Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
by Zora Neale Hurston
Length: 264
Format: Paperback
Price: $11.24 on Amazon
How I Heard: This title was the only one I had heard of on my Ethnic Literature course list. (And the only one that gets its own post!)
Basic Premise: Janie Crawford has led a sheltered and rather privileged existence for a colored girl under the pear tree with her grandmother. When her ailing grandmother convinces her to marry, however, that charmed existence goes up in smoke as Janie learns to navigate the wider world of work and strength and men.
Price: $11.24 on Amazon
How I Heard: This title was the only one I had heard of on my Ethnic Literature course list. (And the only one that gets its own post!)
Basic Premise: Janie Crawford has led a sheltered and rather privileged existence for a colored girl under the pear tree with her grandmother. When her ailing grandmother convinces her to marry, however, that charmed existence goes up in smoke as Janie learns to navigate the wider world of work and strength and men.
My Take: 9.8 out of 10 (scale here)
I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I read it amidst a list of books which left me angry and confused, but this one left me feeling real and hurt and loved and free, which is really what books should do. I can't believe I had never had occasion to read it before this class.
First of all, I fell head-over-heels for Janie. Her poise and self-control, coupled with her sharp wit and discretion made her a quick object of my admiration, mainly because I posses none of those things. The hardships she endures at the hands of the men in her life make her better instead of bitter, and it makes things all the better when she finally does find happiness. But oh the happiness...I don't want to give anything away, but ohmygoodness...you just have to read it. Really, you should.
Hurston's dialogue was read-out-loud hard, and when I couldn't figure it out even then, I found the book on Hoopla and listened to Ruby Dee's BRILLIANT rendition. (Truly, if you are interested in this book, let Ruby read it to you.) Hurston is famous for her use of Southern dialect. She is also famous for being utterly unappreciated in her own time. The woman died on welfare, struggling to make ends meet because her brilliance wasn't recognized until well after her death. Because Hurston wasn't writing about race in the Harlem Renaissance (which, if you're unfamiliar with the movement, was about racial inequality), she was shunted to the side in favor of others who were. Hurston, instead, was writing about identity, feminism, and independence (and I know this because I did a paper and a presentation on Hurston and am now an expert).
I gave this a 9.8 only because I suspect the fact that all the other books for this class were so horrible had a pull on my emotions and therefore may have inflated my experience a bit. Regardless, this was a truly excellent book that will go down as one of my all-time favorites.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I read it amidst a list of books which left me angry and confused, but this one left me feeling real and hurt and loved and free, which is really what books should do. I can't believe I had never had occasion to read it before this class.
First of all, I fell head-over-heels for Janie. Her poise and self-control, coupled with her sharp wit and discretion made her a quick object of my admiration, mainly because I posses none of those things. The hardships she endures at the hands of the men in her life make her better instead of bitter, and it makes things all the better when she finally does find happiness. But oh the happiness...I don't want to give anything away, but ohmygoodness...you just have to read it. Really, you should.
Hurston's dialogue was read-out-loud hard, and when I couldn't figure it out even then, I found the book on Hoopla and listened to Ruby Dee's BRILLIANT rendition. (Truly, if you are interested in this book, let Ruby read it to you.) Hurston is famous for her use of Southern dialect. She is also famous for being utterly unappreciated in her own time. The woman died on welfare, struggling to make ends meet because her brilliance wasn't recognized until well after her death. Because Hurston wasn't writing about race in the Harlem Renaissance (which, if you're unfamiliar with the movement, was about racial inequality), she was shunted to the side in favor of others who were. Hurston, instead, was writing about identity, feminism, and independence (and I know this because I did a paper and a presentation on Hurston and am now an expert).
I gave this a 9.8 only because I suspect the fact that all the other books for this class were so horrible had a pull on my emotions and therefore may have inflated my experience a bit. Regardless, this was a truly excellent book that will go down as one of my all-time favorites.
