His jokes work on many levels, but he’s not afraid to be thoughtful, too. The humor is what we have come to expect: equal parts wit and absurdity. White’s “Charlotte’s Web’’ I’ll ever encounter. Lemony takes a break in the library to “read about someone who was a true friend and a good writer who lived on a bloodthirsty farm where nearly everyone was in danger of some sort.’’ That’s probably the best summary of E.B. In this title, allusions to children’s literary classics are scattered throughout. The husband-and-wife police team bumbles Lemony’s chaperone is useless and as for his parents, “They’re helpless.’’ “The children of this world and the adults of this world are in entirely separate boats and only drift near each other when we need a ride from someone or when someone needs us to wash our hands,’’ Lemony concludes.Īs in “A Series of Unfortunate Events,’’ Snicket challenges even as he entertains. The adults are inept and/or their honesty dubious. Lemony and the other young characters (save for the bully) are the heroes here. The black, blue, and white illustrations by Seth feature characters in newsboy caps and bowler hats.
A typewriter, telegram, and phone booth all play a role in the plot, but so does an elaborate coffee machine that puts Starbucks to shame. There’s an old-fashioned noir quality to the story (complete with shady personalities and snappy dialogue), but the exact time it takes place is difficult to pin down. But what you will wonder is what is Lemony’s secret agenda and who is the beloved person he laments leaving behind? Throw in an aspiring young news reporter, a strange sub-librarian, a local bully, a villain called Hangfire, an enchanting girl desperate to find her father, and a host of other quirky individuals and Lemony has to face some tough questions indeed one of them, of course, is echoed in the title of the book. The undertaking becomes complicated once Lemony realizes he does not know whom he can trust.
His first assignment? To journey with his mentor to Stain’d-by-the-Sea, a downtrodden town no longer actually by the sea (it was drained), to recover a statue of the mythical Bombinating Beast.
Twelve-year-old Lemony has recently completed his “unusual education’’ and joined an unnamed organization to conduct clandestine missions. Readers left frustrated by the unsolved puzzles in the “A Series of Unfortunate Events’’ books will find some explanations and a new set of mysteries and in this “autobiographical’’ account of Snicket’s early years.
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