The Wide Window

Lemony Snicket

It's somewhat hard to find something new to say about the Series of Unfortunate Events books, which have stirred up all sorts of hornets' nests over the past five years. The Baudelaire children have gnashed their way into the hearts and minds of countless thousands of youths (and adults) worldwide, so much so that the franchise has now spawned a Jim Carrey film, and reflecting on that popularity is the stuff of a few reviews, but not enough for the whole series. In this episode, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their overly cautious Aunt Josephine in a rickety house well above Lake Lachrymose. Josephine is a grammar nut (one thinks that had this book been written a couple of years later in the series, Josephine would have got on quite well with Lynne Truss, had the two chanced to meet) who is afraid of everything from the kitchen stove to realtors. (As a sidelight, Mr. Snicket is demonstrably wrong about one thing in this novel; it is eminently reasonable to have a fear of realtors.) Count Olaf, of course, is not far behind.

Of the three I've read so far (I'm going in order), this has seemed the weakest of the three. The series, being as it is a one-trick pony, is necessarily episodic; this book seemed to emphasize the point a bit much. Still, it's a fun read in the same vein as the previous books, and if you liked the first two, you're probably going to find you feel the same about this one.