Rating: 
Summary: I got through it atleast
Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God is basically a story of an African-American woman's trek through life. She marries several times and when she finally ends up with the person she loves, but in the end she ends up alone again. She is happy. There really isn't anything bad about the book. There really isn't anything amazing about the book. Nothing really stands out as amazing but nothing stands out as bad either. Of course, it was a bit predictable, but I don't think that took away from whatever enjoyment of the story there was. If you're in the mood for a story of struggles and hardships, with a happy ending, this is it. But don't expect too much or you'll be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God is a captivating tale of a woman's quest for happiness and self-discovery. It is the tale of Janie Crawford, an inspiring black woman living in the Deep South during the 1930s. The story and its characters entice and entertain the reader with every word, from the beautifully written poetic metaphors to the radical southern dialect.
Janie is the novel's utterly admirable and believable protagonist. She is pushed into marriage at an early age but is unable to find happiness in it. The story recounts her marriages and her quest for companionship, her findings and her losses. But it is her reaction to the losses that truly shapes the story. Where another tale would be a tragedy, this is a story of optimism and remembrance; where another would mourn in the darkness of the night, Janie remembers the brightness of the light. "The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. It was the time for sitting on the porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations though their mouths. They sat in judgement." (chapter 1, pages 1-2)
Rating: 
Summary: Hurston's Work of Art
Review: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is a beautifully written piece of art. Hurston expresses her characters by use of authentic Southern black dialect, which reminds me of Mark Twain's dialect for Jim in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although this dialogue takes time to decipher and is occasionally hard to follow, this novel would not be as good as it is without it. Other contributing factors to the greatness of the novel are the beautiful metaphors and similes as well as the descriptive imagery and symbolism of nature. The imagery especially does the book justice by painting pictures in the readers' minds of (the main character) Janie's accounts of the world. Whether the dialogue, the metaphors, the similes, or the imagery and symbolism of nature, all literary factors used in the creation of this novel contribute greatly to the excellence of it. Their Eyes Were Watching God is an inspirational novel that is not only well written but is also very captivating. I enjoyed following Janie's person journey as she searches for love and fulfillment. Her experiences teach her about her own identity and about what she wants in life. I am very impressed that Janie's story did not end happily, though I did find the conclusion satisfying. It makes the whole story more realistic, because in real life nothing ends with everyone living happily ever after. I enjoyed this novel for many reasons, but most importantly because it made me think.
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Summary: This book inspired me.
Review: I learned so much from this book. I never expected to be anything but annoyed by the african-american dialect, but the author has turned it into poetry. There are phrases that stand up to Shakespeare. I also learned some important things about the experiences of black women, and the complexity of relationships in the black community.
The thing I loved most about this book, however, is the main character. She is utterly believable, heroic and flawed. Her odyssey is somehow universal. In the end she proclaims that we much eash learn how to "go tuh god" and live for ourselves. This is the quest we are all on, the path to adulthood, and it crosses flimsy boundaries of gender, race, and nationality. I think Janie managed to find "god" or "good" in loving someone completely. She learned to live for herself by ignoring the negative opinion of her community about this love, and following her heart. If only we could all be so brave, there would be no room left for hate in a world so overflowing with love and courage.
Rating:
Summary: Searching for happiness
Review: Janie is a black and beautiful. She lived in the pre-WWI years, and this would make her among the most oppressed people in the country, quite contrary to Janie's mistaken notion "well, you know whut dey say, 'uh white man and uh nigger woman is de freest thing on earth.'" That this is so is Huston's assertion, and is embodied in Logan Killicks and Joe Starks, Janie's one-time suitors. Were Janie uglier (or "common"), she would not have been so sheltered, so jealously guarded by the men around her. This pitiful fate is worsened because those very men are afraid of sharing their feelings with Janie, simply because she is so beautiful. These men are intimidated by her person. Tragically, these tendencies seal Janie's desire for a free-life-experience, and imprison her in a suffocating jar. Tea Cake frees her from these and brings her joy and love. However, I think Janie ultimately realizes salvation from within, and not from any man.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is a great novel about the segregated South. Words don't do this book justice. It tells an incredible story and the plot and characters make it so that you can't put the book down! It is just incredible. I highly reccomend this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book --
Review: I read it while I was in the Peace Corps and it really touched home.
