Another novel (series) thread: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

Cafe Society
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So it hasn’t been another week yet. Big whoop.

So I said, or implied, or hinted, or thought to myself that the next novel thread would be on Pat Conroy. Well, I’m not FINISHED writing that OP yet. Okay, I haven’t started. But I have a good reason, because today is the HOLY day–the day The End – last in the series ** A Series of Unfortunate Events **, is being published, so what better time to start an Lemony Snicket thread.

Full disclosure: I have a friend who manages a bookstore, is quitting next week and no longer cares about her job, and so got me an early copy, so I may put an occasional spoiler in this thread. In fact, by the end of The End, it’s revealed that

Rhymers are teasing bastards who don’t tell everything they know. And that Skald guy is the worst. My god, what a jerk.

Anywhistle…here’s a quintet of discussion topics to kick things off. As always, if you can think of a better topic that I missed, feel free to ad it.

  1. What aspects of this series work best for you as an adult? What aspects do you think the children in your life care for? What aspects make you wish it had been around when you were a wee bairn?

  2. This morning on NPR, Daniel Handler (the man behind LS) claimed that the reason the books are so unhappy (albeit amusing) is that childhood, itself, is a horrible experience, and that children seek out such stories because they recognize them. Do you find any truth to this POV?

  3. How does this series compare with great children’s books or book series of the past? (I’m specifically leaving out Harry Potter, because it’s not done yet, and because we don’t have enough distance yet to judge it.) Specifically, Do you see influences from the likes of Sendak or Dahl? Anybody else?

  4. Did you care for the movie at all? If not, why not? If so, how does it compare to other recent fantasy/children’s adaptations (the Chronicles of Narnia, what of hte Potter series, LOTR, etc). Does the fact that I think Emily Browning, who played Violet, is going to be a major babe when she’s done growing make me a skeev?

  5. What parts of the plot you change from a purely aesthetic viewpoint – that is, not because you didn’t care for the way Handler was torturing his characters, but because you think it would have made for a better story?
    I’m off to reread. Ciao!