Sun's review
The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3)
by Lemony Snicket
Sun's review
The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3) by Lemony Snicket
Sun's review
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bookaweek2008
I wanted to read this after gleefully enjoying the first two books of the series a while back. To my delight, I found there was much more substance than I remembered. The explanations of vocabulary in context, the translations of baby Sunny's one-word utterances and the plays on words are fun. The chatty tone of Lemony Snicket, the narrator, urging readers not to go on produces (of course!) the opposite effect and a sense of immediacy.
Then there are the whimsical characters: the courageous Baudelaire siblings, their ultra-timid Aunt Josephine and their well-meaning but impotent custodian, Mr Banks. In this third installment, the evil Count Olaf isn't very evil at all. He menaces from a distance. It's only then that you realise the genius of the writing. Olaf doesn't do anything particularly evil (at least not until the climax) but we fear him because the children do and we are, as they are, frustrated because of the adults falling for his disguise "hook, line and sinker"...more
Then there are the whimsical characters: the courageous Baudelaire siblings, their ultra-timid Aunt Josephine and their well-meaning but impotent custodian, Mr Banks. In this third installment, the evil Count Olaf isn't very evil at all. He menaces from a distance. It's only then that you realise the genius of the writing. Olaf doesn't do anything particularly evil (at least not until the climax) but we fear him because the children do and we are, as they are, frustrated because of the adults falling for his disguise "hook, line and sinker"...more
