Their Eyes Were Watching God

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. As a black woman who played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, and a pioneering anthropologist in the 1930's, Zora Neale Hurston was far ahead of her time. Her books are rich with the stories and language of the rural black south, and Their Eyes Were Watching God is the best one of them all.

Rating:
Summary: Even better the second time around
Review: Hurston spend much of her life collecting and transcribing the traditions and stories of African Americans and Caribbean cultures. In addition to her volumes on folklore and ethnology, she wrote four novels and several stories and coauthored a play with Langston Hughes, all of which drew heavily on the material she collected for her studies and on events from her own life. Of her works of fiction, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is undoubtedly her best and, after reading it a second time, I have even more admiration for her accomplishment.

One of the reasons the book resonates today with so many readers is the story's major theme: the difficulty of reconciling the struggle between social approval and well-being, on the one hand, and passion and self-respect, on the other. The heroine, Janie, must often do what is expected of her (by her grandmother, her husbands, or the community) at the expense of her own pleasure.

Yet Hurston intends to do more than tell a simple story of a Southern black woman looking for Mr. Right. The author introduces characters and sketches that have less to do with the advancement of the plot and more to do with creating an environment: what life was like for black communities in Florida during the early twentieth century--the humor and the resentment, the misery and the fortitude, the camaraderie and the backstabbing. Characteristic of this leisurely documentary method is the manner in which the town's older inhabitants razz one another or the tale of Matt and his yellow mule, which manages to be at once funny, appalling, touching, and inspiring. All in all, the use of dialect and the meandering style make this novel not an "easy read" but a rewarding one.

It saddens me that so many high school students are required to read this book. (I can relate: an exposure to "Julius Caesar" in the ninth grade instilled in me a loathing of Shakespeare that took me a decade to overcome.) This is a book to be savored like fine wine, not administered like cough syrup. An exceptional teacher with a classroom of widely-read students (as in AP English) might well succeed in stimulating enthusiasm for the story of Janie and Tea Cake, but it's certainly not a book meant to be crammed in a night's panic in order to answer a series of exam questions.

For those readers young and old who do enjoy "Their Eyes Were Watching God," I also recommend Hurston's first novel, "Jonah's Gourd Vine," which portrays the same period and communities while recounting episodes based very closely on the author's own childhood.

Rating:
Summary: High quality novel
Review: This book is a great book, highly recommended for anyone interested in early days of America. While I don't want to give out so much information that it will spoil the book for you, I'll tell you that this book is situated around a woman named Janie. Janie is a young woman who had struggled all her teenage life to find a loving man. She soon marries a man who sets off to a new town in southern Florida and becomes a mayer of the town.

The book, being set in an African American town, has context in an African American voice, so it may be hard for the younger ones to understand the context fully, but its not a killer to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in African American life in the era after the end of slavery. The book has some boring parts, but is ultimately a very touching novel.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't live up to my expectations
Review: I think I got too much of a build-up on this novel. That's the trouble with reading reviews and criticism: sometimes the praise is just too effusive, sometimes the lambasting just too cruel. I like to stumble upon books like Nella Larsen's Passing with no prior knowledge of it or its reception, because then I am free to decide for myself its value to me. With a novel like this, that has been embraced by so many, to say that you did not care for it is almost like sacrilege. And yet, when it comes down to it, you have to speak your personal opinion. I found a lot of good things in here, but on the whole, I wasn't taken by it.

The story itself is about Janie Crawford, a young black female in Florida who wants to marry for love, but whose mother forces her into a union with this old man simply because of his economic status. Janie listens to her mother, who tells her that love will come after awhile, but soon discovers that, instead, once the honeymoon is over, what comes is a different sort of treatment. She runs away with a smooth talking city fellow named Jody who has big dreams. His idea is to create a town of all black people. Janie runs off with him and helps him open a store then become mayor of Eatonville. At first, Janie thinks she has found the perfect life, but Jody refuses to acknowledge her, putting her conversely on a pedestal (the Mayor's wife) and runs her down (embarrassing her skills in the store). When Jody dies, Janie is courted by a young man named Tea Cake. With him, she discovers love. To end there, however, would be a fairy tale, and this is a story where not everyone lives happily ever after.

The book contains a lot of dialect--almost all of the dialogue is in the language of the Florida black community--and after awhile, you get used to it. I mention it because it would likely put some readers off the book.

Hurston also wrote an ethnography of African-American stories and myths called Mules and Men, and I'm much more interested in checking that out than more of her fiction, which, as accomplished as it is, just didn't appeal to me.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite books
Review: I rarely re-read books - as there are so many books I haven't gotten to yet! - but my copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God is well-worn. When I feel stuck in a rut of disappointing books, Hurston's beautiful storytelling and rich characters remind me how pleasing a GOOD BOOK can be.

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.