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Post by Marlowe on May 30, 2020 1:02:42 GMT -5
It's become curious to see Daniel Handler occasionally treat the Lemony Snicket name as just a pseudonym to write children's books under rather than a full-fledged alter ego/creation in his own right. It is also amusing to imagine that Snicket, when not mooning over Beatrice or writing about VFD, authors picture books for very young kids. Anyway, here's my personal ranking of those picture books, from favorite to least favorite.
1. The Lump of Coal
One of Snicket's best works, period. Perfect encapsulation of Snicket's dark, absurdist sense of humor with a sprinkling of genuine sweetness that keeps it from being unpleasantly bleak. Side note: just realized that Neil Patrick Harris did the audiobook - did anyone take note of this when he was cast as Olaf?
2. The Dark Not much to say about this one, other than that I wish Handler and Klassen collaborated more often.
3. The Composer Is Dead The mystery itself is largely uninteresting other than as a vehicle for Stookey's music. The performance relies heavily on Handler's voice, and while his reedy tone works for the obnoxious Inspector character, he's somewhat annoying to listen to after a while.
4. Goldfish Ghost Boring and a little phoned-in. It makes a semi-interesting companion piece to The Lump of Coal, both being tales of an anthropomorphic protagonist's quest for a place to call home.
5. 13 Words Underwhelmingly slight. I almost tied this with with Goldfish Ghost, but I like Brown's art better than Kalman's.
Overall I'd call The Lump of Coal the only really worthwhile book here, and other than TLWCSS I'm in no particular rush to read the ones I've skipped.
Fellow volunteers, how would you personally rank the picture books?
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Post by Dante on May 30, 2020 3:30:56 GMT -5
Interesting ranking, Marlowe. So far as the ones you haven't read, including Swarm of Bees or The Bad Mood and the Stick, go... The former I think can only be for the very young indeed, but I found its art engagingly stylised; the latter is probably notable largely for having to be significantly redrawn after a suggestion was made that its art could be seen as racist. There is also 29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy, a curious project which Handler and Brown have actually had written for years, long before ATWQ (which alludes to it briefly). The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming is lovingly produced, but perhaps something in the nature of a joke; I recall an article in which Handler and Brown recount laughing and laughing to her parade of near-identical illustrations for the book.
The Lump of Coal is very good and quite different to Snicket's subsequent books, but it's also not truly a children's picture book, in my reading; merely an adoption of the form. The Dark is one of my favourites for the elegant construction of its surprisingly reassuring story. The Composer is Dead I don't think is legitimately intended to be a mystery.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on May 30, 2020 3:58:27 GMT -5
I really like the composer who is dead, because I can access a bilingual copy. I really started reading as if it were a mystery, analyzing the alibes of each instrument. It is a pity that I never heard the music.
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Post by Reba on May 30, 2020 6:51:42 GMT -5
1. The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming
snicket's greatest story.
2. 29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy
brown's greatest illustrations.
3. The Composer is Dead
wonderfully creative Peter & the Wolf style project, and educational. admittedly not much without the audio.
4. The Dark
best collaboration with an outside illustrator.
5. The Lump of Coal
closest to the ASOUE persona of LS, and ill-advised on that front, i think.
6. Goldfish Ghost
fine for fans of Lisa Brown. at this point it seems like she pestered him for something to illustrate, or even wrote it herself.
7. The Bad Mood and the Stick
LS's storytelling faculties really getting slapdash. illustrations could have been good, sans scandal. [nonetheless: snicket's greatest book title.]
8. Swarm of Bees
atrocious tale. interesting process behind the illustrations (seen in that interview somewhere), but those not to my taste at all.
i haven't read 13 Words or, of course, Baby in the Manger.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on May 30, 2020 9:43:49 GMT -5
Hello and welcome, Marlowe! Between your avatar and signature I see you've got great taste.
I've only read five (5) of Snicket's picture books, and I guess they'd rank somewhat like this:
1) 29 Myths of the Swinster Pharmacy - This feels like a long-lost Dino Buzzati project (who wrote The Bears Famous Invasion of Siciliy), reminding me of certain passages in Buzzati's Poem strip.
2) The Lump of Coal - Idk if I'd rate it higher than the next book on the list (Dark), but it's the only Snicket/Helquist collab outside of ASoUE afaik, so that's awesome. I didn't know about NPH doing the audio book for it, interesting! (Must be a short audio book, though.)
3) The Dark - I liked the story and the illustrations had decent compositions, but I have to say I don't get the hubbub around Jon Klassen. I find his art style awfully boring.
4) The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming - Fun little tale that feels very Snickettian; The tone also reminded me of the underrated introductory story in Horseradish.
5) Goldfish Ghost - I'm not really a fan of Lisa Brown's illustrations either, but I like them more than Klassen's... there's a bit more character to them. The story here, though, is pretty meh.
