Rating: 
Summary: PRETTY WELL DONE!!!
Review: I had to read this book for my Language Arts class. I thought this book was phenomenal! It gives you a sense of calm as it describes a part of Janie's life! I thought her description of "sitting under the pear tree" being happiness, was very deep!I believe that no matter how deep or ,as some would describe it, "sappy" everyone should read this book. The only reason I gave this book four stars is because in the begining she goes on and on about her husband (the first one). My favorite part was when they had the hurricane at the end and her husband (Teacake) rescues her from the rabid (viscious) dog with rabies--but she has to shoot Teacake later because he gets the rabies from the dog and goes nuts! Enjoy the book!
Rating: 
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Review: Hope or reality? Truth or love? Both of these questions and more are answered in Hurston's book "Their Eyes Were Watching God." This novel tells the story of how a young black woman, Janie, tries to find herself through her grandmother's footsteps and eventually through her own. The story begins on Janie's back porch in a little southern black town, but in time travels through memories of life with her grandmother and each of her three husbands. Through each of the memories the author creatively portrays a sense of conflict between how Janie feels and how society thinks she should feel by weaving together intense details and dramatic conversations. Each memory leads to a feeling of self-worth and approval, even love. Throughout the book the phrase "I god" is used both symbolically and figuratively. Even though said most by Janie's second husband, it applies to all those who oppose Janie expressing her thoughts and feelings. By truly putting her heart into it, the author allows the reader to truly appreciate the black culture.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Beautiful
Review: "Wow" is exactly what I thought after finishing this book. I do not often give 5 stars, but this novel deserves it. First of all, the language -- whether it be sentence structure, dialect, or the beautiful metaphors -- make this a wonderful read for that reason alone. Yet the content of the book on top of that makes it absolutely superb.The premise of the novel is one southern black woman's (Janie) journey through life from her early years as a teenager to mid-life, as she attempts to find happiness and that too often elusive ingredient of love in her life. And although at one point she finds it (though it is short-lived and ends tragically) you'll find yourself both happy and sad for her as nothing about this book is formulaic or cliche. It should also be noted that the novel seems to have a fable-like quality to it at times. Not like the magical realism found in "Beloved" as this book seems realistic throughout, but you still can't help but sometimes feel you've stepped into a bit of an Aesoph's fable; but it works as you're never taken out of the moment. I also have to say that the two chapters where Janine first meets Tea Cake are two of the best chapters (both in writing and in content) that I've ever read. You can actually "watch" them falling in love in a lyrical, magical, and wonderful sort of way. In fact, I've gone back a couple times just to re-read those two chapters, and each time have been unable to keep myself from smiling like a great, big dope (which believe me, is saying a lot for this reader). Also, the last page of the novel is written beautifully as well. I would love to quote it here, but I would not want to ruin the experience for a potential reader, and it is far more effective within the context of the novel once you reach that point. Judging from the title, it may lead one to think the book may be "preachy" in terms of God and/or religion, but surprisingly, it's not. Granted, in the very last chapter, it does get maybe a tad heavy handed in a couple places, but since the novel has not done anything remotely close to that throughout, you don't even notice it as you continue to let the words of Janie's experience seep into you. So do yourself a favor -- whether you read classic literature for literary dissection, or simply for sheer enjoyment, you can't do wrong with this book as it's one of those rare treats that incredibly allows for both.
Rating: 
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Be Careful!!
Review: Zora Neale Hurston did a great job at masterfully blending proper english description with a black southern dialect in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Here's an example that stirred my hormones: "The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets; the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume; then her pugnacious breasts trying to bore holes in her shirt. They, the men, were saving with the mind what they lost with the eye..." (pg 2).
Unfortunately the story line didn't follow in the same tradition. Don't go running out to the local bookstore to buy this one. The story line of Their Eyes hardly kept me entertained. As much as I like falling asleep, I'd probably rather watch a cat chase its own lousy tail for hours on end. I couldn't find any motivation to continue reading the book (except for the grade I received in school to read it).
