Paperback: 450 pages
Publisher: Fig Tree; Group ed edition (August 30, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0241950805
ISBN-13: 978-0241950807
Lexile: 730
I know, I know, it's only taken me four years to get around to this one. And I haven't seen the movie yet, so my view of the book isn't colored by that.
I like this book. I can't imagine how the movie could convey the emotional nuances and inner turmoil of the three point-of-view characters, but it's something Stockett managed well. Some have complained about Stockett's use of dialect and her insertion of historical anachronisms into the narrative to help make her point. The dialect wasn't a problem for me, but I think that may be in part because I've lived in the South and because I have a good ear for dialect and I can hear it spoken in that reading voice in my head. Is it "racist" to have the Black characters use dialect and the white employers not have Southern dialect? I don't know.
There are no tidy endings in this book. You end with hope, yes, but not with an assurance that all will be well for Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. It's not even guaranteed that the overall effect of their actions will be positive, though it is definitely positive for some of the supporting characters.
I did find a few of the characters, especially Hilly, to be rather flat--they were there to serve a purpose, and they served their purpose, but they were stereotypes, with certain qualities magnified in order to make the point. They were easy to hate, as the author intended. With Elizabeth, we saw her mother and got some inkling of why she might be as she is, but I'd have loved to have some insight into Hilly's character.
On the other hand, Skeeter's mother was a much rounder character. She did change some in the course of the narrative, but she also held on stubbornly to some of her flaws. That makes her a much more real character in my eyes.
Possible objectionable material: Mild cursing. Violence, Some drinking. Discussion of sex outside marriage.
Who might like it: Probably women more than men, since male characters are not prominent in the story. Anyone interested in civil rights and prejudice. By age 12-13, a good reader should be able to handle the thematic material
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