Lemony’s Definition Device
“It was disconcerting, a word which here means ‘a warning that the Baudelaire children did not heed in time.’”
I read a lot of books as a child. I know, I know, please contain your shock!
I read everything that was front and center at the Fain Elementary and Washington Jackson Elementary1 libraries. Everything Lois Lowry wrote,2 everything Gail Carson Levine wrote,3 Bud Not Buddy and Stargirl and Holes. I read Harry Potter, of course.4 The Chronicles of Narnia are also Hall-of-Famers for me.
And I loved A Series of Unfortunate Events.
If you’re not familiar, ASOUE was a thirteen-book series written by “Lemony Snicket,” a mysterious figure recounting (and involved in??) the “true” tale of the Baudelaire orphans. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny bounce from ineffectual caretaker to ineffectual caretaker5 as they evade Count Olaf’s attempts to steal their family fortune. The books themselves are beautifully printed, with deckled edges, lovely colors, and iconic illustrations by Brett Helquist.6
As a child, the books seemed like an intriguing mystery and a great adventure. They were! They still are! But as an adult, I can see some of the revolutionary things that Lemony Snicket and “his representative” Daniel Handler were doing.
Do you remember being talked down to as a kid? I remember it vividly. Sometimes it was warranted. Often, it was not. Kids understand things! Not every thing. But more things than adults think. Like all truly brilliant children’s authors, Lemony Snicket treated his readers like human beings.
Especially with Lemony’s definition device.
Throughout the series, Snicket would often use a word or phrase, then explain its meaning. Here’s a pretty basic one from Book Three, The Wide Window:
This device is a perfect way to teach vocabulary to children. By using the word in the first place, Snicket avoids talking down to his readers. Those who didn’t know the word learn it; those who did know the word get to enjoy the joke. Each definition plays with the nuance of the situation, so young readers develop a sense of linguistic precision.
By my count, this device appears 338 times throughout the series. Somehow, Lemony Snicket manages to make it fresh and funny every time. It’s seldom straightforward, like the above example! Sometimes he explains the word in a way that it could only ever mean in the story:
Sometimes Snicket flips the device, making the first word the easier one and the explanation the harder one:
Sometimes he uses a hilariously difficult word, and sometimes he even explains a word incorrectly!
Sometimes he mixes and matches, nesting explanations within explanations:
But the best times are when he uses a definition to introduce sincerity. This example is very early in the story. It sets a tone that is both sad and kind:
The Series of Unfortunate Events books are really sad. They’re full of adults who cannot be trusted, which is a crucial reality for kids that no one ever tells kids about. The Baudelaires miss their parents, and they reminisce sweetly when times are hardest. But the books are also funny, clever, mysterious, lovely, and they’ve aged brilliantly. I would highly recommend them for anyone who wants to escape our bad world into a more entertaining bad world… and learn a few words along the way.
Have a great day!
Here’s a “fun” fact: I was bussed across town to Washington Jackson Elementary as part of a federal-court-ordered desegregation effort. That’s right: Wichita Falls, Texas hit snooze on Brown v. Board until 2001!
I re-read The Giver quartet early on in the pandemic. No matter how old you are, I can’t recommend it enough.
For a few years before and after Ella Enchanted, anyway
At the time, I remember thinking that it was weird that Harry Potter had no author. Now I simply accept it! Imagine if something as popular as HP did have an author, and that author turned out to be a complete moron. That would be awful! That’s why it’s so good that Harry Potter doesn’t have an author, and never did.
Not you though, Uncle Monty. Never you. ♥️
I couldn’t find a better place to drop this in, but: the Netflix series is excellent! The 2004 movie is whatever, but Daniel Handler actually worked on the Netflix one. It’s faithful to the books, and every comedy person you’ve ever loved makes a cameo in it!