Diane, Patrick, and Katie all read Kathryn Stockett’s The Help so I thought I’m make it a complete family sweep by reading it too. This story begins in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Stockett introduces us to two black maids, Aibileen and Minny. We see and hear the racism of this time in the events Stockett includes: separate bathrooms for the maids, a near-murder of a worker who uses a “white” bathroom, and enormous cruelty by a bridge club of white women who rule the social scene in Jackson. Into this mix Stockett drops 22-year-old Skeeter with a degree from Ole Miss. Skeeter wants to be a writer and “change things.” With the encouragement of an editor at Harper & Row, Skeeter starts to secretly interview the maids about their views of their white employers. My chief quibble about this book is that Stockett alternates the narration of the chapters from Aibileen, to Minny, to Skeeter, all in the first person. I think a third-person narration would have been more effective. But, that being said, The Help presents an effective social history of those dark times. GRADE: B
(Thanks to the North Tonawanda Public Library for providing this book.)
Several of Jackie’s friends read this one but…not for me.
THE HELP is readable and very moving in parts, Jeff. The attitudes of the white citizens of Jackson circa 1962 were shocking. I had to put the book down more than once and shake my head.
My book group is doing this one in October. I hope it is not too didactic.
I didn’t find THE HELP very didactic, Patti. It is disturbing in parts.
I know I’m a contrarian, but when I hear that every book club is reading a book it gets my back up a little. I still haven’t read THE NAME OF THE ROSE.
I have read THE NAME OF THE ROSE, Jeff, and you can safely skip it. What an overrated book! THE HELP, on the other hand, deserves its audience. It opened my eyes to the life of black maids in white settings in the early 1960s. Their stories need to be heard.
There was a movie (that actually wasn’t bad) with Whoopi Goldberg (at least 50 pounds ago) playing one of those maids. She worked for Sissy Spacek in the movie, which was set during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, so it was earlier than THE HELP.
The Long Walk Home.
Yes, I saw THE LONG WALK HOME ages ago, Jeff. THE HELP covers much the same ground but in more detail.
Not for me either, Jeff. George, being a realist, I’m surprised you were so shocked by the attitudes towards blacks portrayed in the book. Surely you knew that reality??
Too bad about the cover of this book. A really nice watercolor – or what looks like one – ruined with that purple/lavender blob for the title. The book designer on this one deserves to be trashed before firing.
I suppose the attitudes in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 were more extreme than the attitudes in Western New York at that time, Rick. I was disconcerted by the paranoia and cruelty of the white characters in this novel. Yes, that purple blob ruins a nice cover.
Over the past 40 years, I’ve lived in various parts of the country, including two long sojourns below the Mason-Dixon line (I currently live in Louisiana) and have seen racial attitudes changes dramatically. In 1970, when I was in 8th grade and our Georgia school had just been intergrated, I remember being shocked (I’m still shocked when I think about it today) when a white teacher used the n-word while talking to me about the black students–she assumed because I was white, I felt the same way she did (I didn’t). But one attitude I dislike almost as knee-jerk racism is the rself-satisfied white person who assumes that they are bringing about changes that would otherwise not have occurred. This book seems to me to fall into the same category as a movie like “Mississippi Burning” where it is the “good” white people who are responsible for changing things for the better.
Hmmmm….I think I’ll pass on this one.
Kathryn Stockett captures those dark days in Jackson, Mississippi, Deb. I didn’t sense any particular agenda on the author’s part. She’s writing social history and tells her stories well. But it does make for uncomfortable reading.
You didn’t like THE NAME OF THE ROSE? Oh, George.
On a more congenial note, after you mentioned THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FORREST, I tracked down a copy and watched it a few days ago. The Irish woods were lovely, as was the color cinematography. I enjoyed all those old Brit actors, especially Oliver Reed. A few more lines, and he would have stolen the show.
It was a fun, entertaining little flick. Thanks for mentioning it.
I think I graded THE NAME OF THE ROSE at a C+ or B-, Drongo. I thought the book was a bit long and I figured out the murderer fairly quickly (usually a buzz-kill). On a more congenial note, I’m happy you enjoyed THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST as much as I did. Oliver Reed displayed some excellent acting chops in his limited role.