I didn’t finish it in a few days as most people, it still took me a little over a week. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it, because I was, but I felt a foreboding which I only overcame about two-thirds in. This already says something about how much I liked it, because I would have no problem in reading about the downfall of characters I cared nothing about. It also says something of Stockett’s ability to craft a story. She builds up tension, then releases it just to build it up again with a vengeance.
I won’t go into details about the plot, since everyone in the www seems to have read it already, but what amazed me about “The Help” was the way it managed to go beyond race and civil rights. Jackson, Mississippi was a microcosms (someone called it “harem-like”) too small to hold that amount of fractions, but which you know was replicated all over the American South in the 60s: employees vs. employers, high-class vs. low-class, women vs. men, south vs. north, conservative vs. liberal, white vs. black, dark-black vs. light-black. For me the biggest accomplishment of the novel was how the author made us aware of all these complex relationship. She gives us a peek at how Miss Leefolt treats Aibileen, but then we also see Minny’s judgment of Miss Celia. (By the way, I haven’t read many reviews mentioning Miss Celia, but she was one of my favorite characters, I just wish she was a little sharper and that her closure felt less abrupt.)
The book also made me think of the many untold heroes of the civil rights movement, people with quiet bravery, who didn’t make it to the history books and Hollywood movies. Do you ever think about what you’d do in similar situations? Would you write a book that might get people lynched? Would you hide Jews in the cellar at the risk of your own life and your family’s? My father was part of the underground movement during Portugal’s dictatorship, he was followed by the political police and the only thing that prevented him from being arrested was the start of the Colonial War, which instead forced him to fight in the African jungle. Would I do the same in his shoes? I like to think I would, but who knows?
But back to “The Help”, like I said, I didn’t start compulsively reading until later on, until That Moment happen. You know, the moment where you think “damn, this is good!” Mine was when Skeeter was driving back home, after being publicly humiliate and rejected at the Junior League meeting. She’s persona non grata, everything seems gloom, and then she hears Dylan singing “Times They Are a-Changin’” and thinks “I feel like I’ve just heard something from the future.”
Not flawless, but The Help does challenge you and makes you think, and that’s the highest praise I can give a book.
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December 8, 2010 at 9:42 am
Joanna
I used to think I’d do something heroic if I was ever in such a situation but as I get older I think more and more that I would do my best to get myself and my family out of danger in whatever way possible. As in fleeing the country, if possible. Terrible, isn’t it? Are most of the world’s heroes young and idealistic?
The Help sounds great, can’t wait to read it.
December 9, 2010 at 9:58 am
Alex
Last night my bookclub discussed this same thing and most people felt the same way you did. there was a girl who’s grandparent were in teh Belgian resistence and then thad 3 small children. it might be that having children leads you to fight against a world you don’t want them to live in. The conclusion is: you’ll only know when you’re put in that position.
December 9, 2010 at 12:08 am
Ti
It was not a perfect book and it’s not the type of book to make you say, “WOW!” but it was a good book to read with characters that you cared about. That goes far in my book. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I listened to an interview with the author and her next book will take place in Mississippi as well.
December 9, 2010 at 10:49 am
Alex
It’s wasn’t Nobel materials, but it was extremely readable. My only WOW moment was the Dylan one I’ve mentioned, but it made the difference!