Lemony Snicket

[DRD2001]

I am reading Lemony Snicket's series "A Series of Unfortunate Events". He has been a guest speaker on the local radio show a few times, so I was interested enought to check it out. These books are aweful. Not bad, because they are very good, but the stories of what happens to these children are aweful. I'm not sure what to make of it. Has anyone else read these kid's books.

[LiLOrion]

Sorry...I'm just here cause I wanted to know what a "Lemony Snicket" was. :rollin:

[Alexxia]

It's on my list of things to read. I'll get around to it someday.

[samati75]

Kind OT OT. I listen to NPR on the way home, and I love this commentator: http://www.npr.org/about/people/bios/acodrescu.html

[stlscape]

My daughter loves them - she thinks they're a hoot.

They're patterned after late 1800's/early 1900's books promoting the "life is very hard, but good will eventually triumph" moralistic theme. (In other words, children should behave like little ladies and gentlemen, and rise above their circumstances. Proper behaviour will prevail and those who behave improperly will suffer the consequences of their actions.) The books are NOT meant to be taken seriously. I suppose you could say they're sort of like the old Saturday movie cliffhanger serials -
Will the children escape from their dire situation? Come back to the cinema next week and see!

(Wild Indians on the warpath to the left! Mean Willie's gang to the right! A cliff in front of him! How will Cowboy Bob escape so he can save Miss Sue Ellen's ranch from the tax man so she can open a home for orphans?):)

[DRD2001]

Oh trust me, I am enjoying the books, but it is kind of weird for me to be reading about all the horrible things that keep happening to the children. I mean really aweful stuff. And your daughter is right, they are a hoot.

[Aura]

yeah i've read some, can't say i'm that impressed they get a bit repetitive when to get to the 5th book and what kind of name is lemony snicket? I'd love to see him, bet he is a real weirdo!

[stlscape]

You should check out Mr. Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography!

[DRD2001]

Originally posted by stlscape
You should check out Mr. Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography! Didn't know he had one. Thanks, I will check it out. :aok:

Like I said, I've heard him in interviews several times, and he is very funny, with a very, very dry wit.

[Hank]

I loved a story he told during an interview on the NPR show Fresh Air. He was at a party and being berated about the awful lessons embedded in his books. He suggested that it was sometimes appropriate behavior for children to lie. Imagine!

His accuser demanded that Mr. Handler give one example where a lie is appropriate. He looked her over for a second. And then he replied, "Nice sweater".

She didn't get it.

[StarsGoBlue]

I like them, and my students do too. When they were first published, they were unlike anything else out there for kids to read.

And yes, awful things happen, but they're patterned after the melodramas of the 1920's-1930's, you know, The Perils of Pauline and all that.

What *I* like most about them is that they use neat vocabulary, and use the words in context, and that Klaus and Violet promote learning and the applications of knowledge through research, science, and fabrication/construction.

And Sunny is just a hoot. :D