SarahJanet's Books

A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Reptile Room and The Wide Window, by Lemony Snicket.

There’s only so much you can say about A Series of Unfortunate Events. They are short – far shorter than I realised – and easy to read books that are obviously immensely popular. I like them well enough, and I can definitely see the appeal to kids, but I have to confess I’m mostly working my way through the series so I can see if the poor bastards get a happy ending. I’m also mildly curious about how long it’ll take before I get totally tired of the structure – I can see myself losing patience with the mysterious ways in which Count Olaf keeps showing up, and I’m only on the fourth book. I also have limited patience for the oft-overly-cutesy approach of the narrator (ie Lemony Snicket, who is a character in his own right.)Still, they only take about half an hour to read, and it will be useful to have read them (I think I might do a program on it for work), so I’ll keep slogging through. Even though they are really freaking depressing.

Plus, the dedications make me giggle.

posted by SarahJanet @ 3:02 PM