Their Eyes Were Watching God

Rating:
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God: What did Hurston want?
Review: When I picked up the HarperPerennial Classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, I didn't know what to think. Everyone was quite amazed at the book in class and it seemed as if this was going to be a great read. So, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, with a fire ablaze in the fireplace, I relaxed on the couch and began to read Hurston's classic. It was not a delightful evening.

In the book the main character Janie goes through life wondering what true love actually is like. Her elder Grandmother arranges a marriage with the stinky and church going man Logan after an Janie has an innocent kiss with a young man. The marriage is not what Janie desires. She has no love for this man, and he really doesn't have any desire for her. It seems to be a set up marriage where one expects the other to function in a team. There is no love in this relationship.

Time passes on and Janie yearns even more to get out of this marriage. Then, out of the blue, a man by the name of Joe Sparks appears, or better known as Jody. Jody is a man with goals in life. He talks of great wealth and hoping to get involved in a town that consists of nothing but African-Americans. Janie is so amazed by this man's personal ambitions that she agrees to leave Logan and head out with Jody for a new start.

Joe is a man who cares for Janie, but it seems as if he doesn't really love her. All he believes is that personal wealth will bring a woman to him. This is not the case for Janie. Janie is a woman wantsto love and be loved. Joe is just a man who gages things in personal wealth and just wants Janie to look pretty like all the possessions he holds. This does not set well with Janie.

In time the relationship between Jody and Janie fades away like beams of sun when eclipsed by a cloud. As Jody becomes ill Janie tells him what she thinks about him as being just another possession of his. This enrages Jody and he passes on. It is the beginning of a liberation that took so long for Janie to have.

Janie is established financially and runs Jody's old store. When attending to her business on an idle afternoon, as everyone in town had gone to some game, an unknowing character comes around, good old Tea Cake. The man that Janie yearns for is Tea Cake. He shows Janie how to have a good time by playing checkers, going fishing, and socializing with others. This is the beginning of Janie becoming herself. Tea Cake loves her deeply and will do anything for her. Janie loves Tea Cake and will do anything as well. The love that she imagined underneath the pear tree in bloom is finally around.

All good stories have some sort of odd-ball situation that occurs that stirs up a conflict. Hurston decided to have a hurricane arrive that causes a great heroic rescue. In the storm a lake is about to flood the great muck plains that encompasses the two lovers. They decided to escape when the situation gets rough. In the desperate journey for dry land, Janie becomes in dire need to be rescued. She grabs hold of a cow, which for some reason has a rabid dog on it. The going gets tough as the dog is trying to attack Janie. Tea Cake sees the trouble and comes to the rescue killing the dog and being bitten in the process.

A month goes by and the two lovers are safe from the hurricane and living life to the fullest. Tea Cake is coming down with a sickness. A doctor diagnoses it as rabies, and Tea Cake loses his sanity. Eventually Tea Cake tries to kill Janie, is denied by her, and she shoots him. A trial occurs over the murder, she is found innocent and the story ends.

This novel is a read for the romance enthusiast. I can say that in no way I am one of those individuals. In class it seemed a good chunk of the class loved the book and the women just yearned for a Tea Cake of their own. Yes, he was the best husband and wanted to have Janie be herself. He loved her and she loved him. The thing though is that this novel's ending is one of the oddest things I've ever read. The circumstances where a cow has a dog on it! What are the odds of this?!!? Do hurricanes produce circumstances that cats ride dogs? Also, the trial scene came out of nowhere too. The novel could have ended with the death of Tea Cake, granted some editing would have to be done. I'm not one to say one way or the other, Hurston's story is hers, but I am not a fan of it.

To recommend anyone to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I would ask just one question to someone who was wondering about the novel, "Do you like romance novels?" If yes, then this is a must read. If not, I would recommend the drunken antics and lost generation attitude of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Hurston shows that true love will triumph over death, but the way she portrays it is not entirely well rounded.

Rating:
Summary: Poor, Poor, Janie!
Review: I listened to the audiotape of this very moving book. As a result, I was spared the anguish of threading through page after page of difficult to read broken English. I am therefore recommending that others follow in my foot steps.

The character, Janie, is presented in three different stages of her growth and development as shown through her three different marriages. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy experiencing life as a Black women in the south around 1900. I recommend that you get the audiotape if you believe it would detract from your enjoyment if you had to read throught pages of southern dialect. --Beverly C. Sanders

Rating:
Summary: Free, free, free
Review: Can you be a woman in the South, in the early part of the century fo America. America that holds us close and bites our csouls trhough our flesh. Passion, sexual freedom in a lover too young, too young to be anything but a transition, a transition to freedom. A Black love story, Black literature that throbs, that vibrates with power, and ends with the baptism of the land, of Janie. Washing away tears of infidelity, of grief, of dread, of poverty, of fear and replacing them with the eyes that were watching God and God looked down and cried onto the land, onto Janie onto the fields where her fingers had bled, where her hands had split, where her tongue was kept silent and held to converse life and moisture.
Share your freak with whomever because it's a beautiful thing.

