I got "The Help" yesterday in charity shop for 50p

The book is better than the film and the film is good

I thought it started very well and was abrilliant premise, but fell into cliche mode (agree re white woman as saviour and the undertone that the black women should feel gratitude for her understanding). I thought the ending was a travesty. A really stupid farcical denoument. I actually finished disliking the book immensely.

I am reading it and loving it, it's making me cry quite a bit though.

Re the argument about a white woman coming to 'save' oppressed black women, It did make me question the book but upon reading the back story of the author, I understand the central issue to be the way in which white southern children were raised and loved by black women (and loved them back) only to internalise the racist Jim Crow laws as they became adults. The book questions this and how such racist white mothers deal with the dissonance between their views (especially around the toilet issue) and the very close physicality of the relationship between the maids and the children. I would have liked a little more focus upon this latter issue within the book though.

As a young child i was raised by a young Latin American woman who I adored and had a very close, physically affectionate parental relationship with. I did not grow into a prejudiced woman and have always been aware of the power dynamic based upon economic factors originally central to our meeting.

The book adds to and encourages an important dialogue about race and addresses issues that many of us (especially in the UK) may have been unaware of.

The film is above all, a Hollywood film. The format is not going to do anything more than lightly address these issues. However the power of the acting, the humour, the wonderful Southern vernacular and the sense of the period makes the film worth watching.

I loved it. I've heard all the objections (white woman as saviour, etc) and I still loved it. It made me realise how few novels these days are what I call proper novels with engaging, interesting characters and a real plot that has suspense so you really want to know what happens next. And I cared about the characters - I felt for Aibileen so much and wanted things to work out for her. There are very few novels these days that have that effect on me.

I envy you the pleasure of reading it for the first time. I adored it but then again I am a sucker for all American literature of that ilk.

It would have been better if they hadnt missed so much out it just seemed to skip bits and sometimes big bits

I thought the book was very good. The film was good in that the costumes were fantastic I thought. But some of the characters weren't how I imagined they should be but it certainly wasn't a bad film.

Great book rubbish film missed loads out

Im watching the film this weekend just hope the film doesnt ruin a good book for me

loved both!

Read and loved this book, so well written

I have only just finished this book as had some family problems and couldnt concentrate long enough to sit and read but i finished it tonight and its a very good read

It was a huge hit in South Africa apparently, among people who really understood the reality of the situation.
It was trying to be realistic, and in the South I really doubt a black woman would have been published or could have written about those experiences and been listened to.

I loved the book and was a bit dismayed to see some of the reviews of it on the web re the white woman saviour and also saying that the black women characters were stereotypes. But I am a white woman reading about something that I have had no personal experience of. I was particularly fascinated with the relationship between the maids and the children and how that played out. Really thought provoking. I have chosen it for my next book club so I will be interested to see what they all think.

This book was fantastic. Still too nervous to see the film in case it ruins a damn fine read!

I popped into tesco they didnt have it there so i remembered this thread and popped into the charity shop. Made my day got the book and saved money :)

Might look out for this in a charity shop although I am sure it'll cost more than 50p.

I got it today in a charity shop cost me £1.20 and I'm sure its worth every penny. A lot of people on MN seem to like it. Will probably read it when ive finished the book im reading now. Im a slow reader so that may be a while but will get to it

Hope you liked it Saltire.

Book was fantastic. Thank you for thread.

Disclaimer: white woman reading book by another white woman on a very emotive subject.

I understand the 'white woman acting as saviour' notion, but I find it difficult to see how else the maids would find a voice. If they had lived in New York in the 60s, then they would have been able to approach the white publisher and be listened to, but if this had been the case they would not have had the lives and stories that they had.

I felt they did speak in their own words (albeit those of a white author) in the novel, and ultimately they saved the white woman as much as she saved them. What would her lot have been without the idea from Aibileen's son and the maids agreeing to talk to her?

I see the book as ending with three women who are more financially and emotionally free because they helped each other.

Unless the 'white saviour' comment is about the author rather than the character of Skeeter.

Perhaps I am very naive. The book is about a set of circumstances extremely far removed from my own.

I loved the humour and ironies in it ('Miss' Myrtle, the fictitious upper class cleaning advisor, as the rich white woman is the only one allowed to speak about domestic issues, but in reality a figure who would never lift a hand in her own home. And this authority really being voiced by a maid).

A very clever read.

I love the book but don't want to see the film as adaptations are never as good.

Argh, have just read sonic's comment...

Inspired by this thread I bought it yesterday and am loving it, so many thanks .