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The Bad Beginning
Book the First: The Bad Beginning is the first novel of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The novel tells the story of three children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who become orphans following a fire and are sent to live with Count Olaf, who attempts to steal their inheritance.
The book was published on September 30, 1999, by Scholastic Inc. and illustrated by Brett Helquist. An audiobook was released in 2003 with narration by Tim Curry, and several special editions of the book have been made. The book has been translated into many different languages, and inspired a film based on the series starring Jim Carrey and a Netflix TV series starring Neil Patrick Harris.
Violet Baudelaire is fourteen years old and loves creating amazing inventions; Klaus Baudelaire is twelve and an obsessive reader; Sunny Baudelaire is a baby and has four surprisingly large sharp buck teeth, with which she loves to bite. While they are at Briny Beach, the banker Mr. Poe tells them that their parents have died in a fire that destroyed their home. He places them in the care of Count Olaf, said to be a distant relative although the children have never heard of him before. Olaf's ramshackle house is filthy and covered in disconcerting images of eyes; it has a tower which the Baudelaires are forbidden from entering. Count Olaf is unpleasant, easily angered, and forces the children to perform odious chores. It becomes clear that Count Olaf is scheming to collect the Baudelaires' fortune. The only solace the children find is spending time with their neighbor, Justice Strauss.
For the next few days, Olaf keeps the Baudelaires busy by forcing them to clean his house. The Baudelaires disagree but do not dare to object. One day, the Baudelaires are set the task of making dinner for Olaf and his theatre troupe. The troupe contains two white faced women, a hook-handed man, a bald man with a long nose and a person of indeterminate gender. The siblings make puttanesca, but when Olaf arrives, he demands roast beef. The children remind him that he never asked them to make roast beef, and Olaf becomes angry, lifting Sunny into the air, and striking Klaus across the face after Klaus tells everyone Count Olaf has given them only one bed and a pile of rocks for the three of them to sleep on and to play with.
After a few days, Olaf forces the Baudelaires to participate in a play written by "Al Funcoot" called The Marvelous Marriage, forcing Violet to play the role of his bride. After smuggling a book from Strauss's library, Klaus realises that the marriage in the play will be legally binding, meaning Olaf will gain control of their fortune. He confronts Olaf, who has one of his associates put Sunny in a birdcage, dangling from outside the window of his tower. He threatens to kill her if Klaus and Violet do not follow his plan. Violet constructs a makeshift grappling hook and uses it to climb the tower. She finds the hook-handed man (a member of Olaf's theatre troupe) waiting to capture her. Klaus is brought up to the tower and they are locked together in the room until the play begins.
After Violet signs the marriage document, Olaf interrupts to tell the audience that their wedding was legally binding. Justice Strauss objects, but concedes that the law requires them to hand over the Baudelaire fortune to Olaf. Violet interrupts to proclaim that the marriage was not legally binding, as she signed with her left hand despite being right-handed and the wording is 'own hand'. Justice Strauss agrees that this invalidates the marriage. Before Mr. Poe can arrest Olaf for his actions, one of his associates turns the lights in the theatre off and he is able to escape. Justice Strauss tells the Baudelaires that she is willing to adopt them; however, Mr. Poe says that this would go against their parents' will, as Justice Strauss is not a relative. He decides to take them back to his household until he can find another guardian for them. The Baudelaires reflect on their uncertain future as they are driven away.
In 2012, School Library Journal named The Bad Beginning the 48th best children's novel. Kirkus Reviews noted the uncomfortably macabre tone of the novel, warning that because "the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters", the novel is "not for the squeamish". Catherine Pelosi of Kids' Book Review responded positively to The Bad Beginning, describing it as "exciting, humorous and appropriately dark".
The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition (ISBN 9780060518288) was published by HarperCollins on September 23, 2003. In addition to a brown slipcase showcasing the original cover, a redesigned book cover with green eye-patterns throughout, additional illustrations, and a stand-up cardboard portrait of the Marvelous Marriage cast specially illustrated for this edition by Brett Helquist, this edition also contains a fourteenth chapter filled with author's notes, many of which foreshadow later events in the series or provide excessively detailed information about the events in The Bad Beginning itself.
