Lemony Snicket

I think he plays with the Magnetic Fields.

I only read the first book, to quality-check it for my niece for whom I'd bought it. I was suprised by how dull the plot was after the promising beginning. I expected that a literate children's author, with a license for the cartoonish, would take the story in directions I couldn't imagine. Instead it read like a bad children's mystery, with the occassional word defined for me (thanks!). That last attribute is where I'd say the main thrust of the condescension springs from.

What a dis I just laid down. Sorry. Maybe the other volumes are better? I'd recommend Mervyn Peake for a similar (though not condescending) tone, and a broad, polychromatic creative universe that renders Lemony Snicket's black and white and narrow.

"children's author". He's more than a children's author. Under his real name of Daniel Handler, he's written some adult fiction. I've not read it, however. I think he had a piece in "The Believer" awhile back, which I did read, but it apparently made no impression. As for the Series of Unfortunate Events, I found them much of a muchness, but enjoyable for someone who, like me, loves Edward Gorey. They are almost never to be found on the shelves at the library- they are in constant circulation still.

Edward Gorey draws.

"avuncular--in this case meaning, having qualities of a friendly uncle"

SJLefty, and Rabin the Cat, are you Daniel Handley? Check out Gormenghast, the first two, the third's incomplete.

"Edward Gorey draws." No shit? I would have sworn he was an author and an illustrator, writing and drawing his own books and illustrating hundreds of others. http://www.fearofdolls.com/gorey.html

What have I said to lead you to believe I am not familiar Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast? Does my mild endorsement of Lemony Snicket somehow tell you I've never visited the Groan family in their castle?

Um. I am kinda staggerred at the tone of this thread, really.

I love the Snicket Books. I love them so much I think my heart will burst in my chest; to get a new one home and read it the day it comes out is pretty much what I most enjoy in literature, these days. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but there you go.

What I adore: the ludicness. The way that not are LS (Lemony Snicket) and DH (Daniel Handler) BOTH seperate characters in the series, but that it's hinted that neither is actually the narrator. The reversible cover on 'Unauthorised Autobiography'. The shamelessly multi-level jokes - yes, it is patronising, but it's patronising in a way that remembers how appealing hidden worlds could feel. I mean, I get so much out of them now, I can't /imagine/ how much I'd have adored 'em at 10,11,12.

The first actually has the best plot of all of them, I'm afraid. But what comes instead: creeping compromise, surprising darkness, light like you can't believe. God, I dunno, I'm just being a pretentious wanker now. I can't do them justice. I really can't.

I really liked The Basic Eight. I think he's written another adult title but I can't remember what it's called.

I really enjoyed the first couple of titles but once they introduced those twins it became really annoying. A cliffhanger in one book is fine -- to carry the same cliffhanger through THREE MORE BOOKS is just wasting your reader's time. I know he's only got three more to go before he finishes the series but it seems like he's run out of steam.

I am also annoyed that book the 10th came with a dust jacket and the others didn't. now it doesn't fucking match the rest of my collection.

Incidentally, parallel ILE thread (with link to MOVIE TRAILER OMG) here...

ive only read the start of the first one,but i love the dedications to beatrice and the author biographies at the back-i work in a bookshop so i was looking through them one day,which is what prompted me to read one...

I don't know why these books are so popular, honestly. I read the first few and didn't like them. Mostly, I think it was all the words being defined that annoyed me most. And how condescending the narrator is.

I have only read the first book, and enjoyed it, but I mainly thought it was good that there are some gorgeous *looking* books out there for kids at the moment. They have all the fun...

I like the two adult Daniel Handler books a lot, and was pleasantly surprised by the differentness of Watch Your Mouth compared to The Basic Eight (and also shocked by its filthiness hehe.)

The series is the Emily The Strange of the book world. It does inspire really bizarre devotion (though the superfans I know are quite horrified at the trailer).

Gregory: when you say the jokes are multi-level, do you mean they come in different levels, or they come in more than one level at a time?

A really nasty streak in me hopes that there is no big plan, he's just making it up as he goes along.

The Grim Grotto!

It's very different from the others, I think.

At first I thought it just wasn't as good, the first chapter is very Snicket by numbers, but it changed. Lots of really good jokes.

The moral ambiguity thing is kinda hammered home but there's one really amazing, rich, lyrical line that just makes up for everything.

And it's /so/ dark. I'm not sure anymore I'll even want to read the last two, though I'll have to of course.

I can't wait for the new Handler. I really just can't.

Good Lord, Watch Your Mouth is really filthy, isn't it? And the cover is all pink gingham and has BY THE AUTHOR OF THE LEMONY SNICKET SERIES emblazoned on it and it's exactly the kind of thing a ten-year-old might pick up...

I KNOW!

Normally I'm all for 10-year-olds reading about sex but I can't help thinking they might go away with a SLIGHTLY skewed idea of what your average adult gets up to if they read that book...

Hmm, amazon.com has sent me a message to say they've shipped book 12 to me, even though it's not due to be released until 18th October and it still doesn't have a name. At this rate I might get my copy before it's in US bookshops.