The Bad Beginning: A Terrible Tale
Do you enjoy happy endings? If so, The Bad Beginning by
Lemony Snicket is a book you’ll want to avoid. This is a
story with a bad beginning, a bad middle and a bad
ending. Why would anyone want to read such a thoroughly
bad book? It’s all in good fun!
The Bad Beginning is a story about the suffering of three
orphaned siblings at the hands of their uncle, Count Olaf.
Although Violet, Klaus and Sunny are the inheritors of an
enormous fortune, they cannot claim the money until they
are older. For now, they must live with Olaf and cook and
clean for him and his terrible theater friends. Why would
such a cruel character take in three orphans? He wants to
steal their fortune, of course.
I can’t tell you how the story ends, but I can tell you what
I enjoyed most about the book. Snicket makes his readers
laugh and want to continue reading, even in the most
terrible situations. For example, he constantly warns
his reader to put down the book because nothing good
could possibly come of the orphans’ unfortunate situation.
He writes: “It is my sad duty to write down these
unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from
putting this book down at once…” Of course, Snicket’s
warnings only made me even more curious to find out what
would become of the siblings in the end.
Will Olaf’s evil plot win out? Or will these three crafty kids
outwit him? If you’re not afraid of a little misery and a
whole lot of mischief, then I recommend you read The Bad
Beginning and find out for yourself.
Please login to view the full essay...