A series of unfortunate events, The bad beginning door Lemony Snicket

Boekverslag Engels

A Series of Unfortunate Events
The bad beginning
By Lemony Snicket
First published by HarperCollins publishers 1999

The bad beginning is the first book in a series about the Baudelaire children. After their parents die in a fire, the tree Baudelaire children are adopted by their uncle, Count Olaf. When Violet, the oldest Baudelaire child, her brother Klaus, and their little sister Sunny move in with Count Olaf, the horrible history begins. Count Olaf turns out to be a horrible man, who is after the inheritance the Baudelaires left their kids. He makes the kids do horrible chores in the house, and refuses to give the kids good beds or food. One morning the kids wake up, and find that Count Olaf has made them breakfast. Feeling something is wrong, Violet asks what the reason is for this friendliness. Count Olaf tells then he wants them to play in one of his plays, Klaus an Sunny as extra’s, and Violet as the bride of Count Olaf. Immediately Klaus and Violet see trough him, and know that it’s a plan to steel their money. But what is the plan? They go to their friendly neighbour Justice Strauss, and spent the entire afternoon in her enormous library looking trough books about inheritance laws. Klaus keeps on reading all night and the next morning he finds out what Count Olaf is up to. He wants to marry Violet for real. Klaus confronts the Count, bud Olaf only laughs, he kidnapped Sunny, and put her in a cage, hanging from the tower in the backyard. He threatens he will let her fall if they don’t do what he says. The only way the kids can save their sister is to go along with the plan. When the play finishes, Count Olaf shouts: ‘ladies and gentleman, I have an announcement. There is no reason to continue tonight’s performance, for its purpose has been served. This has not been a scene of fiction. My marriage to Violet Baudelaire is perfectly legal, and now I am in control of her entire fortune’. But Violet is a remarkably smart kid, and after Sunny is brought back to her, she announces the marriage is not legal. She signed the papers with her left hand, but she is right handed. That makes the marriage not legal. Their fortune is saved, but before the police comes, Count Olaf escapes. The kids want to be adopted by Justice Strauss, but their parents will said that they had to be adopted by a relative. They leave with Mr. Poe, the man who looks after their fortune, who’s going to find a new place for them to stay.