book club

Did you guys read The Help? It turns out about 100% of the people I know have read it, so it seemed like the perfect book to kick off a book club.

We met at the theater to see the movie on opening night, then went back to my house for some southern comfort food (including, what else, chocolate pie).

Yeah, it was fun, but I think the real story here is the common misconception that people who like to read must be smart:

I listened to the audiobook version of The Help, which was kind of amazing. Three actors read the book - one of whom is in the movie adaptation (and, fun fact, was actually the inspiration for her character, Minny) - and kept me entertained to the point that my 12 hour round trip drive felt like it was too short.

The book starts out in the voice of one of the maids, Abileen. As soon as I started listening, I knew I was in trouble. The actor spoke so quickly I almost couldn't keep up. At first I was angry at my library, from which I had downloaded the book. It was clear they had given me a bootleg copy. How dare they?

Then I came to the conclusion that my local library wasn't that sleazy and, still angry, decided the mistake was the producer's fault. Shouldn't audio books have a test audience? Who can understand this?

Then I thought maybe I was being racially insensitive and should be more open-minded to the way African American women in the 60's spoke.

Finally, I moved on to acceptance. That must be part of her character, I reasoned, she talks quickly because she's....nervous? Or something?

After 30 or so minutes, just as I was getting used to Abileen and the Chipmunks, I happened to glance down at my ipod. In the top right corner was a little icon - "2X".

Somehow, my ipod was playing at twice the normal speed. I didn't even know it could do that. And I still don't know why that would ever be necessary. Thoughts?

(And, what did you think of the book/movie? I was kind of neutral on the movie. As far as movie adaptations go I didn't hate it (like some movies that rhyme with Shmime Shmavelers Shmife), but I wasn't completely blown away by it-- possibly because I was too busy comparing it to the book. But, I actually liked the major character change they made.)