Lemony Snicket is best known for A Series of Unfortunate Events, a children’s book series that sold more than 65 million copies globally (translated into 41 languages) and was even adapted into a Netflix series under the same title. While commonly mistaken, Lemony Snicket isn’t actually the name of the author behind the series, but a pseudonym of Daniel Handler, who has created the Lemony Snicket universe in multiple series and stand-alone stories. Besides A Series of Unfortunate Events, he published All the Wrong Questions series, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents, Poison for Breakfast, as well as several other religious and holiday pieces.
I first picked up A Series of Unfortunate Events in middle school and went on to read several other works. The first book of the series, titled The Bad Beginning, starts off with a warning about what is about to unfold in the story. It repeatedly tells the reader not to read on further, for it contains stories of grim and unfortunate events (hence the series title). Of course, this is a clever trick to make readers even more interested and engaged in reading — a reverse psychology. The series does indeed have pretty dark and morbid elements, even to the extent that initially made me question its appropriateness for children audience. It is a story of three Baudelaire children, who are unexpectedly told about the death of their parents. Their parental care is soon displaced by Count Olaf, the main villain who constantly goes after the children for their inheritance in many unexpected and disturbing ways. Then there is All the Wrong Questions series, in which Lemony himself plays a role of a young detective, working to solve crimes and mysteries in a small abandoned town. While there are hints of characters from the previous series, it is focused primarily on his childhood. Lemony’s most recent work, Poison for Breakfast (which I read just two days ago), is a very contrasting work from the previous two: It is a philosophical writing suitable for all ages. Every Lemony Snicket book I’ve read has its own unique element, even though the writing style is pretty consistent. The absurdness of the plot and the extremely unique storytelling probably explains why I enjoy his books so much, as well as for the millions of other loyal fans.
Before I spoil any more about the books (which is considered one of the worst deeds in the Snicket universe), let’s discuss what makes the writing so great. The greatest treasure in these books, in my opinion, is Lemony’s unique writing style and the literary elements. While A Series of Unfortunate Events is written in third-person, the narration is very intrusive, and Lemony often speaks directly to the readers. The writing is quirky with lots of word play, which is how he creates humor out of dark themes. The books always foreshadow the next in the series, and inside jokes carry over all throughout. Following are some examples:
- Alliteration used in book titles: “The Bad Beginning”, “The Reptile Room”, “The Wide Window”, “The Miserable Mill”, etc
- Book references: “Check out a book about a champion of the world… By that author with all the chocolate…” (Reference to Danny the Champion of the World. The same author wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
- Witty word plays: “ “what do you think of the weather this morning?” “Feather?” he would say. “I’m not wearing a feather this morning. This is just a hat.” “Just a cat?” I would say. “Why would you wear a cat on your head?” “A bat in your bed?” he would say. “How terrifying! No wonder you look so sleepy.” “A book that’s creepy?” I’d say… ”
- Quirky writing: “I get sad, when I think of my own wicked acts, although I suppose if I weren’t sad about them it would mean I didn’t care. I’m glad that I care, so I’m a little happy that I’m sad.”
I would name Lemony Snicket as my favorite childhood author for his extremely unique writing and the stories full of ridiculousness and unexpected humor. Despite the fact that his stories are of darker topics with no real satisfactory endings, all of them seem to promote goodness of the world and the importance of friendship and loyalty. It also demonstrates how good comes from listening to others and acknowledging one’s faults, making them a series of deeper morals, rather than a typical cheerful read for children.
