A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning

Until this morning, the only experience I had with A Series of Unfortunate Events was the movie with Jim Carey. My sister brought me Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning, and I'm delighted--a word which here means "absolutely will be reading the rest of the series"--to give this review.

After having read the book, I have a greater respect for Jim Carey's performance as the absolutely wretched Count Olaf. This book is not only a fun story, and a relatively quick read, but it's a great vocabulary enhancer. Words like "blanched", "perished", "nuptial" & "incurring" are not just sprinkled throughout the book, but the characters & narrator define them as well.

The story follows the adventures of the Baudelaire children, following the untimely demise of their parents. They are sent to their new legal guardian, the aforementioned Count Olaf. Count Olaf is a strange and despicable man, bent on getting their fortune by any means necessary. The children each have a special talent, that they put to good use in outsmarting the Count & his theater troupe.

As the narrator promises, the book does not have a happy ending; however it does leave you desiring to learn what will happen in later books.