Book Made Into A Movie Review: The Secret Of NIMH

To save her ill son, a field mouse must seek the aid of a colony of super-intelligent rats, with whom she has a deeper link than she ever suspected.

After reading Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, I had to get the movie out and watch it. I remember loving the book and the movie a lot, although I knew there were some differences that I wasn't too fond of. Those things can be overlooked though sometimes.

What I found very strange about watching The Secret Of NIHM is HOW MUCH it was different. Sure, the main plot is still there, Timmy is sick and his mother needs to find a way to move their home before the plow comes. But there were so many other little things that were just not the same. AT ALL. First off, Mrs. Frisby's name was changed to Mrs. Brisby. Why? I have no idea. I can let that one go. There were, however, several overly dramatic scenes added to the story that were not in the book. I'd elaborate, but I don't want to ruin either the book or the movie for any of my followers who haven't seen/read one or both.

One thing I AM going to point out is this: there was no magic in the book. I have absolutely NO IDEA how that got placed in the movie when it had nothing to do with the book. Maybe they thought the book wasn't dramatic enough. Or maybe it's because in the book there were a lot of stories intermingled together. A lot of detailed stories that probably wouldn't be too easy to convey in the movie.

Another thing was that Jenner wasn't present at all in the book. He was spoken of often, about how he didn't approve of The Plan and how he and a few other rats took off on their own, but he wasn't there trying to ruin plans. And some of the characters were a teensy bit off when it came to the way they spoke and acted. Mr. Ages was a bit too gruff, and Mrs. Brisby got a little too irritated with Jeremy, neither of those things being the case in the book. I have to say though, that I found myself giggling in spite of how atrociously off a scene was from the book, just because of how silly it was. Especially the scenes with Jeremy. You can tell they probably did that for the kids.

Although there were a lot of differences between the two, I still adore each just the same. I still can't help but wish that they created the movie a teensy bit closer to the book (I mean, seriously, adding in magic when that wasn't even in the book? Come on...). I am, however, quite pleased at the animation. It is amazing. I would have loved to see this one in the movie theater when I was a kid. The backgrounds are gorgeous:

So, my conclusion is this: While I loved them both, I still recommend the book over the movie. But, once you read the book, you should see the movie at the very least for the animation. Oh, and Wil Wheaton voices a character in the movie as well, so that's a bonus.

Why I Didn't Review You

There’s been a lot of talk about people who don’t review books if they have a negative opinion of it. Some don’t want to be mean by giving a negative review. Some feel it’s the right thing as a book blogger to be honest about a book, even if you hated it.

I haven’t written up reviews for every book I’ve read since starting my blog. But it’s not because I don’t want to be mean or can’t be honest or worry about what kind of reaction I’ll get. If I don’t like a book or am having trouble following it or staying interested, sometimes I’ll begin to skim through scenes. If I REALLY don’t like a book, I skim a lot. But I always finish (I probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep at night if I didn’t know how it ended, even if I hated the ending).

The problem with disliking a book and skimming it is that you don’t even know where to start with a review. I’ve tried to write reviews for books I didn’t like. I sit and stare at the computer screen for far too long. I even glance through the book to see if I can recall anything specific to mention. It ends up being a huge waste of time.

And that waste of time could have been better spent either reading another book or reviewing a book I enjoyed. When it comes to my blog, I am trying to keep up with finishing my reading challenges, writing reviews not long after finishing a book, and coming up with a writing out interesting articles about books. Spending a bunch of time trying to write about a book I didn’t like is almost like having to read the book all over again. Who wants to reread a book that you hated? Not me!

But, if I am directly asked to review a book honestly by a publisher or author, I will post a negative review if I didn't like the book. Because that's what's been asked of me... an HONEST review. All my other reading is personal choice, and I choose not to review dumb books if I chose to read them on my own.

Another thing I don't do is review a book in a series when I haven't reviewed the first book. Earlier this year I read Gayle Forman's Where She Went, but didn't review it. Not that I didn't want to, it just felt weird to me to review it without reviewing If I Stay first. This is coming from my slightly OCD side. I know, I'm a little bit weird myself.

So that’s my reasoning. I am willing to compromise a little bit on the ones I don't like. I thought of an idea: Mini reviews. Write out a paragraph of my thoughts on a book I don’t like, compile a few of them into one post, voila! This way I can be honest without wasting my time, or my blog reader’s time. I did this one time with a bunch of the library books I checked out.

What do you think about people who don’t review books they hated? Do you do this too? What do you think about mini reviews?

~Jessica

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