• The Miserable Mill

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events #4
  • By: Lemony Snicket
  • Narrated by: Lemony Snicket
  • Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,118 ratings)

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The Miserable Mill  By  cover art

The Miserable Mill

By: Lemony Snicket
Narrated by: Lemony Snicket
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Publisher's summary

Dear Listener,

I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to listen to this recording because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put down this audio instantaneously, because of all the audios describing the unhappy lives of the Baudelaire orphans, The Miserable Mill might be the unhappiest yet.

This recording, I'm sorry to inform you, contains such unpleasantries as a giant pincher machine, a bad casserole, a man with a cloud of smoke where his head should be, a hypnotist, a terrible accident resulting in injury, and coupons.

I have promised to record the entire history of these three poor children, but you haven't, so if you prefer stories that are more heartwarming, please feel free to make another selection.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Don't miss the rest of A Series of Unfortunate Events or Audible's exclusive interview with Lemony Snicket!
©2000 Lemony Snicket (P)2001, 2003 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Snicket's tale lends itself to being read aloud, and what better person to do this than the author!" (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Miserable Mill

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    711
  • 4 Stars
    256
  • 3 Stars
    110
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    21
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    493
  • 4 Stars
    161
  • 3 Stars
    115
  • 2 Stars
    41
  • 1 Stars
    47
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    625
  • 4 Stars
    151
  • 3 Stars
    59
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    12

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Adult voices too loud, narrative too soft

It was great but the adult voices were so loud it hurt my ears. Yet, if I turned it down I couldn't hear the main narration, since that was so quiet.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun, fun, fun

I had toyed with the idea of picking up these books on occasion at various places. After I heard the interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air (on my 40th birthday no less), I had to give these a try. This not just kidstuff (although they are completely kid appropriate). These are so much FUN!!! My husband and I listen to them over and over and laugh our heads off. Misery loves company -- and I am hooked. I wouldn't START with this one (go ahead to the first book if you haven't yet), but in context it's great.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story, Terrible Volume Control

What made the experience of listening to The Miserable Mill the most enjoyable?

Another excellent story in the series.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator, in this case the author, went from nearly whispering to yelling while switching between characters. It became downright tedious changing the volume so we could hear only to have our ears blown out when he'd switch to his foreman voice.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Whoever mixed this needs to be fired.

I have never listened to anything so poorly mixed in my entire life! (the word mixed here means the sound levels). it was extremely aggravting and honestly painful. Most of the book was read at a whisper, that got continuously lower until Snicket decided to do a funny voice, and the volume would rise like eight notches. It was honestly obnoxious and hard to find a singular volume to listen to the book at; I spent a significant amount of time turning the volume up and down. ugh.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love this series, don't love the narration

As always, I enjoy this Lenomy Snicket series. Unfortunately, I do not, and can't stress that enough, the narrator. I'm not sure why the narrator was changed but I can't wait to get through these few books to get back to Tim Curry's narration.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Too LOUD/quiet

When the narrator spoke, he was very quiet and you had to turn the volume way up. Then when the characters spoke, they were extremely loud and blew out the speakers. The volume level of this Audio book need to be kept level because it was extremely difficult to listen to.

The story line however was great. I have been very pleased with all the previous Audio books in this series.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love it, but Tim Curry's gotta come back

I love every book of Snicket's as each one is very clever, original and unique in their individualism, but Snicket's calling does not lie in voiceovers. Tim Curry brought out a deeper gravitas in Snicket's books through his performance and I feel that it has been lost some with Snicket's voiceovers. I still recommend the book to anyone though, as the writing is incomparable!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Good book but Tim curry did a much better job

Good book but Tim curry did a much better job narrarating I hope in the next books Tim curry does the narrating

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sir's voice will needle your nerves.

Would you listen to The Miserable Mill again? Why?

I would and I have many times, simply because I love this series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Miserable Mill?

The big "sword-fight" between Sunny and Dr. Orwell.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lemony Snicket?

TIM CURRY. A million times, TIM CURRY.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My only extreme reactions were to the narration, which was both "Ow, my freaking ears!" and "Why must he talk that way?! It's driving me crazy!"

Any additional comments?

The voice of Sir. Just, wow. I can't say enough how utterly annoying Sir's dialogue is to me. I know Daniel Handler is not a voice actor, so I've tried to be understanding. However, that loud, halting, jerking dialogue...it's just awful. I'm sure Handler was probably thinking that if he talked loudly and put the wrong inflections and emphasis on the words, it would make him sound funny and interesting. His intentions were good, but it just didn't work out.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Annoying problem with volume control

Love the story! Unfortunately, like everyone else is saying, the narration could use some major improvement. The volume level for the narration part is too low, while the volume level for the dialogs is way too high. I had to constant adjust the volume.

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3 people found this helpful