Snicket says his books tell only of misery and woe; and indeed he is right.
By:Rob Sgobbo
Are the Baudelaire children real? Why are good children fated to a life of misery? These are questions that readers ask while reading Lemony Snicket’s The Bad Beginning one in five books in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Snicket claims that he has a mission to tell the unfortunate tale of the Baudelaire children. In many accounts, Snicket tells his audience that he writes only of misery and sorrow. In The Bad Beginning, Snicket warns: "If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book."
The Bad Beginning tells the tale of three delightful and courteous siblings: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire who learn their mansion had burned down with their parents inside. Grief-stricken, the orphaned Baudelaire children are sent to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf.
Snicket writes, "In this book there is no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle." He keeps to his promise with the character Count Olaf, who calls the Baudelaire siblings "orphans" and makes them all sleep in one small lumpy bed. The children are also given no toys to amuse themselves, except for a pile of rocks. Not that the Baudelaire children have time to play with their rocks, for they must do constant chores for Count Olaf, such as cooking dinners for his theater troupe.
In addition to the verbal abuse and the chores he oppresses on his adopted children, Count Olaf has plans to steal the Baudelaire fortune. The rest of the story tells of Count Olaf’s evil plan to steal the money and how the Baudelaire children keep trying to foil his plans. In many twists and turns, the book comes to a surprising ending
Although Snicket’s book contains a twisted and morbid humor, it is captivating to readers of all ages. Snicket’s cliffhanger endings make readers want to buy the series. .
When asked about how popular Snicket’s books are at the Princeton Public Library, Bonnie Kunzel, the children and teen specialist said, "We can’t keep them on the shelf!" She believes that Snicket’s bizarre humor and cliffhanger endings are what makes children, teens, and even adults keep reading his books.
"Anything that has kids reading is great," Kunzel said.
Rankings based on sales at bookstores, put out by The New York Times Book Review on July 8, 2001, reestablished Kunzel’s observations.
Four of Snicket’s books held rankings in the top ten most popular books, The Bad Beginning holding third place.