July 26, 2011

A Book Review: The Help


Every now and then I get the urge to read something out of my normal genre. This time I chose The Help by Kathryn Stockett.



For those of you not in the know; The Help tells the stories of the black maids working for white women in the state of Mississippi of the 60s giving an insiders' view of child-rearing, Junior League benefits, town gossip, and race relations. Set in  during the civil rights movement, the story is narrated by the three principal characters...Minny and Aibileen, two black maids, and Miss Skeeter, a young, white woman newly graduated from college. The historical background and setting is well developed. I really felt like I was there.

However that being said,I also felt that the characters were stock figures in many instances and it was a total black vs. white type story. I found most of the men were stereotypical, as well. Still, I felt it was certainly a much better than average first novel and one that I'd recommend. I think we know that Ms. Stockett was trying to make the bigger point about the evil of the slavery and civil rights era.
Also,I could never quite figure out how someone as sensitive and complex as "Skeeter" would be "best friends" with the protagonist, "Hilly". And the "terrible thing" Minny did was disgusting.


Overall, I say read it and check out the movie when it comes out on August 10th.
From what I know the casting for the movie is great. Emma Stone as Skeeter and Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly! Love it!


The Help Poster


 Has anyone else read it? What do you think?





5 comments:

Connie said...

I'd like to read this (actually can't believe I haven't already) but I think I'm going to wait for the movie!

Impulsive Addict said...

I haven't read it yet but it sounds good. I will probably wait for the movie too. But I hate watching the movie and then reading the book. I don't know why but I always prefer reading the book first. I have so many books to read this summer and I haven't finished one yet! I'm so disappointed in myself!

Misty said...

i really loved this book and am nervous/eager for the movie... I used to work the junket scene and this is a film that makes me sad I'm not in that field any longer. I despise BDH and so happy she is Hilly! :)

My husband was so intrigued my my talking about this book that he did the audio book on his commute and he LOVED it. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, hey Jenna! Congrats on the feature over at Janette's! I love what she's doing over there with her Friend2Friend match up. :o)

You are probably the third blogger I've seen read this book. I'm going to have to go check it out at the library. It sounds REALLY good to me. I'm a big fan of anything set in the south, so even if the characters are a bit predictable, I'd still probably enjoy it. :o)

Anonymous said...

Sooo...big fail at the library. This book must be really popular. I'm like #72 on the waiting list for it. LOL. Okay, maybe not that bad, but she said it'd probably be a month before it was available. Sooooo....I'll tell you in a month if I like it or not. ;o)