The Help
discussion
Am I the only one who thinks this book is overrated?
I feel that, like many books, this one tapered off a bit towards the end. It didn't live up to my expectations, no. I have not seen the film as the book did not inspire me so. So many other books out there that have lived up to their potential. It's so easy for books/films/media to be all hyped up!!
It was good but rather racist. It might have been like that in a few households, but very few.
Alannah wrote: "Okay, I know this book was really good and all, but there's people who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read".I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."
I agree, almost exactly. It would have been courageous in 1952.
Zulfiya wrote: "It is a solid four-star book. It is a good book, but it is way too early and hardly appropriate to call it 'life-changing'. If you call it a life-changing book, does it also mean that people have b..."Yes, I agree, good but maybe a little reminder of self-congratulatory liberal whites of 1960.
Greengirl wrote: "I loved it, and as far as it changing my life....In No way would I ever be anything like these foolish women except Skeeter and ...oh my I've forgotten her name...the blonde one who was so sweet ....."Cecilia
I love the film but wasn't keen on the book in comparison
I really liked the book. It is not overrated but then again, I guess it depends on your state of mind and position in society.
Having broken the cardinal rule of book/movie order, I did not find the book as compelling as I found the movie. Perhaps that was because I liked the cast in the movie, or because there were no plot twists (since the movie already "spoiled" them, but I did not even finish the book.
Alannah wrote: "Okay, I know this book was really good and all, but there's people who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read".I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."
I agree with you - I found it very ordinary and totally forgettable!
Lots of good opinions here. I read the book in 2012, around the same time the movie came out. I did not see the movie.I thought the book was ok ..... 6/7 out of 10. Definitely thought the book was overrated.
Just my opinion, however.
Tom
The first time I tried to read this book I couldn't get through the first 1/3. I just didn't get what everyone was talking about and it was dragging on forever. The second time I decided that I was going to finish it no matter what. I'm glad that I can add another book to my "read" list but I didn't enjoy the book nor would I recommend it. Totally overrated in my opinion.
I absolutely LOVED this book! The movie might have been a little overrated but the story itself is one of my faves.
I found it unreadable. Did not get past the first 5 pages.
I thought the book was great and the movie was mediocre.
Pretty much, yeah.
i don't feel this book was overrated. I have met real ladies that matched the fictional ones in the book. They are truly delightful. I did realize , that my mother,who was a young woman in that era, had prejudice to the extent that she thought it should be equal but separate. That is somewhat painful for me but it also reminds me to be more tolerant and broadminded. As i mentioned in another post, I have never had a problem with race or non Americans in the workplace. I look forward to their ideas and welcome their input. I feel we have much to learn from each other on equal terms.
I wasn't as thrilled as I thought I would be. I learned a few things since originally I was born an raised in the north but I didn't think the book lived up to the hipe that it got.
I didn't feel this book was overrated, but I live in the South. In fact, I lived in Jackson, MS for 3 yrs as a child. I saw that this is really how people of both races behaved towards each other. I remember in the 70's my grandmother in Louisiana, who didn't work, had a black maid coming in to clean and care for my aunt and uncle (late in life children only 4 & 2 yrs older than me). Grandma was very able bodied and could have done the work herself, it was a status symbol for my Grandfather who was trying to raise himself up in class.Also, if you think this racist mentality is dead and gone, you haven't been to MS lately.
Brenda wrote: "I didn't feel this book was overrated, but I live in the South. In fact, I lived in Jackson, MS for 3 yrs as a child. I saw that this is really how people of both races behaved towards each other..."you need to give your thoughts on the Jim Crow mentality lingers....
I read most of it on a long flight.... within a few pages I began to regret not having brought another book. Eventually, I gave in and watched an in-flight movie instead. For me this novel really didn't merit the hype. It was OK, but didn't get inside my head.
Alannah wrote: "Okay, I know this book was really good and all, but there's people who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read".I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."
The book would have gotten severely boring if the author wrote out what happened to all of the characters at the end. This was not an issue of the author being "lazy", it just argued for a blissful ambiguity. We know what will happen though won't we? Minny may or may not receive another job. Skeeter will perhaps find love in the new city and continue to pursue her writing career, and Aibee will write for a living making more money. It's realistic and doesn't hold a perfect ending which is why it's so good.
Personal opinion only. Like many others, I think it depends on how you took the book. I'm guessing age, where you live, etc is going to influence your feelings. I felt this job did an excellent job of portraying a reality that use to be the "norm" in a lot of States. I'm guessing this norm still exists for some (in some aspects) but hopefully that is changing. I also think it depends on whether this is your first exposure to the topic. I for one, do rank it pretty high because it has the power to influence those who understand what this book stands for. Life changing? Again...it depends on how you feel about books that use fiction to describe real life content. I remember reading "to Kill a Mockingbird" in elementary school. It wasn't until I re-read it as a teenager and an adult that I finally started to "get it."
