The Miserable Mill

A Series of Unfortunate Events #4

By: Lemony Snicket

Narrated by: Lemony Snicket

Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins

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)

Miserable mill, uplifting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have shared listening to this book with my daughter, we both enjoyed it very much and has been an ideal way to pass the driving time to and from school, and has elicited great conversation in us. She has read all the actual books and together we have listened to the previous three as well. We'll finish the series, which we find so enjoyable. We recommend it.

What other book might you compare The Miserable Mill to and why?

The rest of the books in the seires

What about Lemony Snicket’s performance did you like?

Very good indeed.

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

We both laughed and cried!

Any additional comments?

Excellent choice

Equalization Issues

This is the first time I've noticed this with this audio series (with Snicket reading), so I am hoping it is a one-off problem and the later books don't have the issue.

There is a HUGE volume difference when Snicket does character voices (Flacutono, Sir, and Olaf/Shirley especially) vs. when he is just narrating.

When I use my earphones I have to constantly readjust the volume because I am constantly deafened every time one of the aforementioned characters speak--it's like Snicket is yelling the voices right up to the mic--so I scramble to lower the volume, but I cannot hear any of the rest of the book unless I increase the volume again.

It was very annoying and headache inducing. That is a production issue, however. The book itself is great, and the narration was good too. The production team just needed to get the sound levels even, especially if Snicket was going to scream-narrate character voices the way he did

Great writer. Terrible performance.

My daughter and I have really enjoyed the Lemony Snicket series, but the author reading his books has done the stories a disservice. I didn't expect him to be able to do different voices for the characters, but his voice volume control is terrible.

Great Story

The reader i am still not impressed by voice acting for the difference characters. Bring back last reader from book 1 and 2.

Book about I don’t remember

I think the book was good “cough cough” Mr Poe shut up get help seriously.

Whispers and shouts

Get ready to crank up the volume during the orphans dialogue then have your ears bleed during any other voices

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.

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.

Perfect for car rides. Save them for the road

Although it has been a few years, my children who are teens still remember these books. We always listened to them on car rides to Cape Cod. I use to have to download the audio books and then burn them onto CDs. Now I just play my ipod through the blue tooth connection on my car. Although the technology has changed, these books are classic. One of the best attributes is that you and your children can learn some big new words. Its great for vocabulary building. If you have a long drive your kids will sit there and listen to these books for hours on end. Since you will be trapped in the car with them, you will also have to like books. I enjoyed listening just as much as they did.

love!

loved it. I read these books before but I like to listen to them too