The Wide Window

Dear Reader,

If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all. If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair. I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can show more possibly endure this miserable story.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket show less

The third installment, The Wide Window, sees the Baudelaire siblings placed with a new distant relative - their Aunt Josephine - a second cousin's sister in law. Aunt Josephine is a grammar fiend and terrified of life. She won't touch the doorknobs in case they shatter, she doesn't cook hot meals because she could burn herself, she spends her time freezing because she's scared the radiator will explode, she won't pick up the phone for fear of being electrocuted, her lists are endless and lead you to wonder how she's managed to live so far. It sounds utterly depressing but then I guess that's the point.

And yet for all her fear, one meeting with "Captain Sham" sees her smitten and unwilling to listen to any such nonsense that Captain show more Sham is really Count Olaf. Honestly Josephine is easily the worst relative so far and that includes Count Olaf because at least he was honest (to the Badelaire's anyway) about his intentions - - they might not have known what he was going to do but they were sure he was up to something. Aunt Josephine though is a horrible person. She is ready to sell them out for the sake of herself. Why agree to take the children in at all? She abandons them at the first sight of trouble. It's not like she didn't know they were being pursued by Count Olaf. She said Mr Poe warned her.

So Count Olaf threatens her and she caves, fakes her death and wills the children to Captain Sham. The kids figure out that her note is really a code and track her down to a cave. Where they find she's planning to live in a cave and they can either live with her there or go live with Captain Sham. I mean really?! She could've just faked her death without leaving them in the care of Captain Sham. At least then she wouldn't have been such an utter bitch.

Like usual, the children have to save themselves, unable and unwilling to trust the adults in their lives. This time, Sunny saves the day - biting through Captain Sham's fake leg and revealing the dreaded eye tattoo of Count Olaf.

Like the first two books, the action is fast paced and riddled with the sad and depressing story that is the Baudelaire's life. The bit at the end about them at least having each other wasn't enough to cheer me up for all it was a nice sentiment. 3.5 stars. show less

Finishing the third book in the same afternoon might be viewed by some as taking the mickey just a bit, but suddenly mine eyes have been opened to the addictive qualities of the narrative recounting the misfortunes of the Baudelaire children, as another unfortunate relative in another odd location attempts to provide, in their own unique way, a stable and loving environment, and fail to see the approaching calamity that is Count Olaf, despite repeated strenuous warnings from the children. Both piquant and hilarious, somehow, nonetheless, I suspect I shan't finish a fourth volume tonight. That'd be a bit much. Tomorrow, then?

I've been reading this series as bedtime stories with Milly, although I did have to go back and read a few myself that she had raced through, unable to wait for me to read them to her at the pace of one chapter a night. They are genuinely brilliant books, funny and dark, mysterious and absurd.

This third one sees the orphans placed with their ridiculously risk averse Aunt Josephine. Once again their lives are ruined by both villains and well-meaning but idiotic adults. It's lucky the Baudelaires are quite ingenious themselves. A note here to also say that I love the descriptions of Count Olafs troupe of associates - none have a name, they are just the hook-handed man, the powder faced ladies, the one that could be a man or a woman etc.

Ah, another gem by Lemony Snicket!

This series was my life back in my youth. I lived for every word, page and chapter I could get my hands on. I devoured these books, re-read them and boasted about them to all of my friends. So, it was only fitting that as an adult I wanted to jump back into these books for a little fun. And they hold up really well!

Yet again, The Beaudelaire children are being thrusted into another random family member's home. This time around, Aunt Josephine welcomes them with open arms. She's crazy, scared of everything and lives in a house that's basically falling off a cliff. And, what would you expect from this series? Count Olaf is back! And, of course, he wants to get the fortune he was promised back in book show more one.

Positives:
1. Mr Poe is a delightful dummy. I can't get enough of him. Back in the day, he was the most frustrating character I'd ever read, but now I adore him.

2. This book is ripe with character development. We see the kids grow, change and mold each other over time and it's really intriguing. I never noticed this as a kid, so I'm glad I grabbed these as adults. Clearly, this book is way smarter than it appears! There's something in it for every age group.

3. Meryl Streep is Aunt Josephine. Fight me.

4. The word selection in this book, like the rest of the series, is awesome. You'll learn a few new words by reading it.

5. The plot is amusing, the story is fast paced and it's an easy read. I flew through this book! It's also a guilty pleasure read since it's so simple and fun.

Negatives:
1. There's so much death and despair in this series. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but readers and parents need to realize that going into this series. Lemony Snicket made these books to be a darker middle grade series, so reader beware.

2. There's lots of talk about Grammar. I can see some young readers being bored to tears by it. As an adult, I was chuckling and enjoying it though!

3. This series is repetitive. The kids get dropped off at a relative, Count Olaf is there, he runs away. I'm still enjoying the ride, but I kind of hope things get changed up in future books. I don't remember how the rest of them went, so here's hoping...

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I am going to see this series to the finish because it's so fun and easy to read. I'd recommend this to middle grade readers looking for something a little more angsty with a dash of fun!

Four out of five stars! show less

4.5/5

It's weird because I can't really say this book did anything very different from what the previous ones in the series did, but this time the whole book just... fits together. It's an extremely fun book.

The orphans are, as always, lovely to read and easy to enjoy as characters. You can really see how well they work as a loving, even though extremely unlucky, family. The other characters are amazing in their own ways as well: Mr Poe is an absolute idiot and a great personification of how authority figures that are sure they know better look for children like the Baudelaire. Aunt Josephine is a pathetic, and quite selfish, little creature that ends up being a great distinction from Uncle Monty from the previous book. And Count Olaf... show more Well, frankly, the less we say about someone like him, the better.

All in all, a great book that only hypes me more for the rest of the series yet to come. show less

When I realized this one was about "grammar" I was thinking I wouldn't like it. I *love* grammar but I expected to feel that "grammar" was being forced down my throat. I was worried. As it was, I loved it :-)

I really enjoyed that it wasn't just about grammar ... it was about letting your fear of things consume you and obsessing over something of little importance -- grammar -- to hide from your fears. It was really good.

Aside: My Mom had eye surgery recently and jokingly asked if I would read to her because she was bored. I said, "Oo' I'm reading a great series! Here's what it's about ... these 3 orphans whose parents have been killed and there's this bad guy that's trying to get their fortune ... in the last book..." and she was, like, show more "This is a children's book?! This is horrible! I don't want you to read this to me!"

Adrianne show less