Not looking forward to reading "The Help"

[Phoenixblue]

. . . It was a nice, easy, fluffy, summer read and I didn't have to think too hard. I'm not a die-hard fan, but the action kept me interested.

Yea!! Someone else who enjoys "Brain Candy" books!

 

[PinkBudgie]

Yea!! Someone else who enjoys "Brain Candy" books!

Oh, Brain Candy! I'm going to remember that term! Yep, that's what it was.

 

[Dian-er]

I loved the book. I grew up during that era & remeber the prevailing attitudes so well. The book is very well done & so was the movie-it was true to the book & the acting was super.

 

[kaligal]

So don't read it. Big whup.

Students aside, why on Earth anyone would read a book they didn't want to read when there are other books they do want to read, I just don't know.

I sure wouldn't.

 

[Susan R]

kaligal - good question...facitious...but still a valid question (although I thought I already answered that in the post)

1) I was curious...I wanted to see if it was as good as everyone said it was. I also wanted to try and figure out why people seem to be having such a strong reaction to it.

2) It was a gift.

3) I didn't have any books that I wanted to start reading at the time. I was bored and laid up with a bad back so I couldn't get to the library. Although I have a Kindle, I don't have the money right now to buy new books...this one was put on my Kindle and everyone was raving about it so...

4) As I said in my initial post...I wanted to see if my mind changed any by the time I finished the book. Have you never tried something you weren't looking forward to only to find that you enjoyed it? Or maybe your first impression was correct and you find you don't like liver and onions

Susan

 

[wishspirit]

I'm a 32 year old yankee and I LOVED the movie version of The Help. I started reading the book while I work out on the stationery bike at the gym just last week - and I'm loving that too. I think The Help is one of those books that can transcend a lot geographic and demographic boundaries because it's so well written.

Very true! I am a twenty-three year old in the UK, and this book still spoke to me. I really enjoyed reading it, but I did 'find' it for myself.

I am currently reading Stephen Fry's first autobiography, Moab is my washpot (if you don't know who Stephen Fry is, he is an English national treasure, comedian and best friend of Hugh Laurie, House MD). It's fantastic, it really feels like he is letting you in to his amazing mind and having a truthful conversation with you.

 

[Tinkerkell123]

I am another person that hasn't read it. I started it, but just couldn't get into it. I usually avoid the "you have to" books too, but recently read Pillars of the Earth. People had been telling me for the longest time to read it but I never did. My mom gave me the book and one day I found myself with nothing to read. Picked up Pillars and could NOT put that book down! Kept asking myself why I took so long to read it. Promptly got the sequel and it was just as good if not better... Hmmm, on second thought, maybe I should give those "you have to" books a chance!

 

[Susan R]

I've finished "The Help".
So, did it change my life? No.
Did I enjoy it? Yes.

I found the last half of the book better than the first half. I actually stayed up late one night trying to finish it but I didn't get a chance to that night. And yes, I cried.

The best part of the book? When the author wrote about the maid who worked for her family and what it meant to her. I wish the book had been a non fiction book of interviews with real maids that were working during the civil rights movement. I think it would have had more of an impatct for me if these had been real accounts.

I find myself wondering what I got out of this book. I now want to learn more about the civil rights movement. I've read a lot about the leaders but now I want to learn more about the "average" black person during this time.

So, here's my solicitation for a book reccomendation...does anyone know of any non - fiction books written by African American's about their experiances during the civil rights movement? I've read "Malcom X" and I remember reading a book by one of the Black Panther members as well as books about Dr. King. All very interesting and important to read but I'm wondering about people who weren't quite so in the middle of the political side of the movement. Are there any accounts of families living and working during this time?

Thanks everyone for indulging me with this experiment. And I've enjoyed reading everyone else's opinions on the book (and reading in general)

Susan

 

[Derby4me]

Sounds like this book did change your life. You enjoyed it, even though you went into it with negative feelings. My thoughts are that maybe you'll be more open when others have book suggestions.

I thought it was a wonderful book and actually read it last year because of the many amazing reviews it received on the boards. With two small children, I usually read books that have received great reviews by friends and peers due to my reading/alone time being so limited

 

[DeaverTex]

Well, I'm the other person who hasn't read that book. I don't even know what it is about but it doesn't sound like a thriller or sci-fi or action. Wrongly or not, I have lumped it in to the category I call "boring drama". I do not like books or movies soley about relationships. Without an action filled back drop, relationship stories bore me. I don't care about two sisters who don't get along. I don't care if three friends go out for girls night once week to talk about their issues.

It isn't people telling me I have to read it that makes me not want to, it is my bias against "boring" sounding books. I'm sure I've missed out on good books because of this though. I'll be watching to see what you think after you've read it.

Well, that's my book confession.

We seem to have similar tastes. Relationship stories leave me completely cold without an action backdrop.

OP: I have successfully avoided reading nearly everything that has been recommended to me as "must read" books, at least since I finished my last English course in 1972. And I also tend to push back on books that are recommended too highly, being a contrarian at heart. (For example, I have steadfastly refused to so much as pick up a Harry Potter novel, as much as Mrs. Tex and Tex Jr. adore them. Fifteen minutes of the first movie was enough to remind me of why I detest stories about English boarding schools, and I took advantage of the rest of the movie by sleeping peacefully. Now I want my fifteen minutes back.)

