Comments on: >Question re The Help, http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/ Publications about books for children and young adults Tue, 14 May 2013 17:58:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: buy anabolic steroids http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-13961 buy anabolic steroids Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:51:24 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-13961 I admit, I have not been on www.hbook.com in a long time however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues. I admit, I have not been on http://www.hbook.com in a long time however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.

]]> By: Roger Sutton http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11290 Roger Sutton Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:26:11 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11290 >I'm not sure there is a lot to say beyond what usually gets said. Everyone agrees that anyone can write a story about anyone--in theory. But for some critics, that theory is never born out in practice and for others, the writer's rights trump all.<br /><br />One of the criticisms I've seen about <i>The Help</i> is that the black narrators write in dialect while the white narrator does not. (Again, the audiobook ameliorates this distinction, as they all sound "Southern" to me.) There is a kind of Mary Sue-ish aura to the book, where Skeeter stands in for the author and thus logically speaks no dialect and has no accent--we don't hear these things in ourselves. >I'm not sure there is a lot to say beyond what usually gets said. Everyone agrees that anyone can write a story about anyone–in theory. But for some critics, that theory is never born out in practice and for others, the writer's rights trump all.

One of the criticisms I've seen about The Help is that the black narrators write in dialect while the white narrator does not. (Again, the audiobook ameliorates this distinction, as they all sound "Southern" to me.) There is a kind of Mary Sue-ish aura to the book, where Skeeter stands in for the author and thus logically speaks no dialect and has no accent–we don't hear these things in ourselves.

]]> By: Rebecca Stead http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11289 Rebecca Stead Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:19:00 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11289 >Yes, let's get that started . . . I think there is a lot to say but I definitely don't want to start. >Yes, let's get that started . . . I think there is a lot to say but I definitely don't want to start.

]]> By: Roger Sutton http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11287 Roger Sutton Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:01:25 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11287 >Yes, voice, indeed, but neither hammy nor hamfisted. I also loved the new Patchett (again in audio). Both books have been accused of cultural misappropriation, which I guess is another topic! >Yes, voice, indeed, but neither hammy nor hamfisted. I also loved the new Patchett (again in audio). Both books have been accused of cultural misappropriation, which I guess is another topic!

]]> By: Rebecca Stead http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11286 Rebecca Stead Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:18:31 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11286 >Hmm, that's a point about taste - and I doubt she "researched" the question.<br /><br />I find that a couple of years after reading the book, I can barely remember the story (boyfriend?). What sticks with me is the writing. Voice ALL OVER. I just finished STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett, a terrific and accomplished book that I fell right into and swam through very happily. But it doesn't even attempt what I think of as voice, which is something I am always hungry for. I know not everyone is with me, and I love PLENTY of books that don't have it, but when I see it done the way Stockett has done it, I swoon. (another example: Tim Tharp's THE SPECTACULAR NOW.) >Hmm, that's a point about taste – and I doubt she "researched" the question.

I find that a couple of years after reading the book, I can barely remember the story (boyfriend?). What sticks with me is the writing. Voice ALL OVER. I just finished STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett, a terrific and accomplished book that I fell right into and swam through very happily. But it doesn't even attempt what I think of as voice, which is something I am always hungry for. I know not everyone is with me, and I love PLENTY of books that don't have it, but when I see it done the way Stockett has done it, I swoon. (another example: Tim Tharp's THE SPECTACULAR NOW.)

]]> By: Laura Canon http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11285 Laura Canon Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:03:16 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11285 >I thought that too, Roger. Surely you'd notice? >I thought that too, Roger. Surely you'd notice?

]]> By: Roger Sutton http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11284 Roger Sutton Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:50:17 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11284 >Rebecca, I listened to the audio version, which, dramatically, was just terrific, giving each of the three women a different narrator. (And I hear the Minny from the audiobook is also the Minny in the movie.) So it's hard to distinguish what I liked about the performance from what I liked about the book. At its best the descriptive writing was lyrical but not self-conscious and the dialog was almost always vivid. Skeeter was probably the least developed character--I could never figure out what she saw in her boyfriend, so her heartbreak was not convincing. The book-publishing angle was almost laughable as was Skeeter's abrupt leave-taking of Jackson. But I was very impressed that the two maids did not get Skeeter's happily-ever-after.<br /><br />The reason I thought Minny's trick was a mind game is that she never connects the dots between what she told Hilly to do and what she did to Hilly. I mean, wouldn't it have tasted a little funny? >Rebecca, I listened to the audio version, which, dramatically, was just terrific, giving each of the three women a different narrator. (And I hear the Minny from the audiobook is also the Minny in the movie.) So it's hard to distinguish what I liked about the performance from what I liked about the book. At its best the descriptive writing was lyrical but not self-conscious and the dialog was almost always vivid. Skeeter was probably the least developed character–I could never figure out what she saw in her boyfriend, so her heartbreak was not convincing. The book-publishing angle was almost laughable as was Skeeter's abrupt leave-taking of Jackson. But I was very impressed that the two maids did not get Skeeter's happily-ever-after.

The reason I thought Minny's trick was a mind game is that she never connects the dots between what she told Hilly to do and what she did to Hilly. I mean, wouldn't it have tasted a little funny?

]]> By: TWG http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11281 TWG Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:16:10 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11281 >I haven't read the book. But yesterday I stumbled across this article by the book's author, about her difficulty in finding a publisher.<br /><br />http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/ >I haven't read the book. But yesterday I stumbled across this article by the book's author, about her difficulty in finding a publisher.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/

]]> By: Lisa Yee http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11280 Lisa Yee Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:51:31 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11280 >What they said. >What they said.

]]> By: Rebecca Stead http://www.hbook.com/2011/08/blogs/read-roger/question-re-the-help/#comment-11278 Rebecca Stead Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:17:34 +0000 http://nyad1/wp-thb/?p=3731#comment-11278 >I never doubted that it happened either . . . are you going to tell us what you found interesting? Now curious. >I never doubted that it happened either . . . are you going to tell us what you found interesting? Now curious.

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