Thursday, December 11, 2014

A Series of Unfortunate Events 2: The Reptile Room

By Lemony Snicket

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent children. They are charming, and resourceful, and have pleasant facial features. Unfortunately, they are exceptionally unlucky. In the first two books alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, a lumpy bed, a deadly serpent, a large brass reading lamp, a long knife, and a terrible odor. In the tradition of great storytellers, comes an exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent, hilarious and deftly crafted. Never before has a tale of three likeable and unfortunate children been quite so enchanting, or quite so uproariously unhappy.

Just when the Baudelaire children think they have escaped the Count, and found a relative that is truly interesting and enjoys them, once more a series of unfortunate events unfolds to threaten their safety and their new home. Without going into the actual events of the book, I can say that this series is quite different and enjoyable once you become accustomed to the unusual tone and content. Daniel Handler, AKA Lemony Snicket, is a great writer and very diverse as well as a sarcastic bloke. This book is chuck full of fun archetypal characters and situations as well as fun new words that the narrator loves to explain to kids in his morose style. This series is quite fun and I figure eventually I’ll get through them all someday and find out the eventual unfortunate end.

This gets a 3 out of 5

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