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What Members Thought
OK admittedly I did get into the story and I kept reading to find out what other improbable things were going to happen. But as I read I could not stop being annoyed by the book's propagation of racist ideas. Like. Why did all of the white Southern characters speak in perfect English but even the most educated black characters speak in dialect? And also, all 10+ issues that tarnish the Help are true.
I mean I get why people are getting into this feel-good story of a white lady helping some black ...more
I mean I get why people are getting into this feel-good story of a white lady helping some black ...more
I loved this book. At its core, it's a white woman's attempt to pay homage to her childhood black maid. And, yes, it's written somewhat in dialect, which can put some readers off, and has all the typical Southern stereotypes. It's not a perfect novel.
Stockett depicts well the tenuous love-hate relationship between black and white women in 1960s Mississippi--and how generations of white children were guided and inspired by amazing black maids who genuinely loved their charges. She addresses the s ...more
Stockett depicts well the tenuous love-hate relationship between black and white women in 1960s Mississippi--and how generations of white children were guided and inspired by amazing black maids who genuinely loved their charges. She addresses the s ...more
A lovely book, in some ways. In others, a GIANT PILE OF NO. I listened to the audiobook because I cannot freaking stand written dialect, and I'm kind of surprised the publisher presented something cartoonish. Or maybe I'm just a naive Yankee because I've never met an avid reader/advice columnist who lamented that the "policemens" wouldn't protect her "peoples." I mean, take it down a damn notch!
It's a tiny detail, but, I hated that, in a book that switched POV's, Skeeter's chapter headings were ...more
It's a tiny detail, but, I hated that, in a book that switched POV's, Skeeter's chapter headings were ...more
I have confused feelings about this. Very well crafted and it will pull you right through the end and you will be moved. And this is an interesting, real-feeling portrait of the civil rights debate. Sometimes historical fiction feels like "har har, things were so bad then and are much better now, har har" and they totally are better in most ways, but I wish shit-eating was a thing of the past. And there are still nannies and in New York most of them aren't white. And I wanted to say "classism" a
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This was a book I could barely put down - I read it start to finish in under two days. I had some problems reading/understanding the dialect as written, and it seemed inconsistent sometimes. (The characters would think/narrate in dialect sometimes, and not others.)
I know people have issues with a white woman telling black womens' history, but I feel the afterword by the author does address that on some level. (And it is a novel, let's not forget - based on the author's history though it may be.) ...more
I know people have issues with a white woman telling black womens' history, but I feel the afterword by the author does address that on some level. (And it is a novel, let's not forget - based on the author's history though it may be.) ...more
The author beautifully creates the voices of 3 very different women in 1960's Mississippi, 2 black maids and the white woman who dares to defy convention and write the story of what it's like to be "the Help". I love this book... the characters were well developed and immediately you cared about their story (my recent test for any book--if I don't care within 50 pages I'm putting it down!) It's sad and triumphant at the same time and challenges you to think about people as people, regardless of
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So sad it is over!
Loved the beginning...
Surprisingly gripping.
Apr 17, 2010
Kirsten
marked it as to-read
