Dear Mr. Snicket,
Okay. I'll level with you. When I was first introduced to The
Bad Beginning, I stared at the cover for roughly thirty
seconds, running through my mind which particular insult I was
going to use on my friend, for asking me to read a book illustrated
with a tall blue looking guy. Besides, the book was so tiny
and the print was so big, I couldn't possibly
take it seriously. Well, after much annoying and pointless arguments
with my friend, I cracked open the book. And here, Mr. Snicket,
is the classic story of irony, "irony" here meaning
"Turning out to be the funniest and most entertaining story
Ravi ever read, leaving him feeling really stupid for even doubting
the quality of such a tiny book with such
big print."
I read a quote once. I can't quite recall where I came across
it but it goes something like this:
Once you look past the fact that nobody uses wagons anymore, and
the fact that road kill was not even mentioned, it is quite a
true statement. From page one, where it warned me to abandon the
book for a happier one, the book was packed with humor.
Now, I consider myself to be a pretty funny guy and the omnipresent
humor cast in the terribly tragic tale of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny
Baudelaire, once again brought home an important point. A person
can lose his home, family, money, and pet chinchilla named Edgar,
but he can endure almost anything as long as he has humor, the
ability to take one's situation and make it seem better than it
actually is. This leads me into another quote I heard, but cannot
exactly quote because I don't remember it word for word, and can't
seem to find it on the internet: Humor is man's defense against
the world. Reading this book reinforced in my mind the need for
humor. Hahaha! See I'm laughing!
The Baudelaires seem to find themselves in many undesirable predicaments,
many of which involve a certain death. However, they work as a
team, and more importantly, a family to escape the evil clutches
of Count Olaf and his evil assistants. Being a guy, a member of
the male sex, a dude, macho and many other masculine descriptions,
I will try my best not to get "touchy-feely." Therefore,
I will try to make this particular point without any trace of
emotion.
I looked thoughtfully at my brother during dinner, prematurely
ended by stares by other members of the family. I imagined myself
in the Baudelaires' position and what skills my brother had that
would let me escape Count Olaf. In a single pensive moment, I
concluded that he did indeed posses the skills we would need.
More importantly however, I also concluded that I would not mind
being in difficult positions if l had my family with me. Count
Olaf wouldn't stand a chance; not with my mom's evil eye, my brother's
kicking skills (soccer player, naturally), my dad's ability to
confuse even Einstein, and my irresistible charm and innocence.
I saw myself as all three children, sometimes caught in situations
beyond my control, but managing to "escape" by drawing
upon my family and my humor for strength. All joking aside, this
book was a whole lot more that it seems to be at first. This tiny
book had a BIG impact on my view on the
world. I'll try and keep The Bad Beginning in mind
when I fall once again into my teenage mindset, where I think
the whole world is rotten and everyone is against me. I really
liked your book, Mr. Snicket, "liked" here meaning,
"wanted to read it over and over and over again because it
was so funny.
I hope you keep writing.
With all due respect,
Ravi R. Pandit
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