The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
It was the name that got me first - ‘Lemony Snicket’. It rolled off the tongue and sounded like a cake or a nice yellow flowered plant. That’s what persuaded me to read the back cover to see what the book was about:
“Dear Reader, I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant, don’t read this, whatever you do. It will sadden you and cause harm to your mind.”
Lemony Snicket was not wrong. The three children the book is about, the Baudelaires, are newly orphaned and go to live with a distant relative who cares nothing for them and sees them as a form of cheap labour and a way to access their parents’ fortune. Not cheery then, and actually pretty cruel in places. When the children first encountered Count Olaf’s ‘troupe’ of followers one of the followers says:
“You’re a pretty one,” he said, taking her face in his rough hands. “If I were you, I would try not to anger Count Olaf, or he might wreck that pretty little face of yours.”
But have I become too soft, full of Disney type sensibilities, a 21st century wuss? When I think about the children’s stories I grew up with - Hans Andersen’s ‘Match girl’ who dies in the snow homeless and destitute, or ‘The Red Shoes’ that were bought for a young girl who could not stop dancing in them until she asked for her feet to be cut off – I can see that children’s stories have always been brutal at times, and maybe it is reading (and understanding) them as an adult that is the difference?
The Bad Beginning is the first book of a thirteen-book series called ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ written by Lemony Snicket, which is the pen name of American author and musician Daniel Handler. Handler has developed Lemony as a character in his own right, and in the book, it is Lemony who narrates the story.
The books have a huge following and they spawned a TV series, film, board game, video game, card game, album and audio books. The whole book series is illustrated by the American artist Brett Helquist with very distinct artwork, adding to the books’ allure.
Within a year of The Bad Beginning's publication in 1999, the first four books in the series had a combined printing of 125,000 copies. A Series of Unfortunate Events has been printed in 41 different languages, selling at least sixty-five million copies as of 2015.
In 2004 a film ‘Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events’ (also simply known as A Series of Unfortunate Events) was released which was based on the first three novels of the book series. The film grossed $211 million worldwide against a budget of $140 million to make it. At the 77th Academy Awards, it won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and received nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score.
In 2017 ‘A series of Unfortunate Events’ became a Netflix TV series and during its opening weekend it was viewed by 3.755 million adults. Another two series followed.
There are a few different versions of the books that you may see around. The 1999 HarperCollins USA edition predates the UK Egmont Printing of 2001, and they look very different. There is also a London Egmont ‘Special Collectors Edition’. Prices vary for these books and a 1st UK edition of ‘The Bad Beginning’ can be bought from £30-£50 (at the time of writing - Aug 2024) depending on condition.
For more exclusive editions, the prices can be much higher. A 'Special Edition' 2003 HarperCollins hardcover, the so-called ‘Rare Edition’ (where the book is housed in a cardboard pictorial slipcase and includes a colour picture entitled 'The Marvelous Marriage' in a cardboard-stand up frame) can fetch over £80.
Signed copies can fetch much more. A USA 1st edition, 1st printing of the whole series in fine condition, signed by the author with a handwritten date on the embossed seal and with ‘all due respect’ handwritten on outside of the seal is over £1,000.
So, what is it about the books that create such interest? The story is creative and engrossing, the illustrations are great and while the books are marketed primarily to children, the series features numerous references that adults or older children are more likely to understand. Wikipedia says of the book:
“characterized by Victorian Gothic fiction tones and absurdist fiction, the books are noted for their dark humour, sarcastic storytelling, and anachronistic elements, as well as frequent cultural and literary allusions. They have been classified as postmodern and metafictional writing, with the plot evolution throughout the later novels being cited as an exploration of the psychological process of the transition from the innocence of childhood to the moral complexity of maturity. As the series progresses, the Baudelaires must face the reality that their actions have become morally ambiguous, blurring the lines between which characters should be read as "good" or "evil". “
Goodness. I missed all that, and still loved it!
At the end of the book I am left feeling that I want to pick up the next book in the series, but maybe I will start leaving my light on while I sleep at night.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Beginning
https://www.thewrap.com/lemony-snickets-series-of-unfortunate-events-tv-ratings/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemony_Snicket%27s_A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events
Contributed by Alison
(Published on 15th Aug 2024)
