Lemony Snicket is droll and dry and constantly winking to the reader about all of these very sad happenings that end up, in some odd way, resulting in a lot of chuckles. Lemony Snicket gives enough hints earlier in the book so, when the dreadful deed is discovered, the reader isn’t all that surprised. What’s more unfortunate that the slaying of your Uncle Monty? But think about it: If you are going to read one of these Lemony Snicket books, you’ve got to realize that the Baudelaire kids are going to be involved in any number of unfortunate events, right? “Now, wait!” you might well exclaim, upset at my giving away a major plot twist. The central event of the novel - and it’s here where the rubber meets the road - is Count Olaf’s murder of Uncle Monty. It’s their Uncle Monty (full name: Montgomery Montgomery). The Reptile Room, number 2 of the Lemony Snicket books, has to do with the children, whose parents died in a fire shortly before the opening pages of the number 1 book, finally, finally finding someone nice to take care of them. What I’m more interested here, though, is why Lemony Snicket’s 13 books about the ever-so-many Unfortunate Events that befall the Baudelaire children are so much fun for readers, particularly children.
The sheer ridiculousness of it all - that Sunny could actually mean all that Lemony Snicket says she means, in this case, about “a loathsome situation” - is what makes this repeated trope in the Lemony Snicket books funny. As an infant with only four very sharp teeth, she says what seem like nonsense syllables, and author Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler, in real life) explains what she means, usually a fairly long, complex statement, serious and sober.
It’s always funny when Sunny has something to say. “Tadu,” Sunny murmured solemnly, which probably meant something along the lines of “It’s a loathsome situation in which we find ourselves.” “And,” Klaus continued, “once he gets his hands on it, he plans to kill us.” Midway through The Reptile Room, they are discussing the sad fact that the nefarious count wants to get ahold of their family’s fortune. The Baudelaire orphans find themselves yet again in an unfortunate event - in the clutches of Count Olaf.
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