The ending was reminiscent of Ethan Frome: ludicrous, tasteless, and hardly realistic. The only positive aspect of such a senseless ending was that it sticks in your mind as being too absurd to be real (I doubt you'll forget the homicidal event).
Sure, Jane finds her voice by the end of the story, after she kills her third husband. If you want to read something that stirs the soul and inspires, you should look to another novel. Hurston doesn't bring anything to the forefront of thought. There might have been reason that this book was out of print for so many decades.
Rating:
Summary: White Old Guy
Review: Notwithstanding the Modern Readers Library List, this is one of the best books of the century and it is NOT just for women. This book is written by a women and thus, is perfect for a man who wants to know how to love a woman. Besides any practical reward, it is a wonderful piece of literature. Anyone who appreciates good literature and good writing will immensely enjoy Hurston's wit and story-telling.
Rating: 
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God The Wes Version
Review: Summary of Their Eyes Were Watching God
This book written by Zora Hurston tells the story of a black lady whose name is Janie. The story takes place in the state of Florida apparently after World War II. Janie grew up with her grandmother, who gave up everything to raise her and her mother. Janie's grandmother lived a hard life, which is the reason why she wanted Janie to marry a wealthy person. Janie had her own ideas about love, but she was not strong enough to stand up and defend them. Life with Logan her first husband was not good because she married him thanks to her grandmother, who forced her to do so. She did not love him and besides that, Logan did not treat her good. She prayed for the end of this relationship. Latter she met Joe, and she thought that he was the man of her dreams, and the type of romance that she was looking for.
One day when Janie and Logan were arguing really bad, Logan threatened her with an ax and he told her that he will kill her. She ran out of the house with Joe, and that afternoon before the sundown she married Joe. They moved to a town where there were a lot of black people. Joe bought land and then he sold it to black people that were moving to the town, he set a store also. After the years went by he became the major of the city. For Janie life was not easy with Joe either. He treated her as an ornament. He was so interested in becoming somebody important in the community that he did not pay attention to Janie, and eventually he became aggressive. Before he died Janie told him that the problem in their marriage was that he did not listen to her. When he died Janie acted like she was sad, but inside her heart she was happy.
One evening Janie met a guy named Tea Cake in the store, they played and flirted for a little bit, and that was the beginning of a new relationship. Compared to the relationship between Janie and Joe, the relationship between Tea Cake and Janie progressed slowly and playfully. The people in the town criticized her relationship because for them it was too soon for Janie to meet another person. Phoeby, Janie's best friend shared all the secrets of the relationship, and sometimes Phoeby wondered how her friend Janie had such a big change because she did a lot of things with Tea Cake that she did not do before.
Tea Cake was a new world for Janie. He took her to places that her Phoeby latter described as "places where she [Janie] had never been". At this point Janie was so tired of not living the life she wanted. Janie often described her life as her "Grandma's way to live". She decided to sell the store and move out of town.
Janie and Tea Cake got together. It is interesting to see that their relationship as a couple was not easy either, but this time things were different because Janie loved him. They overcame a lot of bad situations such as when Tea Cake took all the money from Janie and spent it with his friends. He latter on recovered the money by gambling, even though they had to move out of town because some people were mad against Tea Cake. Latter Tea Cake had an affair with a woman named Nunkie. Janie even forgave Tea Cake for beating her up because he wanted to show Mr. Turner's brother that he had control over Janie. Then in the stormy night Tea Cake get rabies from a dog that bit him on the face. This caused Tea Cake to become quite bit insane, that he even shot Janie with a pistol. Janie shot him with a rifle and she killed Tea Cake. She explained her cause to the court and she got free from all charges. She prepared a nice funeral for Tea Cake and then she returned to her old town, and she shared her story with Phoeby. The book ends describing how happy Janie felt at that time about how she had lived her life.
