The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket Book Review

 The Bad Beginning 

(A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)

By Lemony Snicket 

Published Year: 1999 

Page Count: 151 pages 

Medium Used: Oneplus Nord Ce6 

Genre: Children's Fiction, Horror, Disturbing Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic Fiction, Evil Characters, 2026-read.

Rating: 5/5 😎 😎 😎 😎 😎 

This is a very small book that felt like it has finished too soon. I was immersed into the tale so much that I failed to note the passing time or the flipping pages. Though this is a children's book,it is written with such a deft hand that it took me back to my own childhood. I started wondering how it would be if I was placed in the stead of those three unfortunate children. Their parents perish in an accidental fire and they are left alone with no friend or guardian. As the story progresses and we are introduced to the characters that want to steal their fortune and leave them penniless or worse, dead, I couldn't help becoming a bit paranoid. I started seeing conspiracies all over. Like what if that person is also in the plot with the villains? I was proved happily proved wrong but still this book doesn't have a happy ending .. or one which the kids want. Damn the law!! 

Though there are one or two scenes which might fall into the category of fantasy, most of the book is highly plausible. I mean kids read and become smart don't they? Kids think hard and use their passions to solving real world problems, don't they? They do! Just like Violet the eldest kid who is passionate about mechanics of objects and building things. Just like Klaus the second child who loves reading books and stoving away information for later use. Just like the youngest and vulnerable child Sunny that hasn't enough years to justify her presence of mind. So these three children come into the protection or guardianship of a filthy, uncouth character called Count Olaf who makes it clear from first day that he is after their property and doesn't care a fig for their well being. This Count Olaf is a scary looking man with shiny eyes, scraggly eye brows and eyes painted over his heel and all over his house. He hatches a plan to steal their money but .. how is it thwarted by the innocent and helpless kids ? Interesting read!! 

I guess we should be thankful and grateful for the things we take for granted - like a happy, comfortable home and loving, benevolent, indulging parents. Because until they are taken away from us with no chance of getting back, we don't know their value. This might sound trite and cliche but I got literal shivers imagining myself divested of my family as a child. Even when I have a brother that might offer some respite, it is not the same as having elders in the fray too, right?

There are multiple versions of TV series made on the books in this series - one with Jim Carey and Meryl Streep that I want to really watch. So I will definitely read up the remaining books and then knock myself out  infront the laptop! Cheers 🥂 🥂 🥂