Fortunate Discovery: The Penultimate Peril, by Lemony Snickett

Fortunate Discovery
First Published Hampshire Chronicle, 1st May 2006

What better way to entice readers than to warn them, before each volume of your epic, that: “I would advise you to not continue."

Those might not be Daniel Handler’s exact words when he writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, but it’s certainly a theme that’s consistent throughout each of his twelve (soon to be thirteen) volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The first, The Bad Beginning, came out in 1999. The most recent, The Penultimate Peril, was released in October, 2005.

The books chronicle the unfortunate lives of the Baudelaire orphans, three children sadly left alone after their parents perish in a tragic, and suspicious, fire.

The books themselves are more then a fantastic fictional story, they are a series of unfortunate lessons. Each one ruminates on the tough life lessons faced by children growing up in an adult world, and contain enough sharp literary allusions to entertain readers of all ages.

As you read each volume in the series, you learn, through the experiences of the Baudelaire’s, that life doesn’t always deal you a fair hand. But you also learn that, despite all life's terrible hardships, our three heroes persevere, stay together and find sanctuary in a world that constantly does not make sense.

Handler also manages to throw in little lessons on words, what they truly mean and humorously uses their definitions through each book.

Some people have criticised the books for being a bit repetitive in theme.

In each book the Baudelaires find themselves in the care of yet another incompetent guardian. Inevitably, Count Olaf turns up, desperate to get his hands on their fortune. On the surface, each story sounds quite similar… But, as a whole, the epic is a brilliantly written plot. And, as the series progresses, so do the lives of the orphans.

In the later stories, the children have grown up, and have learnt that, sometimes, one must act like a villain in order to do the “right thing”.

In the most recent book, The Penultimate Peril, the children find themselves sailing away with the enemy they so desperately tried to elude.

One of my favourite discoveries in the entire series of books was the dedication by Lemony Snicket (Handler) to a beloved, deceased, Beatrice. It reminds me of Dante in his Divine Comedy, who also had a beloved, deceased, Beatrice.

I thought The Penultimate Peril was an exciting read and it will be interesting to see how Handler will ultimately end the series.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is published by HarperCollins at £6.99.

–Tina Hulme