Mister M Reviews : The Bad Beginning
May 25, 2024 12:29:31 GMT -5
ghostie, Optimism is my Phil-osophy, and 3 more like this
Post by MisterM on May 25, 2024 12:29:31 GMT -5
Mister M Reviews : The Bad Beginning
In a Nutshell : A fire, a count, a marriage.
The Plot : It is interesting, when taking this book as a single entity rather than the start of a 13-part series, to think about the narrative as a whole. In another world, or another time, this could be either a single entity, or one fourth of a quartet. As it is, the story is fairly stand-alone, and none of the ongoing mysteries that befall and consume the later entries of the series are all to present, so the story by itself feels satisfyingly complete.
The Baudelaire children quickly become the Baudelaire orphans, and are sent to reside at the home of their nearest distant relative, an actor by trade, who is also a count. Olaf seems probes himself to be a dastardly villain, who, due to the inheritance laws of the community, is forced to concoct an elaborate scheme wherein he marries a 14 year old girl in order to steal her inheritance. The plan is foiled by Violet contriving to sign the marriage certificate with her opposite appendage, but Olaf manages to escape before justice can be served.
The marriage play forms an intriguing plot, and the method by which our intrepid trio uncover his scheme is sufficiently interesting. The book sets out Olaf as delectably despicable villain, and the Baudelaire’s prove themselves adroit protagonists. The early books follow a formula, but this book is somewhat different in having to originate much of the circumstances on which the later books rely (although as we shall see, it is perhaps not quite as different as one may initially think). This book feels more episodic than most others in the series - the early chapters in particular are quite self contained. The puttanessca preparation is a sidestep, that ultimately serves to show Olafs harsh treatment of the trio, and the trip to the bank ultimately ends nothing much to the story. This is the shortest book, and quite a few of the chapters are only a handful of pages long, but ultimately this is no bad thing, as the story does not need to be any more overwrought than it ultimately is.
Loathsome Locations : The setting of the first book is much more mundane that some of the more extravagant places that we visit later down the line. In fact, taken as just this first volume, it would be reasonable for the reader toe expect the city to be the principle setting for all the remaining instalments - there is nothing to indicate any different from the ending of this volume at the least. So it's a pretty dull and ordinary place, but perhaps this is to it's advantage. The dark and gloomy cobbles help to punctuate the misery of the orphans situation. Its everydayness makes it more relatable, and understandable.
Nevertheless we do get to visit several different places from within the city. Briny Beach seems to be a pretty dull and desolate locale. The Poe household seems to be as bland as it's occupants. We get to visit the financial district, and Mr. Poe's bank, and the Bauds make a flying visit to a market. The theatre at which the Marvellous Marriage is performed does not get much in the way of description.
Count Olaf’s house befits the very definition of squalor, and although it is not a mansion (as the movie would have it) the tower is certainly an eccentric addition, but it does seem to serve no real purpose, either for Olaf or the plot. The decor of Olaf’s house is sparse, though the lions head and bowl of apple cores do provide the opportunity for some serendipitous retroactive foreshadowing.
Justice Strauss' house provide the library in which the Baudelaire’s are able to undertake the requisite research need for this escapade, but other than that nothing much of note to say.
From this opening instalment, the adults in the world are generally shown to either be ignorant, disbelieving the children or unable to comprehend or notice the danger with which they are confronted, or evil and selfish. The only real exception to this is Justice Strauss, though there are problems with her character too (see below). The children in this world seem to be the only good in it, at least for now.
Intelligent Inventor : Violet is the most full formed of the characters at this early stage, and as such she easily slips into the role of main protagonist. She manages to take the responsibility for leading her siblings through these situations with consummate ease. There is a lot of lusting after an underage girl in this book, but Violet manages to shake it off relatively well. Her inventive skills come to good use with building the grappling hook, and I had forgotten that she actually injured herself when using it, something that you wouldn't see in most children's fiction. In the end, though the grappling hook subplot does nothing to resolve the issue - it's Violet's quick thinking that gets her out of the marriage.
Reliable Researcher : Klaus is a big pain in the ass. You're twelve years old, get over yourself. When introducing the three children at the start, Snicket should replace Klaus' hobby of reading with 'whinging', as that's what he spend significant amounts of this book doing. Oh, and getting smacked by Count Olaf, but to be fair, I was on Olaf's side with that one. When not moaning about their situation, Klaus does actually do a good job of working out what Olaf's dastardly scheme happens to be. It's just a shame he didnt notice someone sneak into the same room as him and kidnap his sister.
