The book opens with the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus and Sunny) enjoying a dark, foggy day at Briny Beach, when Mr. Poe, a friend of the family, emerges and approach them with news of their parents' demise in a fire that destroyed their home. Mr. Poe is the executor of the Baudelaire fortune, and it is his responsibility to place the children in the care of a guardian and look after the money until Violet turns eighteen. The Baudelaire orphans then spend the next few days in the Poe residence, until Mr. Poe announces their relocation to their appropriate guardian's home. The guardian in question is Count Olaf, a distant relative who makes his living as a theatrical actor in the city. En route, they encounter the friendly Justice Strauss, whom they initially thought would take them in, but later realizes that she is merely Olaf's neighbor. Justice Strauss tells them that they are welcome in her home anytime, which houses a library filled with books on law and order.
When they meet Count Olaf, however, they discover that he is a cruel and filthy man living in a grungy, dirty mansion. Count Olaf has a strange tattoo of an eye on his left ankle, but most importantly, he is seeking to gain possession of the Boulderaire fortune. He orders the children to perform day-to-day chores and tasks, while only providing them with the poorest of hospitalities. The children are supplied with only a tiny room as their accommodation, only one bed to sleep in and a set of rocks for playtime. He assigns them to a number of hard errands, such as repainting porches and repairing windows, and does not allow the children to enter his secret tower. In addition, he harshly refers to them as "the orphans".
Soon after, Count Olaf introduce them to his theatre troupe which comprises of several unique-looking, but all the same, cold at heart, individuals, and demands the children to cook dinner. Without any ingredients, or skills on cooking, they ask Justice Strauss to accompany them to the marketplace. With the small amount of money left by Olaf, they are able to buy the ingredients necessary to make pasta puttanesca. However, after they have prepared dinner, Count Olaf complains that he wanted roast beef, and became furious over the childrens' so-called incompetence. Enraged, he strikes Klaus across the face. They decide to visit Mr. Poe at his bank in order to get help. Sadly, however, Mr. Poe explains to the children that Olaf is able to act "in loco parentis", and may raise them in his own way, however he sees fit. Olaf soon after receives word of the children's visit from Mr. Poe. The next morning, he makes them proper breakfast, and seemingly apologizes to them due to his standoffish behavior. He informs them that he is worried about his troupe's performance lately, and subsequently casts the children in roles for his upcoming play, called The Marvelous Marriage, a play penned by Al Funcoot (an anagram of his own name). Olaf will play the groom, while Violet will perform as the bride, Klaus and Sunny will be part of the cheering audience and Justice Strauss will be the judge.
The children are very suspicious of Olaf's actions, and therefore proceed to find out what he has up his sleeves. Klaus borrows a book on nuptial laws from Strauss’ library, and spends the entire night up, looking for a way to foil Olaf's conspiracy. Eventually, he learns of Olaf's plan, which is to marry Violet for real and gain rightful ownership of the fortune. This can be lawfully achieved by saying wedding vows and signing a document in the presence of a legal judge. The next morning, Klaus informs Olaf of his revelation, just before discovering Sunny has been kidnapped. Klaus and Violet then learn that Sunny is being held captive inside a birdcage at the top of the forbidden tower. If Violet does not go along with Olaf's plans, the cage will be released and send Sunny to her death. That night, Violet attempts to free Sunny by inventing a grappling hook to reach the top of the tower, but she was regrettably caught and locked up in the tower along with Klaus until the play concludes.
The next night, the performance begins. Violet was forced to do her part and say her vows. Olaf then announces his schemes to the audience, who are then outraged by his crimes. As Justice Strauss tries to find a loophole, Sunny is returned safely. At this point, the right-handed Violet reveals that she had not signed the document with her "own hand", therefore declaring the marriage invalid. Seeing no other getaways, Olaf's henchmen turns off the theater's light, and Olaf escapes, but not before whispering to Violet that he will always pursue them, and once he manages to get their fortune, he will kill them with his own hands. In the wake of the calamity, Justice Strauss announces that she is willing to adopt the Baudelaires, but Mr. Poe tells her that their parents' will says a relative must care for them. They enter Mr. Poe's car, heading off to their next guardian's house, as Justice Strauss waves goodbye.
The letter on the back of the book from Lemony Snicket is as follows:
Dear Reader,
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
Rickety: "the word rickety, you probably know, here means unsteady or likely to collapse"
Perished: "'Perished', Mr. Poe said, 'means killed'"
Blanched: the word "blanched" hear means boiled
Briskly: the world "briskly" here means "quickly, so as to get the Baudelaire children to leave the house
By the wayside: an expression which hear means "they stopped calling, writing, and stopping by to see if any of the Baudelaires, making them very lonely"
Simmered: a culinary term which means "cooked over low heat"
Revulsion: a word which here means "an unpleasant mixture of horror and disgust"
In Loco Parentis: "In loco parentis means 'acting in the role of a parent,'" [Mr. Poe] said. "It is a legal term and it applies to Count Olaf. Now that you are in his care, the Count may raise you using any methods he see fit."
Posthaste: "Posthaste", [Mr. Poe] said, "means--" "--means you'll do nothing to help us," Violet finished for him.
Standoffish: It means "reluctant to associate with others".
Sleeping fitfully: a word which hear means "with much tossing and turning" on the lumpy bed
Smirked: a word which here means "smiled in an unfriendly, phony way"
Nuptial: "The word 'nuptial'," Klaus said, "means 'relating to marriage'."
