While it's fun discovering a book that becomes a new favorite, there’s something comforting about returning to an old classic you remember well. But, what happens when you’ve actually never read the book you have such fond memories of?
In efforts to stick to my reading resolution, I decided to re-read Robert C. O'Brien’s Newbery Medal winner Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I remembered that the book enthralled me as a child, and I was excited to revisit all the great characters I remembered so vividly: Mrs. Frisby, Jeremy the crow, Nicodemus the rat. (And Justin, of course!)
I checked my parents’ house and discovered I didn’t own a copy, which surprised me. (I’m very hesitant to throw anything away, especially treasured books!) So I went to a bookstore, bought a brand new copy, and started reading that night.
I read swiftly and made great progress that first night. Things started coming back to me – Timmy’s illness, Mrs. Frisby’s children disliking the Screw, Mr. Ages’ medicines – but then elements of the story started to shift from the way I remembered them. In my mind, Jeremy the crow served as comic relief but in the book, he’s much calmer, and almost shy like a preteen who’s not yet comfortable in their own skin.
When she goes to the rosebush to talk to the rats for the first time, I remembered the guard Brutus chasing Mrs. Frisby whereas in the book, he merely intimates her into hiding away from the entrance until Mr. Ages arrives and brings her in. And then, the entire supernatural/sci-fi element surrounding Nicodemus and his necklace was totally absent. It was then I realized I had never actually read the book at all; I had only seen the animated film from 1982.
Besides being an avid reader, I love films, so I was really surprised I had never actually read the original book. I was the type of kid where if I found out one of my favorite movies was based on a book, I then had to read the book. To find out that this amazing classic passed me by was pretty embarrassing!
There are reports that the film The Secret of NIMN is being rebooted as a live action/live action film. I wonder if this version will follow the original story more closely.
Has this unusual experience ever happened to you?
