Dear reader,
I assume you’ve clicked on this link in search of something pleasant and nostalgic. Here, the word ‘nostalgic’ means ‘to relive the traumas of your childhood’. If this is true, then, I warn you now that the following list will only trudge up all those crooked things you buried in your backyard. The points may sound positive to those who don’t know the truth, but you’re different. You do know and by willingly reading this, I can only guess that you enjoy hurtful things. With much regret, I present to you the most dreadful influences that Lemony Snicket’s biography of the Baudelaires had on the lives of innocent young persons. It is my sad duty to write down such an unpleasant list, but there is truly no one stopping you from closing the tab at once. If it becomes too much, then stop for your own sake and call your local psychiatrist. Maybe even your non-local psychiatrist, if that would be more suitable.
1. The meta-fiction was strong, the snark even stronger
There is no doubt that this series was a true metafiction, a story-within-a-story-within-a-story. The author created alter-ego Lemony Snicket and placed him within the plot as unreliable narrator. From the very bad beginning, the book was self-aware:
“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle.”
Likewise, he would be (almost) painfully ironic, like the time he took up whole pages to fill with black, or when he described the feeling of déjà vu repeatedly.
2. Engaging narration
This goes hand-in-hook with the previous point. Snicket frequently interrupted storytelling for his own input of rants and advice. He addressed the readers not as children who cannot comprehend, but as children capable of critical thinking. Readers are sucked into the pages as the line between fiction and reality is smudged by a malfunctioning typewriter.
3. Stories displayed brutal, dark realities to young readers
Other childrens' books might focus on happier, black-and-white stories of the good rats battling the evil cats (the ones you should probably be reading now instead of this). This series, however, brings to light what is often unaddressed by other adults. That is, Snicket brought out the monsters that very much exist in the real world. Unabashed child abuse is certainly an enormous one. Adults in the story often do not treat children as intelligent, self-conscious, or as equals. The beginnings and endings of each book are just as depressing as Snicket promises.
4. The Baudelaire orphans
I don’t know about other readers, but I thoroughly liked all three of the orphans, especially Violet since she was a quick-witted inventor at the age of 14. I even tied up my own hair to feel like I could create the incredible. Klaus is a brilliant reader and researcher, of which I can personally relate to (the reader part, not the brilliant). Lastly, there’s Sunny, who had her own language of which only her family could translate. They were kids who weren’t listened to, even by those who were meant to care for and protect them. Incredibly smart and sympathetic, they were the heart of the series (not just because they were the main characters, but that helped, too). It wasn’t the adults who were the moral compass, but the Baudelaires.
5. It encouraged the growth of intelligence and understanding through reading
“When trouble strikes, head to the library. You will either be able to solve the problem, or simply have something to read as the world crashes down around you.”
In the countless obstacles they faced, the orphans would search for answers in books. Whether it was through Klaus, whose strength was reading, or Snicket’s own narration, there was no shaming of the bookish, except from villains, whom were often illiterate. Case in point: well-read people are less likely to be evil. The more you read, the more you can see clearly what surrounds you (or less clearly if your head is being swallowed whole by that book, and in that case, I’m very sorry).