Rating:
Summary: I recommend this book to anyone
Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is definitely a book worth reading. Set in the post-civil war south, the fiction novel takes place in an all African American community - a town called Eatonville. The novel explores the life of protagonist Janie Crawford, a black woman who has grown through her experiences with three husbands.
Well known black authors, such as Richard Wright, criticized this book when it first came out for not portraying black people well. Wright was outraged by the dialect Hurston used. He said Hurston wrote it to give the white majority what they wanted to hear. However, I think the dialect and dialogue helps any reader feel a stronger connection to the scene. It wouldn't be realistic if she wrote it in proper English.
Hurston also focuses the novel on black people in a black world-not black people in a white world. This is unique to most novels of this genre. The majority show much oppression from the whites, and the blacks' struggle to deal with that oppression. Hurston, on the other hand, portrays black people in a more ideal, yet nonetheless realistic manner, through their interactions with a homogeneous community of African Americans.
Hurston does not just focus on the trials and experiences of humankind, but that of females especially. She puts an emphasis on feminism. We see Janie's struggle to think for her self and speak out. All three of her husbands demean her in one way or another. She gives a very realistic portrayal of human emotions as a result of specific events that have occurred. Alix Wilber said, "In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston breathes humanity into both her men and woman, and allows them to speak in their own voices."
Hurston brings the content of the novel to life through her use of words and imagery. The way she uses metaphors captures images and feelings that normal words cannot execute. She described Janie and said, "She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was" (p 72). We can find language like this throughout the whole book, which makes it quite enjoyable to read.
Hurston's use of character personalities and interaction stirs emotion and provokes thought. I think she successfully portrays Janie's inner thoughts and feelings. It helped me realize that emotion is universal. I have friends that feel similarly to Janie about the way they view themselves. Hurston also explores Janie's growth and self introspection.
I recommend this book to anyone. Hurston's use of dialect, language, and character development allow the reader to explore and learn. It deals with such issues as: oppression (mostly against women), self-worth, happiness, and true love. We can all learn something from Hurston's thoughtful novel.
Rating:
Summary: Self Actualization
Review: "The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see."
Indeed, Zora Neale Hurston's book Their Eyes Were Watching God was a true glimpse into the life of imprisonment and liberation, forced complacency and eventual discovery. The protagonist Janie had grown throughout the book--from her teenage years of nascent sexual maturity, to her eventual self-actualization while with her third husband Teacake, Janie's progress as a Black woman was one filled with much yearning and anguish. Yet, the beauty of the book was that Janie found what she was looking for--"so much life" and so much "peace." Moreover, she did this while bearing the "brunt" of being both a Black and a woman.
The tale of Janie took place in various locations in Florida during the early 1900s. And though the time was apparently long after the drudgeries of the slavery era, there was an atmosphere of relinquishment and servility among the Blacks. However, this did not take away from the vivacity and hue of the Black communities, as it was still one steeped with vibrant culture and colorful language. Born and raised in Eatonville, Florida, Hurston's personal experiences with the Black community gave ample manifestations in the language and actions of the characters. The relentless, and comical, lashings from Sam and Lige against the miser Matt Bonner, who refused to sufficiently feed his malnourished mule, demonstrated this colorful language:
" Dat mule of yourn, Matt. You better go
see 'bout him.He's bad off.
Where 'bouts? Did he wade in de lake and uh
alligator ketch him?
Worser'n dat. De women folks got yo' mule.
When Ah come round de lake 'bout noontime mah wife
and some others had 'im flat on de ground usin' his
sides fuh uh wash board."