Baby Biter : Sunny is scarcely a character in this book, mostly being there as a form of emotional blackmail / caged monkey. One of the joys of the series is Snicket extended (and often sardonic) descriptions of Sunny’s dialogue, but unfortunately these are mostly lacking in this volume. Oh, and she totters onto stage at the end of the book, so her first steps definitely take place here. I hope this will not be contradicted in any future instalments.
Notorious Nemesis : Now, Olaf is at his horrid best in this one. Throughout the book he does plenty to prove to us that he's a right royal rotter. Filthy, disgusting, evil, paedophilic, and threatening to murder the Baudelaire’s with his own hands, one of the reasons this book holds up is that you can believe that he is truly vile. His scheme is complex enough to work for the narrative, but not so ridiculous as to be unbelievable. And his attempts at being nice when making oatmeal for the children is a definite highlight. His penchant for disguises does not get a demonstration as of yet, but The Marvellous Marriage sounds to be a dreadfully dire dirge, so more power to him for that.
Terrible Troupe : Olaf’s acting troupe are definitely much more on equal terms with him at the start of the story. One of the white-faced women actually asking 'Olaf, what are you doing in here?' stands out as an interaction one could not envisage in later volumes. But by the time we get around to the play, Olaf is definitely numero uno here. The troupe are a wonderful bunch of oddities, but there is not a huge amount of depth to them at this point. Hooky gets a lot of page-time here, and again there is a lot of lusting after Violet here. Definitely makes you look at the relationship with Fiona differently. The Wart-Faced man is described as disappearing with the others at the end, but never makes an appearance, nor is even mentioned after this point. Untapped fanfic potential there for sure.
Good Guardian : Now, although in this book the Baudelaire's have been placed into Olaf's care, one could quite rationally make the argument that Justice Strauss more fulfils the narrative role of Guardian, at least in terms of how she functions to the resolution of the plot.
Although things start well, Justice Strauss soon goes downhill pretty quickly. 'I get to wear make up!!' She seems unbelievably naive, and is blind to the poor circumstances that the Baudelaire’s experience. It was probably one of Mr. Poe’s wiser decisions to not let the children go with her. There is a whole subplot of stolen credit cards, poisonous plants, royal garden arson, and objects being hidden under top hats that is set up in The Rare Edition, but I'm not going to get into that now or we will be here all day.
Pathetic Poe : Mr. Poe coughs and blunders his way through the story. I like him making a citizens arrest of Olaf at the end though - one the chips are down, he's going to damn well take control of things, let me tell you. I like his multiple telephones, and the use of in loco parentis. Mrs. Poe is barely there, but hey, look who she's married too, it's understandable.
Nasty Narrator : The 'character' or Lemony Snicket is not as integrated into the story in this first book. In Fact, the sequence at the start of Chapter Eleven where he describes the various objects in his own room is really the only time we get to find out anything much about him. He seems to be in much better straits than he will be later on down the line.
Beloved Beatrice : Now, here's the rub. I think that when the series began Beatrice was nobody. Just a name on a dedication. it was only as the series progressed that she became an actual character, and from there to becoming the Baudelaire's mother. Unless I have missed something, there is no direct reference to her within the text itself, other than that of the foggy picture among Lemony's possessions. Definitely something I will be keeping my eye on.
Suspicious Secrets : There is not a lot in the way of ongoing mysteries at this point. The only true unanswered question here is 'Who lit the fire?', to which at this point I think the only answer in Handlers mind could be Olaf (I don't think this is his intention by the series end, though).
The Good : The opening chapter is simply brilliant. It tells us right from the start that this is not like other Children's books, not at all.
The Bad : The introduction of Olaf feels a little flat. There is something underwhelming about that first encounter, where nothing much of note seems to happen. Could be better.
The Ugly : All the Violet Lust
Isn't It Odd? : The audience seem to whooping and clapping for more, and yet the play is described as long and boring. There was really nothing of note about VFD anywhere in Olaf's House? The lights seem to be off for only a few seconds after Olaf whispers his threat to Olaf, and then he's gone.
Overall : This is a good first entry. The book is not long enough to have the depth and world-building of later entries, but it's full of notable set pieces, and Olaf is at his villainous best. Klaus is an annoying brat, but he'll grow out of it. The illustrations are nice, but as fancy as they get later on. The style and presentation through snickets narration help convey events in an interesting manger. I'd probably put this somewhere in the middle of the books. 7/10
In a Nutshell : A fire, a count, a marriage.
