Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Summary: _The_ Modern love story
Review: Other modernists, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton, tore apart the classical love story, dependant as it was on outer union, on a coupling of circumstance and fate. Age of Innocence is a biting parody, exposing the superficiality of, for example, Jane Austen's society romances (despite their unsurpassed wit). Gatsby buys into classical script, but the carefully constructed narrative of Romantic love he tries to realize is shattered by the realities of a modern age. He is left, staring at an empty window because he cannot believe that Daisy is not behind it gazing at him, but downstairs coming to terms with her husband. Their Eyes Were Watching God, however, fills the void left by others' criticism. At first, romantic love sweeps Hurston's heroine too off her feet: "From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom." But this is unsatisfying, and eventually the book reveals a love story for the modern age, which finds as its essence not external union, but inner, personal fulfillment and genuine partnership. This is not to say Hurston's vision is more 'realistic,' or less rare, but that, as an ideal, it is far more relevant than its predecessors. Hurston's lovers find in each other not alabaster idols, but a mutual epiphany. "They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

Rating:
Summary: A Hidden Treasure
Review: I first encountered Zora Neale Hurston's "There Eyes Were Watching God" in a 10th grade English class, and I must say that this book is one of the greatest gifts provided to me by my educational experience. I have reread it innumerable times since, each time more fuliflled and amazed than the last. The plot is moving and poignantly realistic, as each of Janie's experiences strikes a nerve in the reader. One rejoices in her triumphs and cries over her tragedies, and is left at the end of the book to carefully examine the ways in which she has grown as an individual woman seeking love and happiness. In addition, the writing style is magnificent, as Hurston demonstrates a remarkable ability to accurately portray an intricate southern dialect while simultaneously interweaving some of the most lyrical and advanced prose in all of literature. Anyone who wants to be exposed to the finest African-American author (and I argue the finest American author) of our time must read "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

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Summary: Rough going but worth it
Review: Yes, I'm glad this book was rescued from obscurity. It has in incredible lyrical intensity, and some of the line I read over and over because they were pure poetry. I had trouble, however, with the dialect. It took me quite a while to read this book because I kept stumbling over some of the dialogue. I would love to hear this read by Ruby Dee on audio-book because I can imagine how wonderful the dialect SOUNDS.

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Summary: A Literary Masterpiece
Review: Zora Neale Hurston's THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is probably one of the greatest works of American fiction. And there is perhaps no other novel which can capture the essence of the African-American female experience as well as Hurston's novel. Through the sufferings of two oppressive marriages and the joys of one self-empowering marriage, Janie the protagonist emerges a strong, self-confident black woman. And Hurston uses such wonderful metaphors and images to describe Janie's consciousness, that the reader has almost no problem relating to what this woman is experiencing. A must read!

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Summary: This is one of the best books ever! :)
Review: Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"is one of her best-written books, and one of the most popular books.For the people that don't like it, is it just because of the dialect? Try this: Read it out loud like it sounds, and then maybe it will sound better. :) I have read this book for two classes in high school (and I am only a sophomore!) I have also done two or three reports on Zora, one of which I did before I read her books. I love this book because it gives insight on the life of an African-American woman in the 20's/30's. It might be a made-up story, but it is easy to relate to! If you like this book, you should read Alice Walkers' "The Color Purple" and also watch the movie with Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, and Whoopi Goldberg. Speaking of Whoopi Goldberg, did you know that she has bought the rights to make the movie "Their Eyes Were Watching God"? I can't wait! :)

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Summary: Hooray for Alice Walker!
Review: I cannot express my gratitude enough to Alice Walker for helping to bring Zora Neale Hurston back into classrooms and bookstores. The fact that Hurston's works were lost for so long utterly amazes me! Their Eyes Were Watching God is a wonderfully poetic story of a young woman's coming of age, and her struggle to find a voice within a male-dominated society. Janie's relationship with each of the men in her life traces her development from repressed girlhood to independent womanhood. This novel should be a part of the reading lists for all Contemporary American Literature classes.

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Summary: Do Not Read This Book!
Review: I hated this book from page one. I had to read this last year in English and hated every minute of it. This is the most overated book of ALL TIME! Everyone in my class hated this book so much the teacher debated on if we should read this book or not. Unfortunatly we had to read it. I feel sorry for any person who has to read this "book"

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Summary: This book is among my favorites. READ IT!!!
Review: very good, with a wonderful ending. Sad, but thats how live is sometimes. read this book, please!!

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Summary: A heartbreaking story
Review: The book THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, by Zora Neale Hurston, is a story of an african american woman named Janie, who since a child lost her mother and was taken care by her grandmother. When Janie was sixteen years old, she met a boy named Johnny Taylor. As her grandma disliked him, she made Janie get married with Logan Killicks, only for protection, he was about 20 years older than she was. Janie ran away from him and left with Joe Starks who treated her like a slave taking care of the little urban store and never had time for themselves. After Joe died of a kidney malfunction, Tea Cake fell in love with her the same way she loved him and married. This time Janie was 10 years older than him. He treated her like a princess, they went to live in Orlando, where Tea Cake worked at the farm crops and Janie did all the cooking. What I disliked in the book, was when there was a hurricane, Tea Cake and Janie were heading north and a dog bit Tea Cake in the face and died a few weeks later. So at the end, Janie went back to her hometown where everyone criticized her for her actions and for all her lost loves.

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Summary: It was an excellent story.
Review: "Their Eyes Were Watching God," is an excellent love story. It presented a problem that most people have to face, LOVE. I liked the story because Janie has the prblem of falling in love. Her father makes her get married to a local farmer and she has no love for him so she runs away. She falls in love for the second time and the author truly makes it seem like she is in love.Things eventually fall apart in that relationship and she keeps on lookin. Then when she finally falls in love the worst happens. This is an excellent story and I would recomend it to anyone.