Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Help


Is anybody besides me on pins and needles waiting for this movie to come out? I'm sure it won't live up the book, as they rarely ever do, but I'm still dying to see it. I've read a lot of books, and I was a little late to the game on this one. It was written by Kathryn Stockett and published in 2009, but it took me until this past January to finally get around to reading it. It had been on my endless "To Read" list for quite a while. I received a NOOK for Christmas this past year, courtesy of my generous in-laws, and this was the first book I downloaded. For me, this one of one of those stories that grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and shook me. I ate every word up in less than 24 hours and immediately read it over again. I hadn't been grabbed by a book like that since I first read the Twilight series. Yes, I'm one of those people. Don't judge!

For those of you that haven't heard of The Help, it's a story that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's, during the firestorm of the civil rights era. The tall and brainy Skeeter, who received her nickname from her brother when she was born when he declared she resembled a mosquito (what a little creep), returns to Jackson after finishing college. All of her old friends departed Ole Miss early to become young wives and mothers, and all have help in their homes. Most of these characters are your typical old southern bells--pretty and proper, but will strike at you like an angry cobra if you dare defy her. They expect their maids to raise their children, cook their meals, clean their homes, and be at their beck and call, but won't even allow them to use the same toilet in their house. Some of the scenes in the book that illustrated these points were pretty gut wrenching, but it also included enough humor to keep it from becoming a very dark book. Skeeter is the only one in the bunch who seems to notice the hypocrisy and wants to do something about it.

Skeeter wants to be a writer and decides she wants to write a book from the point of view of the help, but it is no easy feat to get these ladies to agree to tell their stories, even done so anonymously. Even Skeeter, despite her non-conformism, grew up privileged and doesn't grasp the danger that she's putting these women in, as well as herself. When they finally begin to come forward, we learn all sorts of juicy details, especially about the book's villain Hilly Holbrook, the quintessential ice queen. Hilly was such an interesting character. She was spiteful, completely racist, vindictive, evil, but I still felt bad for her in a way. She was completely ignorant and truly believed all of her own nonsense. I won't give too much away, but let's just say that the book takes all kinds if interesting turns that kept me turning the pages at lightning speed.

In addition to the story itself, I loved all the little details within. I loved reading about the meals the ladies would eat at their weekly bridge club--congealed salads, deviled eggs, chicken salad sandwiches--and that they always used their best china and silver for these occasions. I also got a kick out of the way that their silver patterns defined them as people. I have no idea if that's really how women were in Jackson in the 1960's, but it entertained me regardless. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's climbed the top of my list to possibly my all time favorite.

A couple months ago it was my turn to host my book club. I chose The Help, of course, and was delighted that none of the ladies in my group had ever read it. It proved to be an excellent choice because they all really enjoyed it and it provided quite a lengthy discussion about social class, racism, etiquette, and all kinds of topics. Usually in my book club, we discuss the book for about twenty minutes, and then it's on to the booze and girl talk. Again, don't judge. It also provided me with a built in menu. When it's your turn to host, you choose the book and provide the food. I decided to have some fun and used the bridge club scenes in the book to build from. I served chicken salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, congealed salad (which was a HUGE hit and I will have to post the recipe for soon), and a chocolate pie. For those of you that don't know, there was a scene in the book involving a chocolate pie that was quite scandalous to say the least, but I'm keeping that jewel under wraps. You have to either read the book or see the movie...

It comes out next Wednesday, August 10th. I've been patiently waiting all summer for its premiere, and I can barely take it any longer. David left to go out of town today for over a week, so I already have three neighbors lined up to go with me next week on the night it opens. David expressed that he also wouldn't mind seeing it, so I'll be going again when he comes back...And we decided at that particular book club that we need to go see it as a group, so I may in fact end up seeing this movie three times while it's in theaters. As you can see, I'm a very dedicated groupie.

Will any of you be going to see The Help?

1 comment:

  1. looks like I'll have to add it to my list of must reads!

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