The Wide Window
A Series of Unfortunate Events #3
by Lemony Snicket
214 pages
Harper Collins, 2000
fiction/steampunk/mystery
Read in 1 day
My Rating: ★★
"If you didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on their suitcases at Damocles Dock, you might think that they were bound for an exciting adventure."
Review: Another book about the Baudelaire orphans and I have to say I'm disliking the story telling as I go along. I hope they get better soon because this one is the worst I've read thus far. It actually felt a bit rushed to me. And of all the relations the movie version went over, this family member is the one I remembered most, so I was surprised at how quickly the book went over it. By now I'm onto the M.O. of the books where the children are passed on from relative to relative because Count Olaf manages to show up in their lives in a bad disguise and kills whomever they are left with in order to regain control over them and their fortune in some dastardly way. I have no issue with the premise at all. For children I think it's an easy concept to understand and learn many lessons from. But it can get "old" so I try not to read them too close together.
This story goes over a distant "aunt" who they live with. The only problem is ever since she lost her husband in a freak water accident (leeches is all I'll say about that), she's become afraid of EVERYTHING. And I mean that as an understatement. She won't even answer or use her phone for fear of being electrocuted. She eats everything cold because she won't use her stove or oven. Even rugs on the floor scare her. What if someone were to trip on it, fall, and break their neck? The crazier thing is her house is literally on the edge of a cliff being held up by rickety pieces of wood barely nailed together. Yeah, you can imagine the unfortunate events that befall them in this one.
I guess I was disappointed in the lack of thought that went through Count Olaf's plan on how to get the children. Also in how quickly he was discovered by the adults involved. The adventure was a bit too short for me. It did leave me wanting more so I guess it wasn't half-bad. I will be reading the 4th book soon.
Synopsis: Fortunately for young readers, Lemony Snicket has dedicated his life to informing readers of all the misfortunes that plagued the three Baudelaire orphans -- the unluckiest children to ever live. In The Wide Window, the third book in the series, the Baudelaire children are sent to stay with a distant aunt who lives on a cliff's edge overhanging the aptly named Lake Lachrymose, a foreboding body of water serviced by the Fickle Ferry and filled with sharp-toothed leeches who have deadly appetites.
Of course, the tale wouldn't be complete without the presence of the evilly scheming Count Olaf and one or more of his twisted sidekicks trying to get their hands on the children, or more accurately, on the children's fortune. Once again Olaf is in disguise, though the children recognize him immediately thanks to his unibrow and the bright, evil shine in his eyes. The tell-tale eye tattoo on his ankle seems to be missing, however, since Olaf's disguise this time is as a peg-legged sea captain.
The childrens' newest guardian, Aunt Josephine, is a master of phobias and an expert on grammar. She's frightened of tons of things -- some of them reasonable, such as the deadly leeches in Lachrymose Lake who took the life of her husband, and some of them not so reasonable, such as her fear of using the telephone. One thing she isn't afraid of, however, is correcting improper grammar. And as the Baudelaire children get several impromptu lessons on proper usage, so do readers. In fact, it's Josephine's obsession with language that helps the children uncover Count Olaf's latest scheme.
To learn more about Lemony Snicket, please visit his site.
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