Book Review: The Help

It is very rare that I read fiction (well, besides children's fiction, of course).  I don't know when, but at some point fiction stopped impressing me.  I would not even pick up a book from any fiction genre.  "They just don't write 'em like they used to," I would explain.  I missed the classics I read as a child and young teenager.  Nothing compared for a long time, and so I just gave up even trying.

I have heard so much about the movie based off of the book The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  I am not a moviegoer, and definitely am not one to watch a movie before reading the book, so after hearing great reviews of the movie from several people whose judgment I trust, I decided it was time to see what the hoopla was all about.  I purchased a copy and set it next to my nursing chair.

Oh boy.  I didn't know what I was getting into!  I could not put that book down.  Nearly 600 pages, and I had it finished in less than two days (and don't forget, I had to keep five children alive during that time frame)!

Kathryn Stockett's writing was unlike anything I have read in a long time.  Her ability to pull you into the story, to get you invested in the characters . . . flawless.  The way she told the story back and forth in the voices of three different women - and all without creating any voice confusion - was mind boggling to me as a writer.  And the plot just kept you hanging on at every step of the way.

More than anything, though, for me the clincher was that it wasn't just fiction for the sake of being fiction.  This book had a story to tell, and that story had purpose.  This book was thought provoking and powerful and purposeful.  I only loved the book that much more when I read the authors explanation for why she wrote it located in the back of the book.  This book was intelligent and stimulating - two of the most important requirements for me if I am going to enjoy anything I read.

I haven't decided yet if I am going to watch the movie now.  I have learned in my many years as a reader that I develop such a relationship with the characters as they are born and live in my imagination that I am rarely ever pleased with their portrayal on screen.  I know it has been highly praised, however, so I might consider it with this movie.

I can't recommend The Help enough, to those who love fiction as well as to those who don't.  You never know, it just might do for you what it did for me ... and that is awaken anew a hunger for great fiction!