The book I decided to read this week is A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I remember reading the whole series in middle and in high school. It took me a long time to finish them all because there are 13 books. I know what your thinking...... and trust me! It is worth reading all 13 books. I decided to reread the first book because I am about ready to watch the tv show! It is now on Netflix and I am hoping it a lot better than the movie. I want to reread the book because it has been so long I do not remember what happens.
When I started reading the first couple of pages all the emotions rushed back into me. The story is about the three Baudelaire children whose parents died in their house fire. Violet is fourteen years old and is the inventor of the family. Klause who is twelve is very intelligent and could remember any information that he reads. Sunny is an infant that has super sharp teeth. She loved to bite things. When the Baudelaire orphans found out that their parents had died they got shipped to the nearest relative near them. Unfortunately, this was Count Olaf. Count Olaf is an evil man who just wants the Baudelaire fortune. He will do anything to get their money, and at one point in the story, he actually tried to marry Violet for it.
I feel so bad for these children. No matter who they tell no one will listen that Count Olaf is evil. None of the adults in the story listen to the Baudelaires and they go through so much because of it. This makes me think about how we live now. How many kids have tried to tell us something life threating and we just take it for a joke? What would have happened if only one person listened to the Baudelaires in the beginning? Would the story change? Could they have been living with the judge their other relatives happily?
When reading the book I notice that it is written for everyone. For the younger generation, they add definitions to harder words. Lemony Snicket adds the definitions in seamless. He makes it apart of the story and it flows into the next thought. For the older generation, it does have more deep concepts. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, whether your 14 or 20!
I loved these books when I was a kid! These are definitely not books for someone who likes a happy ending or things to go right all the time. These poor kids go through so much misfortune after their parents died. Anything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong. I started watching the Netflix series last month. It is alright. I think they could have done better. It is a little cheesy in parts. It makes it even more sad to actually see the kids going through all of these very unfortunate events though. I agree with you that it definitely makes you stop and think about what some kids go through in real life, and how adults do not always listen when they try to tell them that something is wrong. These books do have something for everyone though, deep and darker messages for older readers, while offering rich vocabulary for younger readers. I will always love these books! I have some of them on my bookshelf already!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I remember walking by these books in the library with a sense of interest. Truthfully, the covers frightened me and I was never certain that I would like the books. I did watch the movie and I really enjoyed it. I know that movies never do the book justice but having never read the series, I was able to enjoy it. I might have to give the books a try or at least the first book. One connection that I can make to story is how the children are almost insignificant or ridiculous. You mentioned that no one believes that Count Olaf is evil even though the evidence is undeniable. I think that adults can often be dismissive with children. So, any young person could read this book and identify with some elements of the Baudelaire children's lives. Thank you for sharing your reading experience! I hope you enjoy diving back into a series you love.
ReplyDeleteThis books are so good! I also loved the movie with Jim Carey! I agree with Ashley about the tv show though. I think this is a great book to recommend for intermediate/middle school students! It has a great story, and just enough "bad" events to keep them interesting. I never thought to relate this book to real life though. Probably because I read them so long, and these tragic events just did not seem possible in my sheltered life. However, I could not imagine children going through things like these. Now that I am older, I do realize some of the struggles students go through at home. Which makes me relate to these books in a more sympathy way. However, they can be interpreted in many different ways!
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