Relinquished: a word which here means "gave to Count Olaf even though [Klaus] didn't want to".
Casing the joint: "Casing the joint" means observing a particular location in order to formulate a plan.
Adroit: the word "adroit" hear means skillful
Polygamists: "Polygamists are people who marry more than one person," Klaus explained.
Pandemonium: a word which here means "actors and stagehands running around attending to last-minute details".
Insipid: the word insipid here means "dull and foolish"
Testily: a word which here means "in an extremely annoyed tone".
Aberrant: the word "aberrant" here means "very, very wrong and causing much grief".
In the final picture, Justice Strauss stands in the entrance to the theater which held the showing of The Marvelous Marriage, waving at the Baudelaires as they ride off in Mr. Poe's car. In the bottom left corner, a snake, whose tail is wrapped around a lightpole, watches the scene.
I am writing to you from the London branch of the Herpetological Society, where I am trying to find out what happened to the reptile collection of Dr. Montgomery Montgomery following the tragic events that occured while the Baudelaire orphans were in his care.
An associate of mine will place a small waterproof box in the phone booth of the Elektra Hotel at 11 p.m. next Tuesday. Please retrieve it before midnight to avoid it falling into the wrong hands. In the box you will find my description of these terrible events, entitled THE REPTILE ROOM, as well as a map of Lousy Lane, a copy of the film Zombies in the Snow, and Dr. Montgomery's recipe for coconut cream cake. I have also managed to track down one of the few photographs of Dr. Lucafont, in order to help Mr. Helquist with his illustrations.
Remember, you are my last hope that the tales of the Baudelaire orphans can finally be told to the general public.
The last name Baudelaire is a reference to Charles Baudelaire, a French poet. An excerpt from his poem "Le Voyage", from Les Fleurs du Mal, appears in The End.
Mr. Poe's surname, Poe, and the names of his children, Edgar and Albert, are obvious allusions to Edgar Allan Poe.
Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire share their names with Claus and Sunny von Bülow, who were involved in a famous court case of the 1980s; the district attorney who defended Claus was named Violet.
Violet Baudelaire is also possibly a reference to a famous crime; she shares her given name with Violet Sharpe, a suspect of the Lindbergh kidnapping.
Beatrice is likely a reference to Beatrice Portinari, the unrequited love of Dante Alighieri.
There are two additional book editions released: The Bad Beginning (UK) and The Bad Beginning or, Orphans!; similarly, "special", "rare", and "limited" versions of the book were released.
The Bad Beginning or, Orphans! is a paperback re-release of The Bad Beginning, designed to mimic Victorian penny dreadfuls. It was released on May 8, 2007. The book features a new full-color cover, seven new illustrations, and the first part of a serial supplement entitled The Cornucopian Cavalcade, which in this edition includes the first of 13-part comic entitled The Spoily Brats along with a page of Victorian-era false advertisements, both produced by Michael Kupperman, an advice column written by Lemony Snicket along with a page listing every entry in A Series of Unfortunate Events (some of which are fictional), the first part of a story entitled Q: A Psychic Pstory of the Psupernatural by Stephen Leacock, and a guide by Morley Adams on paper folding.
g was published by Harper Collins in September 2003; it is known as The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition. This boxed edition comes with a new cover, a portrait of the characters, and an extra chapter filled with author's notes, many of which occasionally foreshadow later events in the series. Each of the notes, particularly the ones relating to The End, proved accurate or were addressed by later books in the series.
The Bad Beginning: Limited Edition and The Bad Beginning: Special EditionEdit
Two more editions of The Bad Beginning were published by Egmont Publishing on Oct 1, 2003; known as The Bad Beginning: Limited Edition, and The Bad Beginning: Special Edition, they come in a larger format and contain three plates of color artwork that are redrawn from the original edition of the book and two plates of new color artwork. The Limited Edition is bound in leather and contained within a box, similar to the Rare Edition, and each copy was signed by Daniel Handler. Contrary to the description on the UnfortunateEvents.com website, the Limited Edition does not contain any endnotes as the Rare Edition does.
Amazon reviewer Karin Snelson cites the Unfortunate Events series as “delightful, funny [and] linguistically playful”, and the narrator as “personable” and “occasionally pedantic”. “There is no question that young readers will want to read the continuing unlucky adventures of the Baudelaire children [...].”
Other reviewers somewhat share the same general opinion as well. The writing method employed by Hendler was widely complimented and mentioned numerously. “While the misfortunes hover on the edge of being ridiculous, Snicket’s energetic blend of humor, dramatic irony, and literary flair makes it all perfectly believable,” says Linda Bindner of Library Journal. “[Snicket] uses formal, Latinate language and intrusive commentary to hilarious effect,” quotes Publishers Weekly.
Ron Charles calls the narrator "witty and explanatory". Susie Wilde of Children's Literature also speaks, "[The Bad Beginning] has subtle humor, Roald Dahl-like pathos, and lots of action [...]". “Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not the squeamish. [...] Those who enjoy a little poision in their porridge will find it wicked good fun.” speaks Kirkus Reviews.
The Bad Beginning was generally favored by the community as well. 1,114 readers agree to a 4/5 rating on Amazon. Likewise, 459 readers also give the novel a 4.5/5 rating on Barnes and Noble.
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