The Help in Crazy Challenge Connection

Dec 06, 2011 mussolet rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: theme-history, theme-politics, read-notmine-c

To be honest, I wanted to read "The Help" only to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it as it was being described as a "feel-good-book", and I'm not a fan of those at all. (Plus, I was put off by the German title, but now I think that was just a case of bad marketing decisions).

It took me a long time to get into the book, partly because the maids' chapters are written in their own "dialect" (which is a bit difficult for me since English is not my first language; I d To be honest, I wanted to read "The Help" only to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it as it was being described as a "feel-good-book", and I'm not a fan of those at all. (Plus, I was put off by the German title, but now I think that was just a case of bad marketing decisions).

It took me a long time to get into the book, partly because the maids' chapters are written in their own "dialect" (which is a bit difficult for me since English is not my first language; I don't know whether it would be difficult for native speakers as well), and partly because, since I hardly know anything about America in the 1950/60s, the descriptions weren't enough for me to imagine all the places and the people in them.
I did a bit of research before I gave the book another go, and that turned out to be really helpful. And once the story got really interesting (which happened around the middle of the book), I had a great time with this book and truly started to like the characters.

Without wanting to spoil anything I have to say I'm a bit undecided as to whether the ending is enough or not. I felt that some secondary characters didn't get the conclusion they needed, or that an epilogue, taking place a few years later, could have helped to show the long-term results of what they've accomplished.

I enjoyed the read, and - since I researched the historic facts a bit - got a lot more from it than I first thought I would when I heard it was a "feel-good-book". Taking into account that the set-up is really slow (and the fact that I felt the descriptions were lacking), this results in four stars :).

On a last note, I suspect one could read this for the "feel-good" part of it only. But considering the authors notes about it, I doubt that was her intention, and I'm happy I did my research on the side to enrich the reading experience.

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June 2012:
I've now re-read the book for a challenge. I have to say that I got into the reading more easily because I didn't struggle with the accents so much.
I remembered a lot of scenes, and I remembered the main characters, so it was nice to "meet" them again. It's also a good sign for the book, if I remember all that from five months ago. (Still haven't watched the movie...)
Somehow I reacted more strongly to the situations the second time around. Maybe this is because now - having done even more research - I understood more about it, or because I had a stronger connection to the characters. Whichever it was, I enjoyed my re-read, and can encourage you to do the same :). ...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Krysta rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books

* Review also posted at Born a Booklover. *

My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Date Finished: September 24th, 2015

I listened to the audio book version of The Help, and so my review is a combination of Kathryn Stockett's writing, paired with the narrations of Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell, and Octavia Spencer.

This was another book that I really wanted to live up to the hype, but it just fell short for me.

Kathryn Stockett did a great job at creating a unique personality for each of here characters * Review also posted at Born a Booklover. *

My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Date Finished: September 24th, 2015

I listened to the audio book version of The Help, and so my review is a combination of Kathryn Stockett's writing, paired with the narrations of Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell, and Octavia Spencer.

This was another book that I really wanted to live up to the hype, but it just fell short for me.

Kathryn Stockett did a great job at creating a unique personality for each of here characters, even if they had not been addressed at each character shift. The characters were consistent, even when seen from a different person's perspective, which I really appreciated and admired. I'm sure that reading the actual book would have solved this problem, but I wish that the character's voices had remained the same, even when a different narrator was reading her portion. Kathryn's consistency helped, but I didn't like Aibileen having three different voices, and wish that the same narrator that read her sections could have read her lines in the other sections as well. I realize that sounds like a lot to ask, but I think it would have sounded better overall.

The story felt rather dragged out to me, and I think that it took too long to establish what an awful situation the characters were in. I've seen that other people feel that there was too much stereotyping going on, and while it did sound more stereotypical, it didn't feel that it was over the top, but rather setting the stage for the rest of the novel.
While the first half of the book wasn't boring, and gave readers a chance to really meet the characters and get to know their voices and personalities, I think that there were many scenes that were drawn out, and some that were all together unnecessary.

I also felt bittersweet about the ending, because while I wanted more from Minny's story, I think that Aibileen and Skeeter's stories ended in just the right places.

Overall, this will not make my favorites shelf, but I do not regret reading it either. Considering my preferred genre is paranormal/fantasy/supernatural, I enjoyed this contemporary fiction, and think others that enjoy the genre more than me would appreciate The Help more than I do. ...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Arow rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 5-star, 2011

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a beautiful, eye opening novel about a very turmoil, yet up lifting part of America’s history. The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. The story is told by three different yet strong female characters who are experiencing different aspects of life in America during that time but are all tied together by the relationship between the help and the people who hire them.

Kathryn Stockett’s writing is strong and enchanting at some parts and lon ...more

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