Rating:
Summary: 1st
Review: This book was interesting but at the same time confusing. The main character seems to not be in control of her feelings, or in other words the author does not seem to be in control of her feelings. The character feels one way about something and then in the next moment it turns up side down because the author dosn't seem to be sure of what she wants the character to feel. That is until Tea Cake comes in. Then it seems that the author had been leading up to that and knew exactly what was going to happen and what was going to be felt.
Because the majority of this book is about Tea Cake I found very exciting.

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: we read this book for a class and I enjoyed it very much. the story was nice and the symbolism we explored were very interesting. it is beautifully written and although i've never read any other of Hurston's books, this book has made me want to read more of her works.

Rating:
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Review: I do agree with most of the other reviews when they say that this book is a must read novel. It not only portrays the life of an African American women, but also describes how to deal with relationships, friendship and family struggles. Hurston descirbes the times of southern life so elequently. The words that she uses seem perfect and original. I love her ending to her book and the way she leaves it open ended for intrepretation.

I believe that this book is a good way to experience a different culture and experience a new form of writing; an excellent form of writing.

Rating:
Summary: Required reading for life (not just school)
Review: Too bad that a previous reviewer could not get past the vernacular and read the real strength and power of Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston says some incredibly powerful things about life in this novel through the main character Janie. Janie has a tough life but never lets herself get bitter or sad.
I first read this in high school and it really spoke to me as a confused teen. I needed to see a strong woman, like Janie, show the world what she was made of.
Once you get used to the vernacular, you can not only hear all of the character's voices loud and clear, but also Janie's voice as it was meant by Hurston. The vernacular adds vitality to the novel and is a tremendous strength, in my opinion, because no one speaks the way English looks on the printed page.
Pick this classic novel up - you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Your Identity Counts
Review: The first time that I happened upon this book was after having read Anita Hill's, "Speaking Truth to Power." Which I am sure influenced what I was looking for at the time.

My eyes were open for many things: how men see women; how mothers teach their daughters; how white women perceive black women; how black women perceive white women; and how we teach men to treat us by the way we see ourselves.

As I read this book I learned more than I could possibly write in this review, more than I could verbalize, because I stepped into this story, and followed each character, as though I am one with each of the characters.

I laughed a lot. And I cried for each character, because they are suffered tremendously.

And in the end, I claimed my higher self, in a calm, mater-of-fact way, along with Janie. It was as though we were taking on the world.

This book gave me a look into the human condition -- the choices the challenges, and the ways to rise like the phoenix.

I'd also like to say that this book is not just about African-American, or southern lifestyle. It's great for relationships and friendships. This book is also a great reference for your commitment to bring out the best in who you are meant to be.

And if you think the dialect in this book is challenging, you might also consider this challenge to be like any other good book, which is always a challenge for you to add more to your identity.

Rating:
Summary: Ah ain't gointuh rec'mend de buuk to nobody
Review: This book was a nightmare to read, unfortunatley I was required to read it and I could not throw it into the rubbish bin. The story was created just so Mrs. Hurston could use "black vernacular" or ebonix of the early 1900's. The sharp contrast between the ebonix and nornmal English narrative was NOT, in my opinion, a great literary device. It was neither educational nor informative to read long sections of dialogue like the sentence in the title of this review. Forcing myself to read improper English, to say the least, for an English class was very annoying. I don't think any educator would want me to write or speak like the dialogue in this book, so what is the point of reading it? The story was powerful and moving, but only if it had been written in English. Ah reckon dis be de en' of de review. Ah be wishin' dat Ah ain't gointuh hafta read nuttin' lak dis again. Isn't dis annoyin' yuh, imagine 200 pages of dis.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book, great characters
Review: This is a story about a woman named Janie. Janie is a black woman, living in the south and is taught through her grandmother, that a man must take care of her; she must be married off right away. The book outlines the details of Janie's life and her experiences shared with three different men. Through the book, she must overcome town gossip, traditional roles and gain the freedom to express herself and do as she pleases. In the end, she finds the most satisfaction by living her life in her own way. And walked with her head high and no regrets.

I thought that book was great. Zora Neale Hurston, did not get the recognition she deserved in her time and thank God for the people who fought to get her books re-published. I must admit, the language in this book at the beginning was a bit hard to grasp but after a short while, it became easier to read. I love the main character, Janie. I love her independence and her carefree spirit. Read it!