Chapter One: A Series of Unfortunate Events

My decision to re-read A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler) was anything but unfortunate.  I've been waiting for a while to re-read this 13-book series, which I read as a kid as each new book was released, and finally the time was ripe.  I remembered enjoying these books when I was younger, and I was pleased to find that I enjoyed them even more the second time around.  So much of what makes these books great is how the author plays with language, and while I enjoyed this as a kid, there was a lot of wordplay that I certainly didn't pick up on the first time around.  Snicket's prose is full of fun alliterations, mysterious initials, ridiculous lists, odd tangents, puzzling baby-talk, and sometimes not-strictly-accurate definitions of words.  Furthermore, Snicket never misses an opportunity to stick in a snide comment about some of the more ridiculous things that adults in our society tend to say and do. And, unlike in some books--for children and for adults--Snicket allows many of his large cast of characters--including the villain and, what's more, the heroes--to have many moments of moral ambiguity, adding an important aspect of realism to a story that could otherwise be called highly unrealistic (and therefore a page-turner).  Brett Helquist's cover art and illustrations are also not to be missed; not only are they well-drawn and fit perfectly with the mood of the books, but also they tend to include little clues as to what is going to happen next in the series.  If you're looking for a linguistically fun read, I highly recommend delving in to this delectable series.

When I encountered this statue of Pan at Tower Hill Botanic Garden,
it reminded me instantly of Brett Helquist's illustrations of the series's villain, Count Olaf.