The best way to "read" this book is on audio. What a difference - you get to hear all the different voices with their accents and sarcasm. Really enjoyed it and wondered if they were thinking of a sequel, with the way the book ended.
I loved 'The Help' (4*rating)- I read it for four hours straight at one point. However, it definitely dragged for me towards the end; I found it got a bit repetitive and could have been wrapped up sooner. Does anyone feel the same?
I, too, felt this book was overrated. I think part of the problem is that I didn't grow up at the time this book was written so I didn't have any way to compare my life experience to the story in the book. I participated in a book discussion group for this book and many of the older women thought it was a marvelous book. For me, I just don't see the hoopla.
Hmm... I'm a bit the same... certainly a good little read, but nothing life-changing or earth-shattering. I remember being similarly disappointed years ago when I read "The Poisonwood Bible" after Oprah got me so excited about it!!! I am always so wary of reviews that are too over the top....
I can't be stuffed reading through 143 posts, I'm simply going to answer the original question "Am I the only one who thinks this book is overrated?" My answer, no.
People who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read" need to read more books, seriously.
Karen wrote: "Hmm... I'm a bit the same... certainly a good little read, but nothing life-changing or earth-shattering. I remember being similarly disappointed years ago when I read "The Poisonwood Bible" after..."I think when reviewers state that a book is life changing, they mean their point of view. It wasn't life changing to me. but it substantiated what I had observed in real life and the superiority and racial inequality from white women, not only in the South. I lived in a northern state and saw and heard the comments and discrimination in my own home environment. My own mother was a proponent of separate but equal. She wasn't a cruel person just a product of her environment and the opinions of her day. the opinions of my generation are vastly different. i feel skin color means nothing at all, It's what's inside that's important. I have worked in many multicultural environments and had no problem being racially in the minority. The era of the white man is fast becoming over as it should. discrimination and its ugly past is fast going down the drain.
Martin wrote: "Not really. My judgement is based on what I know of the qualities that make good writing. And while I 'personally' express that judgement it's not a simple matter of liking or disliking. I don't li..."Sharon wrote: "YOU judged the book to be overrated....isn't that a "personal" opinion also....no matter who has given it?"
Martin your opinion is still just your opinion. No matter what you say about this book it is still just an opinion. It might not be a life changing book but it was well written and that is my opinion.
Sharon, I've run into this statement that opinions are just opinions all my life; saying, in effect, that all opinions are legitimate. That's true of simple preferences like choosing coffee over tea or cats rather than dogs, but opinions should be understood as judgments based on reasons. If all opinions are equal then nonsense, ignorance, and evil are elevated to the status of the reasonable and, then, I could say that it's my "opinion" that the recent slaughter in Connecticut was carried out by our government to excite anti-gun sentiment. Would you, then, simply acknowledge that I'm entitled to my opinion. Or would you condemn me as a dangerous nut? There are people, by the way, who are expressing this "opinion" today and are making life miserable for the nice man who took those children into his home after they had witnessed their teacher and classmates being killed. What if I claimed that "The Help" was really a racist novel? Would you simply say I'm entitled to my opinion or would you expect me to justify why I made that claim? Well, check out my review then: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...You say that the book is well written and that's your opinion. Provide me with your argument and not just a declaration with no reason behind it. Otherwise, we're in this forum only to say we like or dislike something. That's not an interesting discussion. And if you're wondering, I LIKE coffee and cats better than tea and dogs and that's not an opinion.
Alannah wrote: "Okay, I know this book was really good and all, but there's people who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read".I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."
No, you're not the only one.
I thought the book was way over rated. I thought the movie was terrible.
I think I must be the only person in the world who didn't like this book very much at all. I found the characters to be stereotypes, lacking any complexity. I found the big "wow" moments of the book such as the commode, and chocolate pie incident to be unrealistic and contrived. I did like that it explored the social caste system of the South that is based on race, gender and socioeconomic status. However, I did enjoy the movie a great deal. I think the strenght of the performances elevated mediocre material. Cicely Tyson could act the part of a fence post and it would be compelling.
I didnt really think this book was as good as everyone said it was .
Agree. It was cliché Southern lit . . . the white girl musters up the strength to stand up to the stereotypical Southern white women within her own social circle. The black women were strong proud characters who were better mothers to the white women's own children. Sounds familiar. Undertones of Gone with the Wind set in a more contemporary era. As someone who's lived in the south, I agree the stereotypes exist, but it was lazy character building on the part of the author. I expected far better writing for the hype.
