Book Review: A Bad Beginning

Originally posted on my old blog on Sept 30th, 2004:

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)

Lemony Snicket

A Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket, is just that - a bad beginning to a series of bad stories.  That is not to say that the writing is attrocious, a word which here means extremely bad, because on the contrary, the writing has many endearing qualities.  It is only that the plot of the book is very disheartening, a word which here means to cause one to feel devoid of hope.  The author warns the reader several times throughout the book that it does not have a happy ending, so I am giving nothing away by saying that the book, indeed, does not have a happy ending.  It is worthwhile to note that it likeways has no happy middle or beginning.  Those portions of the book that are between the beginning and the middle, and also between the middle and the end, are also unhappy.  It is about three children who at the beginning of the book lose their parents in a horrible, consuming fire, which simultaneously (a word which here means "at the same time") robs them of their home.  They then have to go live with a distant relative that they didn't even know they had, Count Olaf, who is a very unpleasant man who lives in an equally unpleasant abode, a word which here means house.  It becomes quite clear early on that Olaf is only after one thing - the fortune that the childrens' parents left for them in trust.  To get at this money, he does a number of things that are quite despicable, a word which here means detestable, and frankly surprising to find in a childrens' book.

I have to admit, I actually had trouble finishing this book.  If you like the writing style of the paragraph above, you'll probably like the writing style of this book, since I was mimmicking the author's little signature turns of phrase.  However, it is very difficult for me to read (or in this case hear, since I was listening to the audiobook version of this) about children being mistreated and abused.  It really seems that there is enough of that going on in the world, as it is, without listening to fictionalized accounts of it, as well.  I knew, from the author's warnings, that the book did not have a happy ending, so I knew that while I listened to accounts of Count Olaf's dastardly deeds, I would probably not be able to look forward to him being slowly devoured by fire ants or disolved in a vat of sulfuric acid at the end of the story.  Therefore, it was only the captivating writing style that brought me through to the end.

The audio book was read by Tim Curry, which also helped me through.  I can't imagine anyone else doing better.

Bookcrossing rating: 8 of 10.