The Help in Crazy Challenge Connection

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

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

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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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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May 12, 2012 Kaitlin rated it it was amazing

Having heard great things about this book, I decided to check it out from the library when it FINALLY became available. It is a much longer book than I expected, but I enjoyed every page.

This book was eye-opening for me. I know it's fictional, but I had very little understanding of how deeply divided the people of the south were fewer than 50 years ago. I heard about it in history class, of course, but seeing it through the eyes of the individual is quite another thing. I agree with another revi ...more

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