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Loading... Their Eyes Were Watching God (original 1937; edition 2006)by Zora Neale Hurston
Work InformationTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
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I read this after seeing the first episode of Great American Read, and I am glad I did. Hurston wrote a masterpiece that grabbed me from the very beginning with language, characters and story. I can see myself going back to this book and devouring scenes over and over through the years. I suggest listening to the audiobook read by Ruby Dee. This helped me get the vernacular in my mind while reading. The slow drawl of Ms. Dee is perfect for the novel. My interest sagged toward the middle, and I almost decided this was a book to be tasted, not wholly read. But then Janie, Tea Cup, and the others in the ‘Glades failed to take the departure of the Seminoles seriously, nor their warning of an approaching hurricane. From then on, I couldn’t stop. Janie irritated me in the first half of the book; life seemed to her a choice between lying under a flowering pear tree or being some man’s mule. Not that I failed to understand her preference for the one over the other, but was there no third option? Her relationship with her third husband, Tea Cup, finally offered that third option: a chance to combine autonomy with responsibility, a love based on mutual respect. This is despite an unpromising start when he makes off with her emergency money and disappears for two days. He is disarmingly open about his shortcomings, but this gives Janie her voice. Another initial hurdle was easier for me to jump over. That was the orthography with which Hurston approximates the speech of Florida Blacks. It forced me to slow my reading pace, but that was not a bad thing: It freed me to read with the ear as well as the eye, revealing the creative and eloquent beauty of the spoken word. The narrator’s voice differs from the dialog she reports, yet equals it in freshness and beauty. When Janie’s second marriage deteriorates, the narrator writes: “The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor.” Further, “For the first time she could see a man’s head naked of its skull.” This book abounds with fresh imagery and unforgettable characters. It was well worth reading. This book is a real treasure---quite possibly the most beautiful piece of writing, short of the Psalms, that I've ever encountered. Parts of it literally made me feel warm inside---this author had a uniquely precious gift of language. Here are some of my favorite passages: pg. 20 "Put me down easy, Janie, Ah'm a cracked plate." pg. 21 "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." pg. 191 "Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore." ...and the last page, of course, which I will not include for the sake of avoiding spoilers. I'm so so happy I read this! This will be a lifetime favorite, for sure. Belongs to Publisher Seriesedition fünf (7) Harper Perennial Olive Editions (2010 Olive) Virago Modern Classics (199) Is contained inHas the adaptationIs abridged inI Love Myself When I Am Laughing... and Then Again When I Am Lookin Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader by Zora Neale Hurston Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present by Margaret Busby Has as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guideAwardsNotable Lists
Janie Crawford, a Southern Black woman in the 1930's, journeys from being a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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