The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is every bookworm’s dream, and over the years they’ve had some pretty spectacular guests flock to Dubai to discuss the magic of reading and writing. But this year, I’ll admit, one of the guests hit that nostalgia nerve harder than anyone in recent memory, if not ever. Lemony Snicket, real name Daniel Handler, creator of A Series of Unfortunate Events shaped and defined more childhoods than he could conceivably imagine (mine especially). Though many an adaptation has been made from his 13-novel book series (one with Jim Carrey over twenty years ago in 2004, and the more recent coming via Netflix in 2017) as with most adaptations, nothing hits like the original. And what should come as a sobering sigh of relief for anyone who has ever read any of his books, Handler himself is as trusting of mainstream media as the Baudelaire orphans are of Count Olof.
Esquire: A Series of Unfortunate Events is, as the title suggests, quite a perilous series. Did you have any initial pushback when you suggested it be aimed at a younger demographic? And what were the initial reactions when you first began shipping around The Bad Beginning?
Lemony Snicket: At my very first public event to talk about these books, only two people showed up, and they told me that they were so offended by my work they just had to come and see who was responsible. This was about the reaction I expected.
Esquire: As a writer, are you nervous when your work is adapted into a film/TV series, and how much authority do you have over the final product? Stephen King famously hated Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of The Shining. What has your reaction been?
Lemony Snicket: I participated in the adaptation of Unfortunate Events for both film and television and was fired a total of three times, so the anxiety I experienced was well before the results were finished. I’m more interested in what other people think of them.
Esquire: When you completed the final book in the series, was there a sense of relief, sadness, catharsis, or what? What goes through your mind about the characters you have created, and do you try to visualise the ending through the eyes of the millions of readers you’ve gained over the years, or is it a solitary experience?
Lemony Snicket: I am always a little sad when I finish the book, but then I cheer up when the book is published at last, and I know it’s someone else’s turn to spend time with the story.
Esquire: Although these books are aimed at a younger demographic, they’re still quite advanced, which I always took as a sign of respect from the writer. Why do you think writers, filmmakers, and big studios today have stopped respecting the audience, especially the younger ones?
Lemony Snicket: It seems to me that mainstream culture increasingly has no respect for anyone of any age or stripe.
Esquire: What is your personal favourite of the 13 Unfortunate Events books, and who of the Baudelaire children is most like yourself?
Lemony Snicket: Oh, they always say books are like one’s children, in that your favourite changes from day to day. I think of all the characters I most resemble Lemony Snicket, who arrives too late in the story to be of any assistance.
Esquire: What is the best thing a fan has ever told you, something that has stuck with you forever?
Lemony Snicket: One young fan was confused and upset that there were other people besides herself in the bookstore. Reading is largely a private activity, and she was experiencing my work the way I experience books I love: by myself, with the rest of the world vanishing.
You can find the entire Series of Unfortunate Events book series here.
