The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Read by: Tim Curry
Audio Book Extras: Interview of Lemony Snicket by Leonard C. Marcus
Short Review: Tim Curry! Lemony Snicket! Creepy and dark, yet strangely endearing. And you get to hear an interview with the ever elusive Mr. Snicket.
Long Review: Yes, this is technically a children’s book – but even if you are over 10 (or over 20 for that matter), don’t let that stop you. I read this book before I listened to it – and I definitely preferred having Tim Curry read it to me. For those who haven’t come across this series before, it is about the Baudelaire orphans and their terrible trials and tribulations after the death of their parents. But these are no ordinary orphans – they are clever and they never give up. That is a good thing, because there is no end in sight for their troubles.
Rather than steering clear of challenging words, Snicket’s narrator provides definitions along the way. The flavor of the story is gothic and dark (with the guarantee of no happy ending from the very first sentence) – but the combination of Tim Curry’s voice and Lemony Snicket’s storytelling make this one a very tasty treat indeed.
I am most definitely going to give this one a try now 🙂