I knew before starting this book that it was definitive work in terms of black literature and feminist literature. I didn't know anything other than that though and to be honest, it's nothing like what I expected it to be. On the surface, it's just a tragic love story but underneath, it questions identity, power, love, and race.

The rural Florida dialect was exquisite. I'm very glad I listened to this on audiobook rather than read it. I'm a little worried that on paper, I might have given up because of that dialect. Ruby Dee was an excellent narrator though. Her pronunciation and the emotions she emitted made the story come to life in so many ways that part of me wonders if I would have even liked this book if I had read it.

I love the question of race in this book. It was interesting to the racism within the black community, not against white people, but against lighter or darker skinned black people. Janie's relationship with Tea Cake questions independence and power.

Overall, a very good book which I would encourage anyone to read, or listen, to! ( )

The reputation of Hurston's novel as a definitive work with the canon of African American and Feminist literature is known to most reader's even before they turn to the first page, and such a reputation is justified. Hurston's alternation between an almost surreal narrative laden with metaphors and a phonetic dialogue of modeled after the speech of black southerners may catch some off guard at first, but such a technique ultimately serves to enhance the smooth readability of the work. The novel's gives us a female protagonist in search of identity, who realizes ultimately that such a quest requires us to examine how we as human beings define ourselves as well as our relationships. Though all of this does make for a quick and impacting read, Hurston's writing lacks the ability to evoke empathy, to drive a hook into the heart of the reader, that is possessed by her successors such as Walker and Wright. ( )

Another book that I recently re-read that stands up well to a second reading. Hurston's novel, unlike many classics, is as impressive and as relevant today as it was when written.

Hurston's story of Janie, a fair-skinned black woman caught in the time period between the end of slavery and the civil rights movement, is the first woman in her family who has the opportunity to be defined as something other than property. Janie is unable to define herself or seek out the independence for which she longs; however, this is not due to the racism or prejudices of white society (in fact, there isn't a prominent white character in the book). Instead, Hurston takes a fascinating look at intraracial racism. Janie's obvious "whiteness" sets her apart from the black community. At first, she's envied for her pretty hand-me-down dresses and hair ribbons that she obtains from the kind white family for which her grandmother works. Coupled with her straight hair (which hangs down to her waist), her exquisite beauty, and her light skin, she defies color categorization and leaves the question of "What is black?" lacking a definite answer. Later, she's an outcast because her second husband's "big voice" and quest for power in the all black community of Eatonville comes to be identified with the white masters of days gone by, and Janie comes to be seen in the role of the Southern plantation "mistress."

In addition, Hurston explores the repression of women in a patriarchal society. Janie's grandmother tells her that the black woman is the "mule of the world," the lowest of the low. Janie finds this to be true in her first two marriages, as she is treated like property by Logan Killicks and is later objectified by Jody Starks. It isn't until she meets Tea Cake, a man half her age, that Janie begins to live life on her own terms and not by the definition her man has set forth for her.

Whether you like the novel or not, it's importance to African-American and feminist literature is undeniable. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1330453...

I found this a fascinating novel. The protagonist, Janie, is a black woman growing up in rural Florida some time around the late nineteenth / early twentieth century; Hurston tells us the story of her childhood, her three marriages, natural disaster, and trial for murder. A lot of the book - the first chapter, which frames the rest of the story which is told as flashback, and Janie's second marriage - is set in Eatonville, the first of the historic black towns which I wasn't really aware of until I read Beverly Jenkins. Hurston was also an anthropologist and has a convincing ear for dialect. (She also integrates it far better into her narrative than, say, Stephen Crane.) Strongly recommended. ( )

Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a masterpiece. I began this book last evening and finished it this morning. I felt sad when I put it down realizing that this exquisitely gifted author had given us such a small amount of literature. And yet also, when I put it down I sat smiling with joy at the piece I had just read.
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" is basically a love story, but not. It is basically a coming of age story, but not. It is basically a story of black humanity after their liberation from slavery, but not. This book fits into no category that I know of. It is the story of a young black girl, Janie, growing up in free Western Florida and raised by her "Nanny"; her mother having run off shortly after her birth. She was the progeny of her mother and a schoolteacher who had raped her. Her grandmother raised her with a lot of love, devotion and protected her from all that she could.
When the girl came to her middle teens and became interested in the opposite sex, her grandmother arranged a marriage for her in the hopes of keeping her chaste. It was a loveless marriage to a much older man and as time went on he turned from treating her very well to expecting her to chop wood, plow and work right alongside him. When her grandmother died Janie ran off with another man who came through town and promised her the moon.
Joe Starks did indeed give Janie almost everything she could want; everything she could want but himself. He took her to a new town inhabited only by black people where he decided that they needed a mayor to run things, that they needed more property to build rental housing, that they needed a general store and a post office. And he proceeded to work his way into their hearts as he had done Janie's and he accomplished all that plus he built her a big beautiful home. As time went by she became less and less important to Joe Starks and he became more and more important to himself. Janie's heart began to turn and while she still loved him, she began to see him as he truly was.
Stark became ill and Janie nursed him until he realized that she felt contempt for him and he refused to allow her in his sick room. Others from the community came to nurse and feed him, but his illness continued to his death. He left Janie well off and she mourned for a time and then seemed content and turned all comers away. She had no interest in another man.
Then she met "Tea Cake" and the story from here on is almost pure joy. For me, this was what the book had been building up to all along, though I didn't realize it until I got here.
Hurston's words flow poetically from page to page. Her turn of a phrase is so beautiful that I found myself reading entire passages over and over again just to hear the language and phrasing. Her metaphors are wonderfully fitting to the situation in the story and the book is full of them. The book is very easily read and I highly recommend it and any of her writings. ( )