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Post by Christmas Chief on May 30, 2020 18:21:13 GMT -5
It's become curious to see Daniel Handler occasionally treat the Lemony Snicket name as just a pseudonym to write children's books under rather than a full-fledged alter ego/creation in his own right. It is also amusing to imagine that Snicket, when not mooning over Beatrice or writing about VFD, authors picture books for very young kids. Good point. I hadn't thought to put it into words like that. I've read Latke, Coal, Composer, 13 Words, and, after being moved by Dante's review of it, Swinster. Of those, I think Swinster wins for best combination of text, pictures, and presentation. Latke has the most interesting text, if you read it as a joke and not a picture book for children. And 13 Words wins for best illustrations. How do these books go in publication order? I have a vague sense of timing for each one, but I'm curious if there's a pattern in theme or tone over time.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on May 30, 2020 19:37:30 GMT -5
It's become curious to see Daniel Handler occasionally treat the Lemony Snicket name as just a pseudonym to write children's books under rather than a full-fledged alter ego/creation in his own right. It is also amusing to imagine that Snicket, when not mooning over Beatrice or writing about VFD, authors picture books for very young kids. In order to satisfy my own conspiratory desires, I prefer to believe that there is someone posing as Lemony Snicket on Averse, and some of these books ended up being published that way. (Except for The Lump of Coal, which for me was actually published by the real Lemony Snicket. In this case, this is a book that has a secret code that is not easily understood by most readers.) - Of course, I'm just kidding. (maybe not)
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Post by Marlowe on May 30, 2020 21:49:19 GMT -5
Interesting ranking, Marlowe. So far as the ones you haven't read, including Swarm of Bees or The Bad Mood and the Stick, go... The former I think can only be for the very young indeed, but I found its art engagingly stylised; the latter is probably notable largely for having to be significantly redrawn after a suggestion was made that its art could be seen as racist. There is also 29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy, a curious project which Handler and Brown have actually had written for years, long before ATWQ (which alludes to it briefly). Agh, I'd forgotten about 29 Myths - I'll have to add it to my reading list, then. But based on what others have said on Swarm and TBMATS I think I can continue avoiding them. Still holding out for the day Baby in the Manger is made available to the general public.
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Post by Dante on May 31, 2020 3:05:42 GMT -5
You know your stuff, Marlowe. Quite a few years ago now, The Baby in the Manger was actually briefly listed for publication by McSweeney's; but I contacted them, and they professed complete ignorance, so clearly there was some miscommunication. You can, however, see a few photos of the book's interior here - our first ever indication of what the story is actually like. With regards to the inquiry about the publication order of Snicket's picture books - he's also written a number of short stories and the like which would take too long to document (a fuller listing can be found here) - then this should be the correct order: 1. The Baby in the Manger (not formally published) 2. The Lump of Coal (original magazine publication) 3. The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming 4. The Composer is Dead 5. 13 Words 6. The Dark 7. 29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy 8. Goldfish Ghost 9. The Bad Mood and the Stick 10. Swarm of Bees
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Post by Christmas Chief on May 31, 2020 9:05:05 GMT -5
For people who have read them, am I right that the recently published books fall more in line with the conventions of the young children's book genre?
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Post by Reba on May 31, 2020 9:46:09 GMT -5
For people who have read them, am I right that the recently published books fall more in line with the conventions of the young children's book genre? i think they are meant to, and they certainly appear that way at first glance, because he collaborates with artists who have fairly unassuming styles. but the results of handler's (d)evolving contributions, i would describe as disconcerting at best, and at worst, incomprehensible. this with corroboration from my mother, who works with children's librarians and has heard a roundly bemused/negative reception from both colleagues and children.
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Post by Dante on Jun 2, 2020 7:06:32 GMT -5
For people who have read them, am I right that the recently published books fall more in line with the conventions of the young children's book genre? i think they are meant to, and they certainly appear that way at first glance, because he collaborates with artists who have fairly unassuming styles. but the results of handler's (d)evolving contributions, i would describe as disconcerting at best, and at worst, incomprehensible. this with corroboration from my mother, who works with children's librarians and has heard a roundly bemused/negative reception from both colleagues and children. I'm curious if there's any more detail you can add to this. I have no points of comparison on which to judge Snicket's picture books as works for young children (not including, of course, the ones which aren't actually meant to be for young children at all), so it's interesting to hear of such responses from the actual intended audience.
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Post by Reba on Jun 2, 2020 14:48:41 GMT -5
well, my mother does occasional read-alouds at her job, and any time a book prompts questions from the children or is requested for a future read-aloud, that generally indicates a positive response. i think she read Swarm of Bees, which got none of that. i know a colleague read The Bad Mood and the Stick, which was meant to be a humorous selection, and it did not get laughs.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Jun 2, 2020 15:02:20 GMT -5
With regards to the inquiry about the publication order of Snicket's picture books - he's also written a number of short stories and the like which would take too long to document (a fuller listing can be found here) - then this should be the correct order: (...) Another story, which is included in the BBooks Factfile and comes close to being a picture book (though isn't, being a a short comic), is Snicket's contribution to "It Was a Dark and Silly Night", illustrated by Richard Sala (who very recently passed away; R.i.p.). The story is available (/shameless website self-promotion/) to read here.
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Post by Dante on Jun 2, 2020 16:33:14 GMT -5
well, my mother does occasional read-alouds at her job, and any time a book prompts questions from the children or is requested for a future read-aloud, that generally indicates a positive response. i think she read Swarm of Bees, which got none of that. i know a colleague read The Bad Mood and the Stick, which was meant to be a humorous selection, and it did not get laughs. Thank you for this information; that is worth knowing. With regards to the inquiry about the publication order of Snicket's picture books - he's also written a number of short stories and the like which would take too long to document (a fuller listing can be found here) - then this should be the correct order: (...) Another story, which is included in the BBooks Factfile and comes close to being a picture book (though isn't, being a a short comic), is Snicket's contribution to "It Was a Dark and Silly Night", illustrated by Richard Sala (who very recently passed away; R.i.p.). The story is available (/shameless website self-promotion/) to read here. Ah, this one is one of my favourites; I didn't know you had a full upload, so I'm glad you've posted it. It seems to my mind to anticipate some of Snicket's later themes, and given the year of publication, it's interesting that it's set in broadly the same climes as TSS.
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