Reading this book now as an adult made me think about the behavior of the adults in the series more. Every adult is either an idiot or plain evil. But looking back, most of the books I read when I was around 10 had kids/teenagers facing danger without the help of adults. I loved ASOUE, and also Animorphs, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter. And in all of them, it is the kids who save the day, often without help from adults or with very little. I think I just took that somehow for granted that this is how books work, I guess (while still being at an age where I would not have clean laundry or cooked meals if it was not for my mom, but I did not question that).
And I absolutely loved ASOUE because I think it made me feel smart as a child. To make reading a virtuous thing that will save the day was so great to read as a little book nerd. And it felt "adult" because there was no happy end, so I felt really adult when reading them and trying to figure out the secrets. This is a good setup for the series, presenting the characteristics that define the characters. I watched the Jim Carrey movie a lot when I was growing up, so that was my reference point when I started reading the book. I now understand why people who read the book first didn’t like the movie. In the movie, Count Olaf is a funny, silly character that just happens to be a little mean to the children, but in the book, he’s much more abusive. I think that that’s an important part because Olaf is actually clever, and that’s what can make him more scary for children, but also makes you realize that the Baudelaires need to be a lot better to outsmart him.
In general, I like when narrators get more involved in the story, so this is one of the things I enjoy from the book. It can get a little annoying when he explains the words, but I can see how that can be good for kids who read this.