nefarious dastard whose only desire is to access the money held in trust for the orphans.
Count Olaf possesses zero scruples and even fewer sympathies. The children thwart his plots with ingenuity, resourcefulness and determination.
Sadly, that is insufficient.
If you've read this far, you've probably decided that The Bad Beginning is a grim book. It isn't. A Series of Unfortunate Events are dark books, likely to appeal to fans of Roald Dahl and John Bellairs, but they are anything but grim.
The books are wonderfully crafted, in every respect, from the pseudonym of the author (have you ever seen such a perfect nom de plume? Lemony Snicket), to the crisp language, to the physical design of the books.
The tone of the books is simply delightful...direct and simple, almost jocular, without a hint of condescension.
The books themselves set the atmosphere with old-fashioned bindings and rough-cut pages.
Purely delightful. Best enjoyed by those 10 and older.
Barbara Handley
Related Resources
Additional ORL titles by Lemony Snicket
2) The Reptile Room
Read the ORL Review
A Box of Unfortunate Events
Books 1-3 Boxed Set.
A Library of Unfortunate Events
Books 1-10 Boxed Set.
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
Off-Site Links to Related Topics
Lemony Snicket
Official web site: info about the author, games, screen savers and more.
Incomplete Guide to Lemony Snicket Allusions
A guide to literary and historical allusions in A Series of Unfortunate Events.