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" Charleston South Carolina"
(set 11 days ago)
Location: home...finally, home .
8,816 posts, read 21,286,964 times
Reputation: 20102
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I searched for this in Search this Forum and was kind of surprised that I did not find anything about it. Has anyone else read this very poignant amazing book ? I would love to chat about it if you have. Absolutely one of the best books I have ever read.
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People may not recall what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel .
The Help was indeed a page-turner, with a couple of compelling characters, but the entire time I read it, I felt manipulated and removed from the situation.
Maybe the 'white savior' heroine, Skeeter, put me off a bit. She just never much clicked as a real person for me, so everything felt a bit contrived.
One of my friends told me that Southern Junior League society was very well re-recreated in the Help, though. (She spoke from experience.)
The Bob Dylan song, "The Times They Are A Changin,'" is mentioned in the book.
That same Dylan album had this song in it: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll The lyrics are a commentary on the racism of the 1960s, which valued a black woman's life so lightly. In 1963 when Hattie Carroll was killed, Charles County was still strictly segregated by race in public facilities such as restaurants, churches, theaters, doctor's offices, buses, and the county fair. The schools of Charles County were not integrated until 1967.
I really loved it, though I felt a bit cheated with the ending- it just seemed kind of abrupt, even though the author tied it up nicely for Skeeter and Aibilene. And I did think it could have been a little shorter. But I learned so much about the South- for example, with the care that Skeeter had to take in going to visit Aibilene. The idea that she could have been arrested, in 1960s America, was mind-boggling. I would love for there to be a sequel, and I heard that it's being made into a movie.
Uhmmm--I also searched the forum because I just reserved it at the library and even though this thread is here I got no matches? Anyway--I am looking forward to it having been in Ms for decades but still learning about this southern culture. Last night on The Charlie Rose Show, Martha Stewert was being interviewed and when asked what she was reading she "confessed" to having read The Help and that her daughter was flabbergasted and asked her "How could you read that book?" I wonder what all that was about? Intellectual snobbery?
Last night on The Charlie Rose Show, Martha Stewert was being interviewed and when asked what she was reading she "confessed" to having read The Help and that her daughter was flabbergasted and asked her "How could you read that book?" I wonder what all that was about? Intellectual snobbery?
It probably was indeed intellectual snobbery, and that is unfortunate.
I guess I might have come off the same way, but don't mean to.
I wanted to like it more than I did, especially considering the fact that there were so many real brave men and women back then, who really did effect change.
It's just that while the story was compelling, The Help's characters mostly fell flat for me, so the book never came to life. There was little depth.
"To Kill A Mockingbird," it ain't.
For those who might want to delve into the civil rights subject some more, and understand the underpinnings of segregation, this engaging book is a true story of a town not far from where I live.
The amazing part of this nonfiction book is the fact that this kind of discrimination was still happening in the 70's. The book is part oral history, part documentary, but also the author herself ably evokes the time and place. Praying For Sheetrock
Last night on The Charlie Rose Show, Martha Stewert was being interviewed and when asked what she was reading she "confessed" to having read The Help and that her daughter was flabbergasted and asked her "How could you read that book?" I wonder what all that was about? Intellectual snobbery?
Eh, I think Martha Stewart's daughter is a bit full of herself.
Maybe the book wasn't War and Peace, but it wasn't chick lit fluff either. Maybe Alexis Stewart is a Twilight fan. If my 30 and 40 something female friends and relatives are any indication, those are the books to read.
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