Rating:
Summary: Struggling for equality...
Review: In Zora Neale Hurston's classic, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, we see the issues of race and gender prevalent in the early 1900s, the strength and capacity to love that most women exhibit, and the celebration of African-American culture. We're introduced to Janie Crawford as she returns to Eatonville, FL. Shunned by the people of this small town, she relies on her best friend to relate her experiences back to them in an attempt to satisfy their curiosity. Weaving in flashbacks of her life as a child and on through her adulthood to the present moment, we're able to see Janie's growth.
Raised by her grandmother, Janie was led to believe that a marriage to a wealthy man would bring her happiness; even if that wasn't the case initially. Unfortunately, wealth alone is not enough for Janie; yet she learns to set boundaries on what she will and will not accept from a man. Soon after, she leaves town with a smooth-talking man who promises her the world. While he becomes quite successful and is able to provide for her, it's not the materialistic things she has her heart set on. When he dies, she is given one more opportunity to find true love with a younger man who ends up being her soul mate.
Through Janie's relationships, the dialogue, and settings, readers are able to see her internal conflict with what society forces upon her, what she's been taught to believe, and her feelings. The story captures her struggle for equality, not only because she was black, but also because she was a woman.
Sometimes a person needs the hardships of life, as well as a deep look inside themselves to truly be happy with their lives. While the romantic relationship between Janie and her husbands are at the forefront of this book, it contains so much more. It is about Janie finding peace, acceptance, and embracing who she really was. Through Hurston's lyrical tone and the use of the time period's dialect, this story is brought to life beautifully. We're not only able to hear Janie's thoughts; we're able to feel them too. Through Hurston's use of analogies, metaphors, and even humor, Janie's story ends up being a beautiful tribute to love, and also to African-American culture.
Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: This is a novel of affirmation?
Review: This book was definitely interesting. It was most certainly memorable. But was it uplifting? I feel more than a bit funny just asking that question, much less answering it. Not being black myself, I'm probably not the best person to decide just how inspiring this book is. The story to me came across as very real. It has its moments of joy and humor, but it also had plentiful helpings of sorrow and pain. So where is the inspiration? How is this the prototypical Black novel of affirmation? Is the affirmation found simply in the telling of the story, no matter how sad? Does putting the pain and sorrow into words of beauty somehow empower the victim? Is it the fact that the heroine perseveres in the face of so much adversity, and finds joy in life when there is little to find? Honestly, I felt more pity for Janie than anything. Time and again she proves to have an enormous heart, her most endearing quality as a character and also the one that gets her into the most trouble. She is trusting when perhaps she shouldn't be, loving when perhaps she shouldn't be, and forgiving when perhaps she shouldn't be. Her judgment is less than perfect and is often clouded by emotion. It's hard to find inspiration in any of the other characters either. Joe Starks is too ambitious, mostly in the pejorative sense of the word, and shows little respect for Janie. Tea Cake comes across as conniving, deceitful, and manipulative. And none of the other characters seems all that bright. But maybe it's precisely in the realism of the story that the inspiration lies. Perhaps it's meant to be a celebration of enduring against adversity, both from without and from within.
Rating:
Summary: The Zest for Zeal of Janie & Teacake
Review: This book "Their Eyes were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston was first given to me in 1974. It is probably without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read. Certainly one of the best pieces of literature written by an Afro-American woman that I have read. I read somewhere that the story is characterized as a tragedy. How can it be tragic when the character whom the story is centered around is happy in the end?
Happy to have been loved and to have loved in the manner that Janie and Teacake shared in their relationship. The book left me forever the hopeless romantic wanting to find that kind of kinship, comradery with my mate. I recommend that you read this book with an open mind and a box of puffs' tissues.
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