IF NOTHING IS OUT THERE, THEN WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?

trouble needs a home: a mix for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events [LISTEN] “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. ”

trouble’s lament | tori amos trouble needs a home, girls will you give her one?

paris is burning | st. vincent they say: “i’m on your side when nobody is, cause nobody is”

conman coming | monica heldal i can feel him coming i can hear him coming i can see him coming to steal my soul.

be brave | my brightest diamond be brave, dear one be changed, be undone

house by the sea | iron & wine and there is smoke in my clothes too much time with just smoke in my nose

we won’t need legs to stand | sufjan stevens when we are dead we all have wings we won’t need legs to stand

arsonist’s lullabye | hozier when i was a child, i’d sit for hours staring into open flames something in it had a power could barely tear my eyes away

I have not read ASOUE since I was very small, smaller than you probably imagine. It is remarkable to reread them from the perspective of someone who has since lost a parent, as you probably can’t (or can) imagine. I can vouch for Snicket’s tact and accuracy regarding the Baudelaire children’s loss.

What I found interesting was in the 4th book (sorry all, I’m ahead of schedule!) I found a few content pieces that I was like, “Oh my gosh!!! I didn’t even realize how horrible that was when I was younger!” And I’ve found a few of those tidbits in the other books so far as well.

I’m also far more appreciative of Violet. 

What differences in your opinions of characters are you noticing?

VIOLET IS A BAMF. She is so cool. I love her. When I was a kid I wanted to be her so SO SO SO BAD. In my journals I talked about wanted to change my name to hers and I just loved her. She was the best.

KLAUS WAS MY LOVE. I related to him SO MUCH because I was a very avid reader, plus we were about the same age at the time. I loved him. I had such a huge crush on him, but once Isadora came into the picture… I had my first OTP. Lol!

SUNNY actually kinda bugged me as a kid. I still don’t really know why. Maybe I found it weird she could like communicate? And her hobbies and everything were just SO OUT THERE that I wasn’t into her as much. But reading it now she doesn’t bother me as much simply because I know it’s a book and idk she’s just less bothersome now

Klaus was older than me when I was reading him, actually! So I def. had a huge crush. It’s fun to read back from the perspective of being older than all of them, it’s a very fond feeling of him, even though I don’t have a crush anymore because that would be a bit strange.

I actually love and loved Sunny! She added fun dialogue, and since I’m a nanny by trade I am very, very fond of children and babies. She reminds me of the baby girl I babysit, and that’s very fun for me!

I’m also far more appreciative of Violet. 

What differences in your opinions of characters are you noticing?

I didn’t remember these things when i was little, but now I’m like hell yeah! I would think the same. I feel more close to Violet.

As for Mr. Poe I hated it so much before but now I just see him as a normal adult. They never really listen to children like he does, so I don’t hate him anymore, I think it’s just how it is.

As for all the 3 orphans, I don’t feel maternal, even if I have two kids going around and one reminds me of Sunny sometimes when he talks. But, maybe because I’m much older and I lived unfortunate events on my own, I feel more attached to the kids. I can understand them more. The rage of Klaus when Olaf hits him. The violent thoughts of Violet. Even the impotence of Sunny in the cage. It’s kinda strange. I’m no kid anymore, but I can feel like them.

I don’t want to sound oh so dramatic tho…

I’m starting the second book now.

As for Mr. Poe I’m actually more angry--adults don’t listen to children sometimes and I commend Snicket for presenting that idea solidly, but as a person and a reader I’m just a tad outraged, just for the simple fact that there are people like that who aren’t helping children, it’s a very real life real world thing to worry about. 

I’m also far more appreciative of Violet. 

What differences in your opinions of characters are you noticing?

I have not read ASOUE since I was very small, smaller than you probably imagine. It is remarkable to reread them from the perspective of someone who has since lost a parent, as you probably can’t (or can) imagine. I can vouch for Snicket’s tact and accuracy regarding the Baudelaire children’s loss.

I feel like maybe being raised with a considerable age difference from my siblings also played into this. My sisters are 14 and 17 years older than me and teenagers aren’t always concerned with being “appropriate”. I started reading the series when I was eight, but I already knew what murder, suicide, and arson were. So it wasn’t like it was introducing new concepts that I didn’t understand.

My parents were also very into the raise-your-child-as-an-equal thing. And I read A LOT of books on A LOT of subjects. I was probably ten or eleven the first Christmas I asked for The Anarchist Cookbook and it’s probably about the only thing they refused me reading. Not because they wanted to censor from the information just for the sake of it, but I am admittedly a very curious person and, looking back, could easily see a ten-year-old me trying to make explosives.