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The Bad Beginning
Book the First: The Bad Beginning is the first novel of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The novel tells the story of three children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who become orphans following a fire and are sent to live with Count Olaf, who attempts to steal their inheritance.
The book was published on September 30, 1999, by Scholastic Inc. and illustrated by Brett Helquist. An audiobook was released in 2003 with narration by Tim Curry, and several special editions of the book have been made. The book has been translated into many different languages, and inspired a film based on the series starring Jim Carrey and a Netflix TV series starring Neil Patrick Harris.
Violet Baudelaire is fourteen years old and loves creating amazing inventions; Klaus Baudelaire is twelve and an obsessive reader; Sunny Baudelaire is a baby and has four surprisingly large sharp buck teeth, with which she loves to bite. While they are at Briny Beach, the banker Mr. Poe tells them that their parents have died in a fire that destroyed their home. He places them in the care of Count Olaf, said to be a distant relative although the children have never heard of him before. Olaf's ramshackle house is filthy and covered in disconcerting images of eyes; it has a tower which the Baudelaires are forbidden from entering. Count Olaf is unpleasant, easily angered, and forces the children to perform odious chores. It becomes clear that Count Olaf is scheming to collect the Baudelaires' fortune. The only solace the children find is spending time with their neighbor, Justice Strauss.
For the next few days, Olaf keeps the Baudelaires busy by forcing them to clean his house. The Baudelaires disagree but do not dare to object. One day, the Baudelaires are set the task of making dinner for Olaf and his theatre troupe. The troupe contains two white faced women, a hook-handed man, a bald man with a long nose and a person of indeterminate gender. The siblings make puttanesca, but when Olaf arrives, he demands roast beef. The children remind him that he never asked them to make roast beef, and Olaf becomes angry, lifting Sunny into the air, and striking Klaus across the face after Klaus tells everyone Count Olaf has given them only one bed and a pile of rocks for the three of them to sleep on and to play with.
After a few days, Olaf forces the Baudelaires to participate in a play written by "Al Funcoot" called The Marvelous Marriage, forcing Violet to play the role of his bride. After smuggling a book from Strauss's library, Klaus realises that the marriage in the play will be legally binding, meaning Olaf will gain control of their fortune. He confronts Olaf, who has one of his associates put Sunny in a birdcage, dangling from outside the window of his tower. He threatens to kill her if Klaus and Violet do not follow his plan. Violet constructs a makeshift grappling hook and uses it to climb the tower. She finds the hook-handed man (a member of Olaf's theatre troupe) waiting to capture her. Klaus is brought up to the tower and they are locked together in the room until the play begins.
After Violet signs the marriage document, Olaf interrupts to tell the audience that their wedding was legally binding. Justice Strauss objects, but concedes that the law requires them to hand over the Baudelaire fortune to Olaf. Violet interrupts to proclaim that the marriage was not legally binding, as she signed with her left hand despite being right-handed and the wording is 'own hand'. Justice Strauss agrees that this invalidates the marriage. Before Mr. Poe can arrest Olaf for his actions, one of his associates turns the lights in the theatre off and he is able to escape. Justice Strauss tells the Baudelaires that she is willing to adopt them; however, Mr. Poe says that this would go against their parents' will, as Justice Strauss is not a relative. He decides to take them back to his household until he can find another guardian for them. The Baudelaires reflect on their uncertain future as they are driven away.
In 2012, School Library Journal named The Bad Beginning the 48th best children's novel. Kirkus Reviews noted the uncomfortably macabre tone of the novel, warning that because "the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters", the novel is "not for the squeamish". Catherine Pelosi of Kids' Book Review responded positively to The Bad Beginning, describing it as "exciting, humorous and appropriately dark".
The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition (ISBN 9780060518288) was published by HarperCollins on September 23, 2003. In addition to a brown slipcase showcasing the original cover, a redesigned book cover with green eye-patterns throughout, additional illustrations, and a stand-up cardboard portrait of the Marvelous Marriage cast specially illustrated for this edition by Brett Helquist, this edition also contains a fourteenth chapter filled with author's notes, many of which foreshadow later events in the series or provide excessively detailed information about the events in The Bad Beginning itself.