Speaking of hype though, most of the books I've attempted to read that have been so popular, al la "Shades of Grey" always disappoint me. Fluffy writing is one thing, but insulting my intelligence is quite another.
Life changing book? Don't think so. Best book I've read? No. Having said that it is a good story. I had fun reading it. It made me laugh and yes tearful in parts. What struck me, beyond the themes of women's rights and black history, is how fear can be so debilitating. While they are writing and thinking of the consequences, I found their fear was really powerful. I can see how someone's fear can keep them from speaking out and how someone with power can take advantage.
I actually loved this book but I read it when it first came out and before everyone else went crazy over it. The boo was much better then the movie in my opinion. Life changing? I've never heard it said about this book...
Diana wrote: "No, you're not the only one who thinks that. I think the book is a great story, but is it this phenomenal look into Black History? No. Is it this rare and exceptional view into the lives of White w..."
I agree. It was good...not great.
i think it depends on where in the country you lived. In my experience I met, talked and as a nurse cared for these ladies as well as the white women stereotype that is depicted. The culture did exist and was very real. particularly in the south and large urban areas such as Charleston. Many black women today are the granddaughters of the women in this movie. This era was very real and alot of working class black women today have the same strength, stamina, religious and family values as the women portrayed in the movie.
gdg wrote: "This book certainly is not life changing because who is actually going to do something real to fight racism after reading it?"It was life changing to the omen of that era and to their children of today. I was like an acknowledgement for their race and ethnic and the life the led and how it has evolved today.
This book is commercial bubble puff fiction and I understand that. This is fiction and should be treated as such and not taken as a real political account of what African American maids thought because I assume only they would know.This book was readable cute but overrated. I thought Stockett wrote from her PoV of how she wished her OWN maid thought about her. She didn't go deep enough and ended pulling out again, using hundreds of stereotypes. Stock characters.
The ill, over protective mother of Skeeter. (stock)
The sassy african american maids (stock)
abusive african american husband (stock)
the "uppity light skinned" african american women
the dumb blonde (Celia , stock)
the mousy bookish woman (Skeeter , stock).
So on and so forth.
And for the people claiming to "stop talking about this", let's do the same with WW11 novels and real life accounts (which everyone loves to study. Or plenty of other events in history which people read about. Learning history is so we can not repeat it. You aren't supposed to "FORGET" this or anything else because that is asking for disaster. Not the best book ever read but it's readable if you get through the cliche narration from the African American characters.
personally I loved it....
I loved this book and I have to admit that I cried during some of the other parts. I was raised by nannies too, so maybe that's part of it. But I do think that this is a well-written book even though the stereotypes for the characters are a tad extreme.
I really enjoyed the book. I liked the characters and the story and how she injected a serious subject with humor. Someone compared it to "shades of Gone with the Wind". That novel came about 75 years after the Civil War; The Help 145 years after. Now we are coming up on 150 years since that war & Mississippi -just in the last couple of weeks finally ratified the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. I get they aren't practicing slavery and all 50 states don't have to ratify an amendment for it to pass. However, it is ironic that this book is set in Jackson, MS.My point is that those who do not know their history are destinied to repeat it. If any book or movie can point the way and remind people or enlighten them to history, I think that is successful. When I say a book or movie is life changing - for me it means that it changed me deeply on an emotional level. Most likely my actions going forward will be different in some way - though I may not become a crusader.
Sherrie, I think every book I read somehow affects me even if only my thoughts or maybe in a bigger way my actions. I know in this book some say the characters were a bit over the top. I disagree. I have some say we say colorful characters in my family and as a person they are extreme in personality. I know when my uncle was younger he wanted his dad pick up but my uncle's dad gave it to his younger brother. He put blue cheese crumbles in the heater vent. It smelled like soured blue cheese forever... My point... not everyone is docile. I loved the characters just like they were and I think reminders are good for us, the good ones and the bad...
To compare this book, albeit a decent read, with Gone With the Wind - is blasphemy!
Alannah wrote: "Okay, I know this book was really good and all, but there's people who consider it "life-changing" and "the best book they've ever read".I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."
I really liked this book. Life changing, no. It changed my reading life, however. It has opened me up to lighter stories. I usually read crime or horror. The women I work with were mixed about this book the same as in this discussion. Some liked it, others did not.
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I felt as if it didn't live up to its potential. I was wai..."<
Really, Alannah, what could you find lacking in it? I am a writer and I found her characters round, full and wonderful. Loved the story, loved the movie, loved the book more and give the whole thing 5 big stars. Very well done. But then, if we all like the same thing there'd be a terrible crowd at your house. Or mine.