I know quite a few of us have read this one already and seen the movie, but I don't want to spoil the book for others who haven't finished it yet, so I'm not going to go into too much detail here. Bottom line: LOVED IT! I was a little confused when I first started reading it. I don't know why, but at first, I didn't realize that all the "Ms. So-and-so" were really young girls. I envisioned them as being older until they got to Skeeter and how she just got out of college. And the movie was probably one of the best adaptations of a book I have ever seen! Iw as really nerbous about seeing it at the beginning too, cuz I thought the tone was too cheerful compared to the book. I was very happily wrong about that!
I love Minnie!! She's my favorite. Movie was well done.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how emotionally involved I got with the book. I actually cried reading the end of the book. I haven't done that since reading Harry Potter 7. Cried during the movie too, of course. :) I like that they put the Stuart issue on the backburner for the movie. I was sort of ambivalent about how they portrayed the relationship between Skeeter and her mom, but I think I ended up approving. Plus Allison Janney rocks!
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the movie, but read the book for my book club and it certainly prompted a great deal of discussion. I thought it was OK; the writing was not great and the ending was rather unbelievable. Skeeter gets this big job in New York for a magazine -- not likely -- and Minnie finds a way to rid herself of her abusive husband. There were many good points to the novel, but the ending seemed rushed and perhaps a bit Hollywoodish?? One question we dealt with at the book club? Why is the book so popular?? We had some interesting insights.
ReplyDeletelol - I think the same thing about Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Even with all the explanations about the writing and the author's motivation, I still don't know why the book is so popular.
ReplyDeleteI didn't actually pay much attention to the ending besides what happened to Aibileen and Mae Mobley. I think Skeeter going off on her own was appropriate, but my impression was that her job with the magazine was only going to be entry-level. I didn't think she was going to be an editor's assistant or anything. Is that still unlikely? Not knowing was hiring was like in the 60s.
As far as the book being popular, I think it's very engaging - there are a lot of characters you can really root for and characters you can safely loathe. :) I found myself being very emotionally invested - laughing out loud, getting mad at characters, basically thinking of them like real people.
I think the movie really helped me understand the Celia Foote storyline. I want to read the book again to see what I might have missed the first time because I was more interested in other people at the time.
The reasons you gave for the book being popular were also discussed at our book club and another one was proposed. Now, you have to know the makeup of the club -- many are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s and lived through that period. Several actually lived in the South and had maids. They felt that the book made us (the readers) feel good. Even though we didn't do much to promote equality, at least we weren't as bad as those women. We can say we were much more open-minded and fair. Thought it was an interesting observation.
ReplyDeleteI have thought I might get The Help for my Kindle. I haven't read it yet, but I did live through the era (62). I always view such historical fiction carefully because many modern authors want to rewrite the way things were to satisfy their current values. They'll give their 'good' protagonist attitudes or ideas that would've been very very unlikely, especially as regarding race relations or womens' lib. I'll read it someday.
ReplyDeleteThis was a wonderful read. I really liked it although it falls outside of my typical reading genre. It was funny, painful, powerful....
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