The Help

I read The Help a few days ago, but I wanted to see the movie before I posted in order to compare and contrast. However, I don't know when I'm going to be able to see the movie, and I thought I should post before I forget all the details from the book.
I wanted to read this book long before the movie, but as with everything, movies always seem to deepen the urge to actually read it. And I am one of those people who likes to read the book first then see the movie simply because I am a hard critic. Oh yes, I am that annoying person sitting in the theater going "nope, that is NOT what he looks like", "Oh my god they are changing her personality", and my favorite: "they skipped an entire scene! Those assholes!" Ok, I completely understand that Hollywood needs to spruce things up, change a few scenes, and possibly cut characters or themes as they see fit. I am not knocking Hollywood, I just always tend to like the books better, so I put up a fit. Is that such a bad thing? :)

The Help is centered around Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. Eugenia Phelan (Skeeter) has recently graduated from Ole Miss. As her friends have found solitude in their bridge clubs, benefit dinners, and spending their husbands' money, Skeeter hopes that one day she will become a journalist. She wishes to write something that people will want to read. And watching the discrimination throughout town does not leave a good feeling in Skeeter's mind. People are people, so why treat black maids like garbage? That is when Skeeter discovers what she will write about. With the help of two very brave black maids, Aibileen and Minny, Skeeter starts to write a novel about the good, the bad, and the ugly encounters of being a black maid in Mississippi. The book could prove to be the best piece of controversial literature of the time, but if the three women are discovered, it could bring very serious consequences.
It was very refreshing. It was great to have a book to challenge the norms of society. Plus it was really nice to have three people's perspectives. Some say To Kill a Mockingbird is only from a white point of view, so how accurate of the times can it be? The fact that Kathryn Stockett put in three different perspectives, two if which were black, made the reader able to see the town from all sides. Plus the two black maids have such different personalities and their lifestyles are opposite, so it was nice to hear each of the characters come to life. I would rule this a completely feel good book. I laughed out loud during certain chapters, I was almost in tears along with the characters, and I found myself jumping into the main characters' minds and thinking as they would. I was always rooting for the change, and I thought how brave it was for these three to step up and start this form of unity.
I loved this book because it also taught about change. Good or bad change is always going to come, but you move forward no matter the situation. You can't turn back. All three of these characters are very strong women, and even though all three have their hardships, all of them move on. Because I have been going through a rough patch in my life, it was nice to have a book show me that life doesn't always have a happy cloud hovering. Sometimes you need to seek out that silver lining. These three women in the story all had to physically and emotionally discover the good beneath a heap of bad. It was reassuring to recognize that although bad change may be happening, as long as you move forward only good can happen from there.
It was a wonderful book that I highly recommend. And for once, it's not a young adult book! Yay for me. Read this book. It helped me get a little of myself back, perhaps it can be that way for others too.