In the end I loved it for what it was, and I remember finishing the book in a day or so and my parents were surprised. This was a time period where we didn’t have a lot of money, objectively we couldn’t afford the 10 dollars that went to that book, so that has helped seal the series in my heart forever.

In any case my father trusted me to read things, obviously they would make sure I was reading young adult literature but they never cared what I read. In fact, my dad bought me The Golden Compass when the controversy was going on - he figured it was good if people were so upset haha. My parents censored movies and TV more than books. They always trusted us to understand the difference and what was right and wrong. So I don’t think they ever would have minded.

My parents tended to be more strict on movies than books, and everything was pretty open to honest discussion. My mum trusted her children to make decisions, and if she disagreed with them we were allowed to explain our side. When I wanted to read The Hunger Games, my blessed mother immediately told me no. Then the next week she gave me the book when she game home from grocery shopping, and now, after talking about it a bit, she loves the series!

My mother and father read me the books, a chapter a night, as was our custom. They never commented that the contents were too mature or upsetting for me (I remember a discussion once, as I was reading The Saga of Darren Shan in school at the same time (maybe this leniency is an Irish thing?), between them on which was scarier, but it was a literary matter, not a worry) but I already knew about the issues- murder, arson, fraud, abuse, Italian food- in the books. Three months before their business had been burnt to the ground and the police were no use. Lemony Snicket became a huge part of my life, that my whole family, friends and teachers encouraged with gifts and discussion.Ten years and three months later (last October) the series, and Mr Snicket as a writer, were still an influence on my life that I got my ankle inked with the eye insignia. My parents still didn’t protest, they just said I had to pay for it myself.

Actually thinking about it my mum had one objection to the series--and that hadn’t anything to do with the series at all. She remembered reading at one point that Daniel Handler said he wanted his books to “spread like a STD”, and was mildly concerned. She still bought us the books and took us to see the movie (which she loved, and for the fact of the matter, I liked too.) but she didn’t show much approval if we mentioned the author much. 

I have not read ASOUE since I was very small, smaller than you probably imagine. It is remarkable to reread them from the perspective of someone who has since lost a parent, as you probably can’t (or can) imagine. I can vouch for Snicket’s tact and accuracy regarding the Baudelaire children’s loss.

I feel like maybe being raised with a considerable age difference from my siblings also played into this. My sisters are 14 and 17 years older than me and teenagers aren’t always concerned with being “appropriate”. I started reading the series when I was eight, but I already knew what murder, suicide, and arson were. So it wasn’t like it was introducing new concepts that I didn’t understand.

My parents were also very into the raise-your-child-as-an-equal thing. And I read A LOT of books on A LOT of subjects. I was probably ten or eleven the first Christmas I asked for The Anarchist Cookbook and it’s probably about the only thing they refused me reading. Not because they wanted to censor from the information just for the sake of it, but I am admittedly a very curious person and, looking back, could easily see a ten-year-old me trying to make explosives.

In the end I loved it for what it was, and I remember finishing the book in a day or so and my parents were surprised. This was a time period where we didn’t have a lot of money, objectively we couldn’t afford the 10 dollars that went to that book, so that has helped seal the series in my heart forever.

In any case my father trusted me to read things, obviously they would make sure I was reading young adult literature but they never cared what I read. In fact, my dad bought me The Golden Compass when the controversy was going on - he figured it was good if people were so upset haha. My parents censored movies and TV more than books. They always trusted us to understand the difference and what was right and wrong. So I don’t think they ever would have minded.

My parents tended to be more strict on movies than books, and everything was pretty open to honest discussion. My mum trusted her children to make decisions, and if she disagreed with them we were allowed to explain our side. When I wanted to read The Hunger Games, my blessed mother immediately told me no. Then the next week she gave me the book when she game home from grocery shopping, and now, after talking about it a bit, she loves the series!

One of the things that strikes me so far about this and the differences between being a child reading ASOUE and being older is how much less objectionable things were when I was 10 to now. Olaf hitting Klaus was mean of him, and I recognized that, but it wasn’t the same feeling as the maternal outrage that I felt now. Similarly, everything about Violet being “pretty” went straight over my head.

Time makes us all curiously unfamiliar people and books are very good time-capsules. For the sake of a very friendly discussion, what are somethings you all are finding different?

I have not read ASOUE since I was very small, smaller than you probably imagine. It is remarkable to reread them from the perspective of someone who has since lost a parent, as you probably can’t (or can) imagine. I can vouch for Snicket’s tact and accuracy regarding the Baudelaire children’s loss.