I’m one of those people who would much rather watch the movie than read the book… or so I thought.
When I was younger I was forced to read books for school of course, and most of the time I enjoyed them, but they always took me so long to get through and I had other things I would rather be doing than flipping through pages and looking at never ending black words (losing my spot multiple times and having to re-read, might I add).
But over spring break, my bookworm of a friend advised me to read while we were at the beach. I responded saying, “no way, I don’t like to read.” But she insisted I would change my mind after reading The Help, because apparently everyone who read this book is happy they did. I took it with me, but had zero intention of ever picking it up. However, I was getting bored one afternoon and decided I’d read the first few pages to see what it’s about. Well, 3 hours later and I was still reading and LOVED it – didn’t want to put it down to go to dinner, in fact. At first, this book never seemed like something I’d enjoy reading.
The Jim Crow era was such a negative time in our country’s history and one of humanity’s flaws. However, there was something about this book and the way the stories were told that continued to grab my attention each chapter. It may have been because it was told from the viewpoint of three powerful women voices: Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. These three women were wise, compassionate and gave a real definition to taking a risk for the right reasons. Or maybe it was because the detailing was so illustrative and transported you into the time period.
Aside from the strong character voices and imagery, this book was just an overall good read. There was also something about the underlying cliffhangers that ended each chapter that made me want to keep reading. I have definitely read books over the years that didn’t give me this aspect, which makes me want to stop reading it. However, The Help did not disappoint.
For someone who has never enjoyed reading, I would classify this book in one of those made up categories of “must read before you die.” Yes, it was that good. It even made me want to go to a bookstore and buy four other books to read.