The Plot : It is interesting, when taking this book as a single entity rather than the start of a 13-part series, to think about the narrative as a whole. In another world, or another time, this could be either a single entity, or one fourth of a quartet. As it is, the story is fairly stand-alone, and none of the ongoing mysteries that befall and consume the later entries of the series are all to present, so the story by itself feels satisfyingly complete.
The Baudelaire children quickly become the Baudelaire orphans, and are sent to reside at the home of their nearest distant relative, an actor by trade, who is also a count. Olaf seems probes himself to be a dastardly villain, who, due to the inheritance laws of the community, is forced to concoct an elaborate scheme wherein he marries a 14 year old girl in order to steal her inheritance. The plan is foiled by Violet contriving to sign the marriage certificate with her opposite appendage, but Olaf manages to escape before justice can be served.
The marriage play forms an intriguing plot, and the method by which our intrepid trio uncover his scheme is sufficiently interesting. The book sets out Olaf as delectably despicable villain, and the Baudelaire’s prove themselves adroit protagonists. The early books follow a formula, but this book is somewhat different in having to originate much of the circumstances on which the later books rely (although as we shall see, it is perhaps not quite as different as one may initially think). This book feels more episodic than most others in the series - the early chapters in particular are quite self contained. The puttanessca preparation is a sidestep, that ultimately serves to show Olafs harsh treatment of the trio, and the trip to the bank ultimately ends nothing much to the story. This is the shortest book, and quite a few of the chapters are only a handful of pages long, but ultimately this is no bad thing, as the story does not need to be any more overwrought than it ultimately is.
Loathsome Locations : The setting of the first book is much more mundane that some of the more extravagant places that we visit later down the line. In fact, taken as just this first volume, it would be reasonable for the reader toe expect the city to be the principle setting for all the remaining instalments - there is nothing to indicate any different from the ending of this volume at the least. So it's a pretty dull and ordinary place, but perhaps this is to it's advantage. The dark and gloomy cobbles help to punctuate the misery of the orphans situation. Its everydayness makes it more relatable, and understandable.
Nevertheless we do get to visit several different places from within the city. Briny Beach seems to be a pretty dull and desolate locale. The Poe household seems to be as bland as it's occupants. We get to visit the financial district, and Mr. Poe's bank, and the Bauds make a flying visit to a market. The theatre at which the Marvellous Marriage is performed does not get much in the way of description.
Count Olaf’s house befits the very definition of squalor, and although it is not a mansion (as the movie would have it) the tower is certainly an eccentric addition, but it does seem to serve no real purpose, either for Olaf or the plot. The decor of Olaf’s house is sparse, though the lions head and bowl of apple cores do provide the opportunity for some serendipitous retroactive foreshadowing.
Justice Strauss' house provide the library in which the Baudelaire’s are able to undertake the requisite research need for this escapade, but other than that nothing much of note to say.
From this opening instalment, the adults in the world are generally shown to either be ignorant, disbelieving the children or unable to comprehend or notice the danger with which they are confronted, or evil and selfish. The only real exception to this is Justice Strauss, though there are problems with her character too (see below). The children in this world seem to be the only good in it, at least for now.
Intelligent Inventor : Violet is the most full formed of the characters at this early stage, and as such she easily slips into the role of main protagonist. She manages to take the responsibility for leading her siblings through these situations with consummate ease. There is a lot of lusting after an underage girl in this book, but Violet manages to shake it off relatively well. Her inventive skills come to good use with building the grappling hook, and I had forgotten that she actually injured herself when using it, something that you wouldn't see in most children's fiction. In the end, though the grappling hook subplot does nothing to resolve the issue - it's Violet's quick thinking that gets her out of the marriage.
Reliable Researcher : Klaus is a big pain in the ass. You're twelve years old, get over yourself. When introducing the three children at the start, Snicket should replace Klaus' hobby of reading with 'whinging', as that's what he spend significant amounts of this book doing. Oh, and getting smacked by Count Olaf, but to be fair, I was on Olaf's side with that one. When not moaning about their situation, Klaus does actually do a good job of working out what Olaf's dastardly scheme happens to be. It's just a shame he didnt notice someone sneak into the same room as him and kidnap his sister.
