A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
Book Title: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Fiction
My Grade: B-
# of Pages: 194
Summary: "The Baudelaire orphans looked out the grimy window of the train and gazed at the gloomy blackness of the Finite Forest, wondering if their lives would ever get better," begins The Miserable Mill. If you have been introduced to the three Baudelaire orphans in any of Lemony Snicket's previous novels, you know that not only will their lives not get better, they will get much worse. In the fourth installment in the "Series of Unfortunate Events," the sorrowful siblings, having once again narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil Count Olaf, are escorted by the kindly byt ineffectual Mr. Poe to their newest "home" at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. Much to their horror (if not surprise) their dormitory at the mill is crowded and damp, they are forced to work with spinning saw blades, they are fed only one meal a day (not counting the chewing gum they get for lunch), and worst of all, Count Olaf lurks in a dreadful disguise as Shirley the receptionist just down the street. Not even the clever wordplay and ludicrous plot twists could keep this story buoyant- reading about the mean-spirited foreman, the deadly blades, poor Klaus (hypnotized and "reprogrammed"), and the relentless hopelessness of the children's situation only made us feel gloomy. Fans of these wickedly funny, suspenseful adventures won't want to miss out on a single one, but we're hoping the next tales have the delicate balance of delight and disaster we've come to expect from this exciting series.
My Thoughts: For some reason, I felt that this book was the more depressing out of all the books in the series really. Possibly because there's no hope shining through anywhere. All the other books the orphans always had some sort of hope or good thing to hold on to. Plus, well-meaning adults placed in their lives. But this book lacked a lot of that.
Also, one thing that really put me off right away was the sleeping arrangements they had this time around... it reminded me too much of a concentration camp setting, which is sad and depressing and not wholly appropriate even in this kind of book.
This book also makes the reader sort of ask, "Why?" Where is the book going? Is this whole series just about the orphans going from crappy place to crappy place? What's the point in continuing reading about them then if there's nothing good at all? Thinking about the book I can't really see any major need to have it in the series, I don't see exactly what difference it made except just as sort of a filler space before the other books were written and published.
It was still a good and entertaining read. Like I said, a little more depressing than the others, but all in all it was still a pretty good read. Get through this book, the series picks up again afterwards, no worries, I wouldn't give you bad advice now would I?
Next Book: The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra • review
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Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Fiction
My Grade: B-
# of Pages: 194
Summary: "The Baudelaire orphans looked out the grimy window of the train and gazed at the gloomy blackness of the Finite Forest, wondering if their lives would ever get better," begins The Miserable Mill. If you have been introduced to the three Baudelaire orphans in any of Lemony Snicket's previous novels, you know that not only will their lives not get better, they will get much worse. In the fourth installment in the "Series of Unfortunate Events," the sorrowful siblings, having once again narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil Count Olaf, are escorted by the kindly byt ineffectual Mr. Poe to their newest "home" at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. Much to their horror (if not surprise) their dormitory at the mill is crowded and damp, they are forced to work with spinning saw blades, they are fed only one meal a day (not counting the chewing gum they get for lunch), and worst of all, Count Olaf lurks in a dreadful disguise as Shirley the receptionist just down the street. Not even the clever wordplay and ludicrous plot twists could keep this story buoyant- reading about the mean-spirited foreman, the deadly blades, poor Klaus (hypnotized and "reprogrammed"), and the relentless hopelessness of the children's situation only made us feel gloomy. Fans of these wickedly funny, suspenseful adventures won't want to miss out on a single one, but we're hoping the next tales have the delicate balance of delight and disaster we've come to expect from this exciting series.
My Thoughts: For some reason, I felt that this book was the more depressing out of all the books in the series really. Possibly because there's no hope shining through anywhere. All the other books the orphans always had some sort of hope or good thing to hold on to. Plus, well-meaning adults placed in their lives. But this book lacked a lot of that.
Also, one thing that really put me off right away was the sleeping arrangements they had this time around... it reminded me too much of a concentration camp setting, which is sad and depressing and not wholly appropriate even in this kind of book.
This book also makes the reader sort of ask, "Why?" Where is the book going? Is this whole series just about the orphans going from crappy place to crappy place? What's the point in continuing reading about them then if there's nothing good at all? Thinking about the book I can't really see any major need to have it in the series, I don't see exactly what difference it made except just as sort of a filler space before the other books were written and published.
It was still a good and entertaining read. Like I said, a little more depressing than the others, but all in all it was still a pretty good read. Get through this book, the series picks up again afterwards, no worries, I wouldn't give you bad advice now would I?
Next Book: The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra • review
Back to the Book List.