Book Review: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Richard C. O'Brien

  

For those familiar with Don Bluth’s 1982 masterpiece The Secret of NIMH, yes, this book is indeed the source material for that glorious movie. It’s also probably no secret that said movie is one of my absolute favourites. It’s definitely my most beloved Don Bluth movie, and one that definitely inspired me a lot.

I love the designs, the color palette, the characters, the story...it’s just one of my all time favourite movies. If you haven’t watched it yet, regardless of whether or not you’ve read this book, I highly recommend you give it a watch.

So, yeah, I know I’m probably late, only getting to read the book now, but better late than never. Let’s have a look at Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Richard C. O'Brien.

The story, in many ways, is the same to that of the movie, at least the first two thirds. A widowed mouse named Mrs. Frisby has four children, one of which is sickly, and eventually gets pneumonia, which confines him to his bed. However, there’s a problem. The plow of the farm on which the mouse family lives is about to start moving, and the Frisby house, with Timmy in his bed in it, might just be destroyed.

So, Mrs. Frisby gathers all of her courage to go and seek help to move her house before the plow starts moving. The only ones who have the means to help her are the imposing rats of NIMH that live in the rosebush. When she’s with the rats, she learns about the fate of her husband and the origin of the rats of NIMH.

Okay, so this book is structured slightly weirdly if you ask me. It has a quick start, a very slow middle act, where Frisby meets the rats and they explain their backstory, and then a quick conclusion without a real climax. It’s a very laid back story, which is definitely something new, as most books I read are either hard on the mystery, character development or action, or a combination of these.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad book by any means, but it just felt really different to what I usually read. I know the book has a sequel called Rasco and the Rats of NIMH, but haven’t gotten to it quite yet, and I'm not sure if I ever will.

The characters are all very basic and one-dimensional. They don’t feel very rounded or even remotely interesting for a lot of them. The only one I found myself getting really into was Mrs. Frisby herself, who, despite her huge fears, goes to see the Owl, visits the rats and asks them for help, and even decides to drug the cat later on. But outside of her, unfortunately, I thought the cast was just too bland over here. None of them really stood out.

Overall, I thought this book was somewhat disappointing. Yes, I’m aware it’s a children’s book, but it still just feels lacking and the weird structure doesn’t make it very appealing to read. But it does still have Mrs. Frisby in it, who is a good role model and character, and the backstory of the rats is very interesting, so I’d say it’s at least worth a look if you like the movie adaptation.

Rating: 3/5