The Never Ending Sad Story

Imagine tales so terrible that as many as fifty million innocents have been ruined by them - tales so indelibly horrid that the New York Times bestseller list has been unable to rid itself of them for seven years. Now imagine if this scourge suddenly became available in a shameful new edition so sensational, so irresistible, so riddled with lurid new pictures that even a common urchin would wish for it. Who among us would be safe?

Begin at the beginning – even if it is a bad one - with the first in A Series of Unfortunate Events, now even more disposable in paperback (from Goodreads)

Title: The Bad Beginnings (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)

Author: Lemony Snicket

Published by: Harper Collins Publishers

176 pages

e-book

first published March, 2009

ISBN: 0061757098

4/5 rating

Halo, Kakak Ilman and Adik Zidan...

Finally, Bunda took the challenge of reading Gothic Books with the BBI. I choosed the thin one and it was recommended by Tante Ally, because she likes it sooo much. She likes the way Lemony Snicket told the story. She loves those characters like Violet Baudelaire and Sunny Baudelaire. And also it is on Bunda’s 2012 list of books to read.

Hmm.. For the first time Bunda put this series into the books to read’s list this year, Bunda don’t think it was about kids. Or even children books. And Bunda was not even trying to search a thing about this book. Just because of the BBI’s challenge choose gothic books and ASUE is one of it, Bunda picked it to read.

And Bunda was surprised then. From the first page, the author has told his reader that this book is not about happiness or even has a happy ending. If you want a book with a happy ending or a happy story, just put it down. Well, he’s a hundred percent right. This is not a kind of book like that. 

Nah, The Bad Beginnings book is about three siblings of Baudelaire: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. Violet Baudelaire is 14 years old, Klaus Baudelaire is 9 years old, and Sunny Baudelaire is about 2-3 years old. It was the time they played in a beach when they heard a bad news from Mr. Poe, one of their parents’ good friend. Mr. Poe told these children that their house was burnt and their parents were died on the accident. And from that time they have to live with Mr. Poe for some times until they meet their family’s relative.

Count Olaf, their family’s relative, was choosen to take care of the siblings. But Count Olaf isn’t a nice man. He took the charge of taking care the kids because the Baudelaire has a lot of money at the bank – where Mr. Poe worked and they have to wait until Violet is at age to claim the money. Count Olaf forced the kids to serve meal for him, give them uncomfortable bedroom and scary them.

One day, Count Olaf had an idea to marry Violet in a drama. Count Olaf is an actor. So, he asked the kids to play roles with them. Violet as the bride and Count Olaf as the groom. All Violet to do was just saying, “I do.” And Ms. Justice, the girl next door, who worked at a law department, played the role too. She didn’t noticed that Count Olaf had a plan to make Violet his real wife. Not just a drama. Not just an acting. Because, if Violet became Count Olaf's legally real wife, he will took the charge of the Baudelaire's own. Doh!

My reviews about this book:

Remembering Sunny, makes Bunda remembers Adek Zidan. Huhu.. Bunda don’t want both of you to be orphant yet. Well, you know, Bunda’s mother, who delivered Bunda to the world, has passed away when Bunda was still 6 years old. And Bunda’s younger sister, one of your aunts, was 1,5 years old that time. So, we know how it feels. But lucky us. We’re still have Eyangkung who raised both of us. Though he is married to another woman, Bunda feels very lucky that she is very nice to us. And Eyangti raised both of you too, right? Taking care of both of you when Bunda and Papa was not around.

Ah. Stop bla bla blah. Back to the book. Though those characters made their own story line, it was that the author kept on reminding us that this is not a book with a happy ending. It’s a little bit annoying for Bunda. If he has reminded us from the very first time about that, Bunda think he will keep the promise, right? That this book is not about happiness or has a happy ending?

Over all, this book kept Bunda’s eyes dance with the words. Bunda used to think not to read this book at night, because it’s an unhappy book. Learned from Granny Osano, we shouldn’t talk about unhappy things in the night, so Bunda chose to read it when the sun is still shining.

There was the time when PLN treat Bunda and friends some black out in the office, Bunda chose to finish reading this book. And yes, Bunda could not stop reading it till the last page. The story made Bunda breathless. And Bunda loves the characters. Bunda loves Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. Bunda loves them a lot. Bunda loves the way they played their role.

Violet is a very smart girl and think so fast. Klaus is also smart, even the little Sunny. I love them. I love how they survive and think fast in a short time how to solve their problems. Bunda thanked the author to create them smart :D

Children books should tell happy story. Not unhappy story. But maybe, the author has his own reason to write this gloomy book and categorized it on Children Books’ shelf. Sometimes, gloomy books successfully made Bunda don’t want to pick it up anymore. But, Bunda wants to know what’s next on Violet, Klaus, and Sunny’s life.

So, will Bunda read the next book? I think so. But not now. Bunda needs happy ending story. Haha.