The HelpJackson, Mississippi, 1962. White ladies playing bridge and sipping ice tea. Colored maids cooking, cleaning, and loving the white babies. The separate, intertwined paths of these worlds are going to collide. Audio is THE way to be inside this story, brilliantly cast with four voices. The separate casting of the three voices of Stockett's debut novel is astute. Jenna Lamia embodies Miss Skeeter, the young aspiring writer who starts a project that disrupts her privileged and predictable world. Lamia's genteel Southern tones can pass off ingrained prejudice with chilling comfort, screech with outrage, and subtly reflect Skeeter's growing resolve and self-discovery. Bahni Turpin and Octavia Spencer contrast the voices of hot-headed Minny and thoughtful, inspiring Aibileen. Their musical speech and emotional connection to the characters are riveting. Listeners are swept up in the story--shocked and reminded by the times; inspired and proud of these women.
My thoughts:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett could easily end up being my favorite audiobook of the year. The novel has already gotten rave reviews from many bloggers (check out Sandy's review from You've GOTTA Read This or Molly's review from My Cozy Book Nook). I will just add my two cents by saying that the audio version was fabulous!
The readers' southern accents were perfect and added so much to my overall enjoyment. Not a single minute of this eighteen hour book dragged. As many of you know, I listen while I'm driving alone in my car...and while listening to The Help, I'll admit to to taking the long way home more than once. Whether you're already a fan of audiobooks or are searching for the place to start, I highly recommend The Help!
This has been on my wishlist for a while, but finding good audio books is really difficult, so I may just go and buy the audio version of this on your recommendation - thank you!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this book, but the audio book sounds great. I don't always like them, so it's good to have a good recommendation! Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteJackie,
ReplyDeleteI can't recommend this audiobook highly enough! I did a post a couple months ago on audios I have enjoyed over the years. You can find it at:
http://lakesidemusing.blogspot.com/2009/03/audio-favorites.html
Becca,
ReplyDeleteI average one a month (more in the winter, less in the summer), so I'm always looking for audio recommendations and reviews. Audible.com has a feature that lets you listen before you buy - very important since the narrator's voice has so much to do with my overall enjoyment.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have yet to hear a bad thing about this book, but I'm glad to hear you liked the audio version so much. I've just started listening to audio books on my long drives to work, and this is one I will now consider!
ReplyDeleteJulie - I haven't heard a bad thing about this book, either... and it did end up being my favorite audio of the year. Your drive to work will fly by with this!
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