Oddly enough, I don't think that I even KNOW anyone who has read The Help, so I've dodged that bullet.

 

[sabmom]

I read The Help for my bookclub and devoured the book in just a few days so I obviously enjoyed it.

But after I finished it, I got to wondering if I found it too enjoyable / easy to read for such heavy subject material. Should I really have liked it that much?

I got to doing some further googling on it and it seems that there is a bit of a consensus that it was written through some rose-coloured glasses and is still somewhat white-centric - i.e. several of the maids are "mammy characters" (not in relationships / no families of their own) and the white men are generally portrayed better than the white women.

I'm not sure what to think as I'm from Canada and in my thirties so this is before my time and far away from my experience. Thoughts?

 

[DisneyKevin]

I read The Help for my bookclub and devoured the book in just a few days so I obviously enjoyed it.

But after I finished it, I got to wondering if I found it too enjoyable / easy to read for such heavy subject material. Should I really have liked it that much?

I got to doing some further googling on it and it seems that there is a bit of a consensus that it was written through some rose-coloured glasses and is still somewhat white-centric - i.e. several of the maids are "mammy characters" (not in relationships / no families of their own) and the white men are generally portrayed better than the white women.

I'm not sure what to think as I'm from Canada and in my thirties so this is before my time and far away from my experience. Thoughts?

I posted this earlier, but it bears repeating.

Please take a look at this article from The New Republic by John McWhorter.

http://www.tnr.com/article/film/9377...p-black-racism.

It's entitled "‘The Help’ Isn’t Racist. Its Critics Are."

The article offers a different viewpoint on the book and the movie.

 

[mytripsandraces]

Interesting article, Kevin. Thank you for sharing it - I hadn't seen it before.

After reading The Help, which, in my opinion, did not live up to the hype (nor did the movie), I read Telling Memories Among Southern Women, which is the non-fiction version, put together by Susan Tucker back in 2002. I found it much more compelling than the novel.

 

[rockydek]

When I read a book and later watch the movie ...I am always disappointed in the movie.
However, not is the case with The Help... I thought both were very good!

 

[Michele]

When I read a book and later watch the movie ...I am always disappointed in the movie.
However, not is the case with The Help... I thought both were very good!

I agree, just watched the movie finally yesterday. Although it varied a little from the book, I also enjoyed it.

 

[limace]

Kevin, tried to read that article but link didn't work-maybe it's my iPhone. Anyway, my discomfort with the book came before I saw anything critical, and I really try hard not to be knee-jerk about anything. I enjoyed the story and the characters were compelling, generally-the main white girl wasn't very well developed to me, oddly-but the book didn't move me the way it moved lots of people. Perhaps there was a little tinge of "let me use the horrible things all of you suffered to make myself a buttload of money" about it. Not a hill I want to die on-I don't feel strongly about it, but that, and some writing quality issues, left me pretty meh about the whole thing. YMMV, of course!

 

[jennbunn]

Just started reading this today and can tell it is going to be a good read.

 

[sabmom]

Thanks for the link Kevin. I enjoyed the article and I thought the line of reasoning was decent. Seemed to come down to nothing every being enough or ever being quite right in the depiction of the south's past. I feel much less guilty that I enjoyed the book now. Haven't seen the movie (yet) so I can't comment on that.

 

[Teacher Princess]

When I read a book and later watch the movie ...I am always disappointed in the movie.
However, not is the case with The Help... I thought both were very good!

This!!! IMHO The movie was very GOOD!! and It has oscars nominations..for Best supporting actress for the actress Viola Davis... and I just started reading the book as well..very good!!
Thanks..

ESL Teacher and proud Army wife of Major "G'..

 

[bkoehl]

Hi all! I enjoyed the book. I only read it because I'm in my neighborhood book club. I often end up reading books I would never have read otherwise. When I can't get through a book I skip through it and read the last chapter (lol!) so I at least know what it was about so we can discuss it. Some of our best discussions are when many of us didn't like the book or couldn't get past the first few chapters.

Our next book club meeting is Thursday at my house and I chose Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. I hadn't read it but it's about a neighborhood book club. I enjoyed it. Although we aren't angry housewives, we do like to eat, drink and have fun at our meetings like the characters do I can't wait to hear what my fellow bookies felt about the book.

This is totally me! I LOVE historical, bodice-ripping trash romances and rarely stray which is why I joined my book club-forces me to branch out some. Personally I really liked The Help. Only saw the first 30 min of the movie-attempted the 11:30 PM show on The Dream this summer but fell asleep LOL!

I have to say I LOVED Pillars of the Earth- whoda thought? My neighbor kept trying to get me to read it, but it sounded completely boring. Then Kevin kept mentioning it on the podcast so I finally picked it up-and couldn't put it down! Still haven't read the sequel yet-afraid it sounds boring Maybe I should take Kevin's advice again...