I don't know how a man can write books (well) from a woman's perspective. And I don't know how, a white woman can write (very well) the story of black maids in Jackson Mississippi in the 1960s. Kathryn Stockett has unleashed phenomenal characters, written a phenomenal story, published a phenomenal book. The last story of the South I read with this much ooomph was The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy. It's still a book that sticks with me as I know
The Help will as well. The movie will be out before I know it, and I do look forward to that, but really I just want to spread the word on what everyone, especially women, if they are literate and have a week to devote to reading, should read. The characters come alive in a way that make you believe you are reading a true story. The characters are not real, but their emotions, relationships, fears---completely real. Living in Hawaii all these years, I haven't given thought to black/white race relations in quite some time. Yes, we have made history by electing to office an African American president. Yes, our country has come a long way from the times of the Civil Rights movement. While reading The Help, I was taken back to a place and time where the simplicities of life in Southern America were based solely on the color of your skin. I was on an anthropological and sociological journey over the past couple of weeks. I took my time to read it, let it sink in. Soaked up the nostalgia and characters from a place not so unlike where I grew up. Definitely not unlike where my dad, aunts, uncles, and grandparents grew up. Reading The Help felt like I was spying on the journal of one of my relatives. I can't do this book justice in a brief blog post, but had to make mention of the book that has most recently captivated me. I truly hope you'll pick it up (if you haven't already) and discover the world of Aibileen, Miss Skeeter, and Minny of Jackson, Mississippi. It has been compared to To Kill A Mockingbird, which I think is the perfect review right there.
I don't know how a man can write books (well) from a woman's perspective. And I don't know how, a white woman can write (very well) the story of black maids in Jackson Mississippi in the 1960s. Kathryn Stockett has unleashed phenomenal characters, written a phenomenal story, published a phenomenal book. The last story of the South I read with this much ooomph was The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy. It's still a book that sticks with me as I know The Help will as well. The movie will be out before I know it, and I do look forward to that, but really I just want to spread the word on what everyone, especially women, if they are literate and have a week to devote to reading, should read. The characters come alive in a way that make you believe you are reading a true story. The characters are not real, but their emotions, relationships, fears---completely real. Living in Hawaii all these years, I haven't given thought to black/white race relations in quite some time. Yes, we have made history by electing to office an African American president. Yes, our country has come a long way from the times of the Civil Rights movement. While reading The Help, I was taken back to a place and time where the simplicities of life in Southern America were based solely on the color of your skin. I was on an anthropological and sociological journey over the past couple of weeks. I took my time to read it, let it sink in. Soaked up the nostalgia and characters from a place not so unlike where I grew up. Definitely not unlike where my dad, aunts, uncles, and grandparents grew up. Reading The Help felt like I was spying on the journal of one of my relatives. I can't do this book justice in a brief blog post, but had to make mention of the book that has most recently captivated me. I truly hope you'll pick it up (if you haven't already) and discover the world of Aibileen, Miss Skeeter, and Minny of Jackson, Mississippi. It has been compared to To Kill A Mockingbird, which I think is the perfect review right there.
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