The Beatrice Letters

Very Fine Design

- Vexatious Fragmentary Dispatches

As has been true of Mr. Snicket’s published oeuvre thus far, this collection of letters between Lemony and Beatrice raises far more questions than it answers. It is unfortunate that this volume requires the reader to be conversant with that oeuvre. I’ve recommended several fine books already, such as The Abhorsen Trilogy, which features two delightful orphans who experience a Veritable Fantastic Denouement, so there is no reason whatsoever to read The Beatrice Letters. I soon will report on [b:World War Z|8908|World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War|Max Brooks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165766703s/8908.jpg|817], which is about zombies and yet still a better prospect than the Virtually Feculent Disquisition under consideration. The reader is strongly encouraged never to open this epistolary tome, nor to punch out and anagram the included letters then tuck them carefully in the included file folder.

Fans of Bantock's Griffin and Sabine will recognize the basic graphic style of this book, readers familiar with the tragic Baudelaire orphans will recognize the content, and tragically uninformed cakesniffers will be entirely lost, which may be just as well. ( )

This was a very interesting book to read, although if you don't know the "catch" it might confuse the heck out of you.

SPOILER
There are two different Beatrices. ( )

This is a collection of letters from Lemony Snicket to Beatrice and from a different Beatrice to Snicket. The letters written to Beatrice explain who the much-lauded Beatrice in the series is, they are all written before the series begins. The letters written to Lemony Snicket actually take place after the events in the series’ final book and are written from a different Beatrice (Kit Snicket’s daughter).

This book explained so much that was missing from the series. We learn that the Beatrice Lemony Snicket is constantly referring to, his lost love, is actually the mother of the triplets, a crucial bit of info. After learning that, so many of the events in the series fell into place and finally made sense. The slim book also includes one of the oddest and sweetest love letters I’ve ever read.

BOTTOM LINE: This one is an absolute must for fans of the A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you aren’t a big fan of the series then skip it. ( )

I liked this book. Of course, I'm a big fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

This is one of those books that, unless you're a big fan or a completist, you probably wouldn't gain any more understanding from. In alternating letters, it very loosely explains what happens after The End, as well as gives one a bigger glimpse of the character of Lemony Snicket.

Not for everybody, but I certainly enjoyed it on a narrative level, a subtextual level, and a book-design level. ( )

I read "The Beatrice Letters" twice - I read it before "The End" the last book in Lemony Snicket's Unfortunate Series of Events and I read it again after reading "The End". I enjoyed the word play in the book the first time I read it, especially in the letter where Snicket tell Beatrice how long he will love her. Snicket also has great fun with the word "letter" as in letters of the alphabet and letters you write, often mixing the two until the reader is thoroughly confused. There are tons of anagrams (some obvious and some not) as well as codes. Even the front cover has some hidden clues. There are supposedly thirteen clues in the book, I'm not sure that I found them all.

But "The Beatrice Letters" was much more enjoyable the second time I read it because I could see how cleverly Snicket hinted at events to come in "The End". I was initially puzzled by the seeming differences between the letters Lemony Snicket was writing to Beatrice and the letters Beatrice was writing to Snicket - which was explained in "The End". Other things that are casually mentioned in "The Beatrice Letters", such as a ring, turn up in "The End". Finally, the back cover itself is a direct, humorous reference to the last book.

Fans of Lemony Snicket don't have to read "The Beatrice Letters" to enjoy the Unfortunate Series, but it's a nice addition. There are hints as to what happened to the Baudelaires later in life, but there are also plenty of mysteries created and unsolved; a Lettergram in the book is especially intriguing. I can't help wondering if we have indeed heard the last from Snicket about the Baudelaires. ( )