Baby Biter : Sunny is scarcely a character in this book, mostly being there as a form of emotional blackmail / caged monkey. One of the joys of the series is Snicket extended (and often sardonic) descriptions of Sunny’s dialogue, but unfortunately these are mostly lacking in this volume. Oh, and she totters onto stage at the end of the book, so her first steps definitely take place here. I hope this will not be contradicted in any future instalments.
Notorious Nemesis : Now, Olaf is at his horrid best in this one. Throughout the book he does plenty to prove to us that he's a right royal rotter. Filthy, disgusting, evil, paedophilic, and threatening to murder the Baudelaire’s with his own hands, one of the reasons this book holds up is that you can believe that he is truly vile. His scheme is complex enough to work for the narrative, but not so ridiculous as to be unbelievable. And his attempts at being nice when making oatmeal for the children is a definite highlight. His penchant for disguises does not get a demonstration as of yet, but The Marvellous Marriage sounds to be a dreadfully dire dirge, so more power to him for that.
Terrible Troupe : Olaf’s acting troupe are definitely much more on equal terms with him at the start of the story. One of the white-faced women actually asking 'Olaf, what are you doing in here?' stands out as an interaction one could not envisage in later volumes. But by the time we get around to the play, Olaf is definitely numero uno here. The troupe are a wonderful bunch of oddities, but there is not a huge amount of depth to them at this point. Hooky gets a lot of page-time here, and again there is a lot of lusting after Violet here. Definitely makes you look at the relationship with Fiona differently. The Wart-Faced man is described as disappearing with the others at the end, but never makes an appearance, nor is even mentioned after this point. Untapped fanfic potential there for sure.
Good Guardian : Now, although in this book the Baudelaire's have been placed into Olaf's care, one could quite rationally make the argument that Justice Strauss more fulfils the narrative role of Guardian, at least in terms of how she functions to the resolution of the plot.
Although things start well, Justice Strauss soon goes downhill pretty quickly. 'I get to wear make up!!' She seems unbelievably naive, and is blind to the poor circumstances that the Baudelaire’s experience. It was probably one of Mr. Poe’s wiser decisions to not let the children go with her. There is a whole subplot of stolen credit cards, poisonous plants, royal garden arson, and objects being hidden under top hats that is set up in The Rare Edition, but I'm not going to get into that now or we will be here all day.
Pathetic Poe : Mr. Poe coughs and blunders his way through the story. I like him making a citizens arrest of Olaf at the end though - one the chips are down, he's going to damn well take control of things, let me tell you. I like his multiple telephones, and the use of in loco parentis. Mrs. Poe is barely there, but hey, look who she's married too, it's understandable.
Nasty Narrator : The 'character' or Lemony Snicket is not as integrated into the story in this first book. In Fact, the sequence at the start of Chapter Eleven where he describes the various objects in his own room is really the only time we get to find out anything much about him. He seems to be in much better straits than he will be later on down the line.
Beloved Beatrice : Now, here's the rub. I think that when the series began Beatrice was nobody. Just a name on a dedication. it was only as the series progressed that she became an actual character, and from there to becoming the Baudelaire's mother. Unless I have missed something, there is no direct reference to her within the text itself, other than that of the foggy picture among Lemony's possessions. Definitely something I will be keeping my eye on.
Suspicious Secrets : There is not a lot in the way of ongoing mysteries at this point. The only true unanswered question here is 'Who lit the fire?', to which at this point I think the only answer in Handlers mind could be Olaf (I don't think this is his intention by the series end, though).
The Good : The opening chapter is simply brilliant. It tells us right from the start that this is not like other Children's books, not at all.
The Bad : The introduction of Olaf feels a little flat. There is something underwhelming about that first encounter, where nothing much of note seems to happen. Could be better.
The Ugly : All the Violet Lust
Isn't It Odd? : The audience seem to whooping and clapping for more, and yet the play is described as long and boring. There was really nothing of note about VFD anywhere in Olaf's House? The lights seem to be off for only a few seconds after Olaf whispers his threat to Olaf, and then he's gone.
Overall : This is a good first entry. The book is not long enough to have the depth and world-building of later entries, but it's full of notable set pieces, and Olaf is at his villainous best. Klaus is an annoying brat, but he'll grow out of it. The illustrations are nice, but as fancy as they get later on. The style and presentation through snickets narration help convey events in an interesting manger. I'd probably put this somewhere in the middle of the books. 7/10
