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purpledragonfly48 's review for:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O'Brien
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this book multiple times as a child, but had forgotten a lot of the plot. While still enjoyable, there were some things that bothered me, mostly things like, why would animals use days of the week like humans do (and the same ones), clocks, etc. And wouldn't the humans notice that Dragon seemed to be drugged, if the rats did it very often?? Also, even if an injection of DNA did somehow (no idea how, I think it's extremely unlikely if not impossible) increase the intelligence of rats and mice, it wouldn't create a new species the way the Dr seems to think because it wouldn't affect gametic DNA and thus would not be passed down to the offspring. So their children shouldn't be anything special. (Also, the mice were a side experiment WITHOUT A CONTROL GROUP??? No, just ... don't. Always include appropriate controls. A neurobiologist should know better.) Although these details kept me from becoming fully engaged in the story this time around, it's still a cute and interesting story with a lot of intriguing ideas (what would a rat civilization look like? what are the ethical implications of finding an injection that can increase a mammal's capacity to learn by an extraordinary amount, and another that, when combined, greatly slows or even stops aging?). I did enjoy it as a child, and do think it could be a good book for children, but adults will need to suspend their disbelief. Also, I had forgotten how bittersweet the ending is. I think this book does a good job of showing the values of teamwork, friendships, being willing to help others without knowing if you will gain from it, etc. and is surprisingly deep for a children's book about animals, but still provides an entertaining story, so that children can still enjoy and learn from it, even if they don't necessarily pick up on all of the nuance. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's surprisingly mature and nuanced, while still being kid-friendly. Wouldn't say that is a children's book adults need to read, but it's still a good book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism
It's surprising to me how sexist the rats seem to be - the females sometimes go to the meetings but mostly the men make all the major decisions. Surprising for a species that doesn't have the same ideas of domestication as humans, and one that seems to be claiming to be very different in thought from humans. None of it is super in-your-face, it's just kind of there in the background.