The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't." -GoodReads.com

Review:


Beautifully written. This book reminds me of my own extended family that lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and a couple of my aunts that go around cleaning other people's houses and sitting for people at the hospital. The point of views do a great job of showing the different personalities of the characters, as well as giving an inside view of their own lives. While reading this book I became very aware of how relatable it is to me, and to my extended family and others I've seen (I used to attend the University of Alabama) and although I still see a lot of the issues discussed in the book still there today, I'm very glad that it has gotten a lot better.


Movie Comparison:

   I won’t get into any details because I don’t like spoilers.

The movie was really great!

The book was 250% better.

      It’s like they only summarized the book, leaving only 1/3 of what happened. I found myself, every three minutes, saying, ‘THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!’ or, ‘THAT’S NOT THE ORDER OF EVENTS!’ or, ‘THEY SKIPPED A CRUCIAL PART!’
      Furthermore on the adaptation, I believe they got some of the essential ideas of the book, but the movie was lacklustered compared to the book, considerably. I was actually a little disappointed and surprised that they changed so much of it, especially with some of the scenes that didn’t need to be altered. I completely understand that it is a movie, and has a time limit, but I think leaving out other movie non-essentials (such as Stuart’s presence) would have been better than completely changing different scenes of the book. Also there were some things (such as JFK’s assassination, which triggered one of the major turning point in the book) that they simply rushed through to get it mentioned. Then again, had I watched the movie before I read the book, I may not be as judgmental. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was great and emotional, but of course not as nearly emotional as the book.

Of course this is just my opinion.
But… The movie was okay; Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer deserve an Oscar… and on that note, so does the book.

The novel was filled with beautiful verses. Some great quotations:

“That's the way prayer do. It's like electricity, it keeps things going.” -Kathryn Stockett, The Help

“I don't know what to say to her. All I know is, I ain't saying it. And I know she ain't saying what she want a say either and it's a strange thing happening here cause nobody saying nothing and we still managing to have us a conversation” -Kathryn Stockett, The Help

“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” -Kathryn Stockett, The Help


“I always thought insanity would be a dark, bitter feeling, but it is drenching and delicious if you really roll around in it.” -Kathryn Stockett, The Help 

















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