A Series of Unfortunate Events Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A Series of Unfortunate Events is a children's book series by Lemony Snicket, a.k.a. Daniel Handler.The series' mastery of the narrative voice, lugubrious humour, occasional vocabulary lessons and Gothic mood have earned it considerable sales and critical plaudits. Like Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, one major reason behind its popularity is that it violates a fundamental rule of children's books: as Alice in Wonderland was unique for being a story without a moral to teach its readers, so A Series of Unfortunate Events is unique for lacking the cheery, fuzzy tone of most children's stories. It is expected to consist of 13 volumes when finished, each with 13 chapters.
Each volume begins with a dedication to the memory of Lemony Snicket's beloved Beatrice (e.g. "When we first met I felt breathless. Now you are."). The books' back-cover blurbs, also written by Handler, warn the reader of the dreadful things described within each volume and respectfully suggest reading something else instead.
While the books are marketed primarily to children, they are also written with adult readers in mind; the series is full of references likely to make sense only to adults.
The first three books of the series have been filmed as 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', starring Jim Carrey as Count Olaf, Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine, Emily Browning as Violet, Liam Aiken as Klaus, and Jude Law as Lemony Snicket; the movie is due for release in December 2004.
Most of the series of unabridged audio books are read by actor Tim Curry. Books III-V are read by Handler as Lemony Snicket, whose band The Gothic Archies also provides introductory music for each. The books released in this series to date are:
- The Bad Beginning
- The Reptile Room
- The Wide Window
- The Miserable Mill
- The Austere Academy
- The Ersatz Elevator
- The Vile Village
- The Hostile Hospital
- The Carnivorous Carnival
- The Slippery Slope
- The Grim Grotto
The series revolves around the Baudelaire siblings Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. In The Bad Beginning, they are told by Mr. Poe, a friend of the family, that their parents have been killed in a fire. They are sent to stay with a distant cousin, Count Olaf, who mistreats them and attempts to force Violet to marry him so he can steal their fortune. A kind neighbour by the name of Justice Strauss gives the children some help, but they are forced to defeat Olaf's plans primarily by their own efforts.
The series then becomes somewhat formulaic: Mr Poe, who is in charge of their care, sends them to live with a succession of ever more distant relatives, where they are inevitably tracked down and once more troubled by the wearisome Count Olaf (usually in disguise) and his retinue of henchmen. In The Reptile Room, they go to live with their Uncle Monty, who is head of a herpetological society and keeps a large collection of snakes. Sadly, he is murdered by Olaf. The Wide Window sees them sent to live by Lake Lachrymose with Aunt Josephine, who is afraid of... everything! But Count Olaf returns and murders Josephine.
Mr. Poe then sends them to The Miserable Mill - 'Lucky Smells' lumbermill - where they are sure Olaf won't reach them. But Count Olaf and two of his associates stir trouble again, and the Baudelaires get the blame. The owner of the lumbermill sends them off, and their next home is The Austere Academy - a boarding school run by a deranged principal called Nero. The Baudelaires make friends with the 'Quagmire Triplets', Isadora and Duncan (the third triplet, Quigley, is missing). However, Olaf is also eager to steal the Quagmire fortune, and the triplets are kidnapped - leaving a cryptic message, 'V.F.D'
In The Ersatz Elevator, the Baudelaires move to Esme and Jerome Squalor's penthouse apartment. Jerome is kind but ineffectual; Esme is interested only in the latest fashions. When Olaf arrives, the Baudelaires try to rescue the Quagmires, but lose them again. Esme turns out to be evil and escapes with Count Olaf.
From this point, the series breaks away from the formula followed by the first six books as the Baudelaires set out in an attempt to find the Quagmires and find out the meaning of "V.F.D.", leading them into a gradually unfolding conspiracy, while fleeing authorities accusing them of murder.
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