The Wide Window
No. 3 in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series
by Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler
illustrated by Brett Helquist
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HarperCollins (New York): 29 February 2000. Hardcover: 224 pages. ISBN-10: 0-06-440768-3 Suggested retail price: $9.95 (US) Tags: boats; fortune; grammar; lakes; leeches; made into movie; murder; orphans; Youth Tactical strength: [5/10] |
The unfortunate Baudelaire children once again get placed with a "relative." This time, Mr. Poe places the three children with their Aunt Josephine who lives in a house on the edge of a cliff, hanging precariously above Lake Lachrymose. Aunt Josephine's husband, Ike, passed away some time before when he went swimming in the lake and failed to wait a full hour after eating, and the Lake Lachrymose leeches devoured him. Aunt Josephine now has fears of just about everything happening. She refuses to heat her food, fearing that her stove might explode. Aunt Josephine also loves grammar, and she compulsively corrects the grammar of anyone near her.
Of course, Count Olaf has not abandoned his plans to acquire the Baudelaire fortune through any means. He disguises himself as Captain Sham, operator of a local sailboat rental firm. Captain Sham endears himself to Aunt Josephine, and they quickly form wedding plans. The children easily see through Count Olaf's disguise, but none of the adults around them pay any attention to the children. When Aunt Josephine apparently commits suicide, it looks like Captain Sham will get to adopt the children.
I know that for children's series, publishers want their authors to stick with a formula that works. In this case, Lemmony Snicket has followed his formula from the previous books exactly, and has not introduced anything new or interesting. The text has the same authorial commentaries defining words and giving translations for Sunny's speech. At least in the movie, Sunny's speech appeared as unobtrusive subtitles. I wanted to like The Wide Window, but the presentation has gone from a cute writing style to annoying author intrusions.
Related Review
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events directed by Brad Silberling
