Leslie coblyn professional#

Conly's guilty of several problems here at once, including the fact that the story mostly just trades on callbacks to the superior original, which always makes for a flat sequel and that she dumbs down the entire story level altogether, taking an original that was mostly peopled by adult characters and that was aimed towards the very smartest tweens of the bell curve, and delivering a sequel that now concentrates on a bunch of child characters who act like petulant little toddlers (think for example of Elmo's relationship to the rest of the Muppets on Sesame Street), which dishonors the fact that the original is so fondly remembered precisely because it's written at a high level that will challenge most of the 8-to-12-year-olds it's meant for. Unfortunately, though, at least when it comes to the first sequel, 1986's Racso and the Rats of NIMH, the reason you haven't heard of it is because it's simply not very good, and is a fine example of the almost indefinably ephemeral differences between mediocre children's literature and the all-time classics. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH ( my review), as part of the 2020 Autumn Reading Challenge I created ( join us!), I learned that in the 1980s, O'Brien's daughter Jane Leslie Conly wrote a pair of authorized sequels, so on a lark I thought it'd be fun to read both of those as well. and just pretend this book doesn't exist.Īfter a recent re-read of one of my favorite children's books of all time, Robert C. This book contains none of O'Brien's timeless storytelling and I can't recommend it. Toxic, heteronormative romantic conquest is a frequent theme, and many times Racso decides to be decent to another rat simply because, well, she is an attractive rat after all! Several times throughout the book Racso refers to the film The Last of the Mohicans as his source for learning 'Indian' skills and makes multiple inappropriate comments essentially labeling Indigenous groups exotic relics. Frisby is frightened at everything and can't make a decision by herself. there are significantly more girl/woman characters than in the original story, but they're lazy stereotypes (and incessantly mansplained): Isabella is compulsively flirtatious and ruled by emotions, Bertha is shrewish, Elvira is the stoic professional, Sally panics unless there's a man present to be her ballast, Mrs. While I was annoyed by the sexism in the first book, the story is still extremely enjoyable and allows for productive conversations regarding paternalism, deceit, and dignity. My greatest criticisms of Racso., however, are the misogyny and casual racism. Frisby., there was actually a gap of a couple decades between their publications. It's also obvious, partially due to this book's wearying preoccupation with computers, that while Racso's story takes place only 3 or so years after the end of Mrs. The plot is mediocre at best and involves weak echoes of crises from the first book, as well as changing events from the first book that should have been left alone. I don't even know what to make of the manner in which Jeremy the crow is depicted it felt disrespectful and cheap. It was in no way Nicodemus from the first book. At one point Nicodemus gets so angry with Racso he grabs and dangles him above the ground until it's apparent Racso has learned his lesson. Frisby herself, think and behave in inconsistent ways, and the new characters are obnoxious and do not demonstrate significant growth.

The characters we meet in the first book, including Nicodemus, Justin, and even Mrs. Conly lacks O'Brien's narrative skill, subtlety, and originality. into a series, I wish it had been left as a standalone.

Leslie coblyn professional#

Whatever the professional or personal reasons may be for having turned Mrs. O'Brien and wrote Racso and the Rats of NIMH and R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH following his death. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH author Robert C. Jane Leslie Conly is the daughter of Mrs.