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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

post #1 of 19
3/28/10 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
I searched and didn't see another thread on this book- is anyone else reading it? I'm fascinated by it. I can't put it down! I keep inventing reasons why I have to retire to my room to nurse the baby so I can sit here and read it during the day.

I haven't finished it yet, but am just blown away reading about this time period in Jackson, MS. What a scary time in history.

Aside from the race issues in the book, reading about the parenting styles of the characters is interesting as well- in a pretty sad way!

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post #2 of 19
3/28/10 at 4:11pm
I couldn't put it down, either. I approached it skeptically: a bestseller, all the hype. But I really, really liked it.

(Those were the days when nursing gave me so much time to read...)
post #3 of 19
3/28/10 at 4:15pm
I loved it, but it broke my heart in a lot of parts.
post #4 of 19
3/29/10 at 12:43pm
I LOVED it. I could not put it down and stayed up until almost2:00 in the morning finishing it. I just think it was so well thought out. I loved the characters. It was just an all around good read. And yeah, it made me cry some.
post #5 of 19
3/29/10 at 6:54pm
I finished it a few months ago. It's really thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and hard to forget. I went into it thinking there was going to be some really violent sections, but there wasn't anything truly violent in the way I had imagined in my head. Yet I still couldn't forget all the injustices in the book. The story had its share of funny moments too like the special ingredient for Minnie's caramel cake.
post #6 of 19
3/29/10 at 7:38pm
I loved this book! Just finished it for my book club. I also expected more violence and was very happy it wasn't there. The emotional stuff was draining enough.
post #7 of 19
3/29/10 at 7:46pm
Loved it. It's the sort of book you just can't stop reading.
post #8 of 19
3/29/10 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
hee hee, haven't gotten to the secret cake ingredient yet!

I just want to keep reading; I haven't felt this way about a book in a long time, so that feels good!

I think I know what the twist will be with Skeeter and Constantine, I don't usually guess endings to books and shows ahead of time but this time I feel like I see it coming.

It's hard to believe that we are not even that far away from that time.
post #9 of 19
3/30/10 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Awaken View Post

It's hard to believe that we are not even that far away from that time.
That's what I was thinking as well. It happened within the lifetime of our parents. Shocking...
post #10 of 19
3/31/10 at 9:34pm
I can't wait to read it. It is next on my reading list!
post #11 of 19
4/1/10 at 2:06am
I just started it! I have heard such great things about it, I can't wait to read it!
post #12 of 19
4/1/10 at 10:35pm
I read this book when it first came out. I really enjoyed the differing points of view from the different characters. I laughed out loud at the cake part. It was truly hysterical.
~maddymama
post #13 of 19
4/4/10 at 4:05pm
Wow I have absolutely devoured this book this week. I have about 30-40 pages left until I am done. I could not put down this book. It is by far the best book I have read in...maybe ever! It is fantastic and in a weird way what I needed at this point in my life. I am going through a really hard divorce and this book kind of empowered me and made me think wow all of these women risked so much in hopes of change, without knowing if the change would be good or bad...but they took a risk. This book makes me want to take more risks and is making me see all that I have ahead of me in my new life as a single Mama.
post #14 of 19
4/4/10 at 4:09pm
I just bought this last week. I'm slowly reading it because I do tend to devour books. I'm really loving it so far. But I'm only in the very beginning. I hope I can keep from devouring it, I'd probably not sleep until I was done reading it if I let myself get obsessed with it.
post #15 of 19
4/4/10 at 7:06pm
I have been obsessed with it and now I am so sad it is almost over!!

Does anyone have any good books to recommend?!
post #16 of 19
4/8/10 at 3:17pm
I loved it too. I couldn't stop reading it. I love books like that.
post #17 of 19
4/9/10 at 9:14pm
Thread Starter 
Oh man, I finished it, and now I feel so bereft without a decent book to read!

The secret pie ingredient, :Puke I keep feeling nauseous thinking about it!

Well, it explains a lot about- not excuses- the attitudes of my FIL and grandfather toward people of color, considering what this country was like most of their adult lives.

And how the little kids were treated just made me cry- do you think the parents seemed so distant and harsh because of society at the time, was it a Southern thing, or was it just the individual characters? (ie, some parents today are the same way even if it's not the societal norm). So strange that the black house help was good enough to essentially raise their children, yet otherwise were treated as if dirty and unequal.

Oh, and I was willing to bet that Skeeter was going to be Constantine's "high yellow" daughter, fathered by some white man, and somehow that secret was going to come out and that's why Constantine had to leave! The actual situation was a little less shocking!
post #18 of 19
4/9/10 at 9:32pm
I loved this book! Awaken I was totally expecting Skeeter to be Constantine's daughter, or that her real daughter was Skeeter's half-sister.
post #19 of 19
4/10/10 at 12:42am
^I was totally expecting that as well!

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There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › The Kitchen Sink › Books, Music and Other Media › The Help by Kathryn Stockett