Further, the authenticity of the characters were very much credible, as one delved into the fears of Janie, as well as the anxieties and aspirations of the different generations of Blacks. For Janie's grandmother (Nanny), these dreams entailed sitting on a high pedestal--being like the White "Mastah" on the Big House porch. And the anxieties of not achieving so much was unbearable for her. Yet, for Janie, her aspirations were different. Simply put, this book could be considered as merely a love story. Yet, it was more than that. It was a tale of lost dreams in others--while of redemption and fulfillment in one--Janie. It was a rebellion against conventions, however well-meaning and outwardly innocuous--yet, inherently dangerous and imprisoning. Also it was an assertion of the self amidst the scornful looks of compliance:
"Ah reckon Ah looks mah age too. But Ah'm uh
woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat's
uh whole lot more'n you kin say."
Furthermore, Hurston's master crafting of the language and structures accentuated these dreams, and this fulfillment. For the language was sensuous in many ways--fluid-like in its flow, yet, cogent in its expression of feelings.
Their Eyes Were Watching God stood long among the ranks of the revered in American literature. However, it had not always been so until the revival of Hurston's works by authors like Alice Walker during the mid-20th Century. Indeed, this book was a gem waiting to be discovered--and it called for other "souls to come and see."
Rating:
Summary: The South on Canvas
Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God If words could paint pictures, Zora Neale Hurston would rival Norman Rockwell. In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston puts the South on canvas, capturing the flavor of her culture and the landscape of the time period. Hurston employs dialect to recreate the atmosphere of Eatonville, Florida, the first all black municipality. Although the phonetic spelling requires a little effort at the beginning, it adds distinct style to the novel and produces greater veritability in the characters. In order to advance the plot, Hurston uses vivid prose, creating images and analogies that capture the imagination of the reader. Hurston often switches between dialect and prose, using prose to move the story along and dialect to recreate specific events. The combination of these two elements create a novel that captivates its audience and holds the reader's attention from the first line to the last page.
Her novel focuses on the life of Janie Crawford, a young woman searching to find herself. The novel follows her through the course of three marriages and various cities. Each husband reveals different traits about her and each environment provides Janie a chance to explore her potential and find herself. Janie's grandmother arranges a mismatch of a marriage to Logan Killicks, a wealthy black farmer in her hometown. Janie's sixteen years paled in comparison to his thirty-six years of experience and Janie's hope of blossoming love in marriage wilts within the first year. He treats her as a mule, or property rather than a wife and person. Seeds of discontent grow ripe and a young, rich man, Jody Starks, steps into Janie's life. Her discontent drives her out of the house and into the arms of Jody Starks and they run away to Eatonville. Jody quickly establishes himself as the mayor and sets Janie on a pedestal. But Janie wants to step off the pedestal and into the society around her. Her husband refuses to allow her to let down her hair and join with the townsfolk in daily life creating smouldering resentment for her husband and his 'big man' image. This resentment sparks an argument that drives a wedge in their marriage. Their relationship deteriorates, as well as Jody's health, and eventually he dies. Janie continues to run the store she owns, and meets Tea Cake, a man who opens Janie's soul and allows her to spread her wings. Their romance quickly leads to marriage and more opportunities to grow as she moves away from Eatonville to live in the Everglades, harvesting beans. Through this relationship, Janie discovers the joys of living. She finally feels the freedom she has yearned for since her youth. Her relationship with Tea Cakes ends in tragedy and forces Janie to return to Eatonville to start again, but this time with a greater knowledge of who she is and what life is about.
This novel prompts the reader to search within and recognize the desires the lay suppressed beneath the surface. Each reader should ponder the questions that confront Janie throughout the novel and come to find God, and find out about living. I highly recommend this novel to all readers, for pure enjoyment as well as a thought-provoking piece of classic literature.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: This book offers a great contrast and perspective on other works by African-American authors in this time period that have the theme of racism and discrimination prevelant in them. Hurston's novel offers a different view than these because she grew up in an all black town in Florida, unlike fellow author Richard Wright who experienced discrimination first hand. The only discrimination addressed in Hurston's novel is that within the African-American community. This book focuses instead on the importance of finding oneself and not letting themselves be defined by others. Its maine character, Janie Starks, is on a quest to find true love, but she has to find out what it is first.
|
