Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Help
I do not have sufficient words to express how much I loved this book. When I finished it I did not want to put it down because it felt like an old friend and I just wanted it to go on and on. It was so artfully written that I could not wait to pick it up everyday and read a little bit more about my friends Aibileen, Minny and Miss Skeeter.
This book set in 1960 is about the racial climate in the south. It is written from the view of The Help. African-American maids who were the heart of the homes that they worked in. They raised the children, cooked the meals, cleaned the house, did the laundry, the canning, the shopping. It is a deep look into the living rooms and kitchens of every day homes, with every day people. It is so revealing in it's timely look at how people function in society, balancing their own conscious with how they are viewed by society on a scale that is slippery and tenuous. I found myself making deep evaluations of my own life as I read......I have a house cleaner....what does she see when she comes to my house? Do I treat her as if she is beneath me? Do I feel like she is lesser than me because she cleans my house for a living? I hope not.....I hope that she feels valued and knows how much I appreciate her help when she comes. This book really made me think!
The other part I loved about this book, it was set during the time period that I was born. I loved hearing about events that occurred during this time and it made me curious enough to go back and research some of the things that happened. This was a difficult time in our history as a nation. It is a time that we look back on both with sorrow and with great hope. It was a life changing, world altering time for the human race and for Americans in particular.
Thank you to Kathryn Stockett for taking us on this wonderful journey to take a look at our roots, the good, the bad and the ugly.....but also the magnificence that can rise up out of each of us in really difficult situations. I LOVED IT!
I do not have sufficient words to express how much I loved this book. When I finished it I did not want to put it down because it felt like an old friend and I just wanted it to go on and on. It was so artfully written that I could not wait to pick it up everyday and read a little bit more about my friends Aibileen, Minny and Miss Skeeter. This book set in 1960 is about the racial climate in the south. It is written from the view of The Help. African-American maids who were the heart of the homes that they worked in. They raised the children, cooked the meals, cleaned the house, did the laundry, the canning, the shopping. It is a deep look into the living rooms and kitchens of every day homes, with every day people. It is so revealing in it's timely look at how people function in society, balancing their own conscious with how they are viewed by society on a scale that is slippery and tenuous. I found myself making deep evaluations of my own life as I read......I have a house cleaner....what does she see when she comes to my house? Do I treat her as if she is beneath me? Do I feel like she is lesser than me because she cleans my house for a living? I hope not.....I hope that she feels valued and knows how much I appreciate her help when she comes. This book really made me think!
The other part I loved about this book, it was set during the time period that I was born. I loved hearing about events that occurred during this time and it made me curious enough to go back and research some of the things that happened. This was a difficult time in our history as a nation. It is a time that we look back on both with sorrow and with great hope. It was a life changing, world altering time for the human race and for Americans in particular.
Thank you to Kathryn Stockett for taking us on this wonderful journey to take a look at our roots, the good, the bad and the ugly.....but also the magnificence that can rise up out of each of us in really difficult situations. I LOVED IT!
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