Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel

This book truly deserves a place among the great books in American literature. It is well written in wonderfully rich, lyrical prose with frequent quotable epigrammatic insights into our lives. ("There are years that ask questions and years that answer.") It is the fictional biography of a poor black woman written by a brilliant, black, female writer which speaks so universally to our individual human needs that it appeals even to an old white male like me! It is a book about life and about people which just happens to have a poor, black, female lead character. The language of the book may be off putting to some because Hurston attempts to graphically reproduce a rural Floridian dialect just after the turn of the 20th century. At first it helps to read aloud --even while alone, but it isn't too difficult to master and soon becomes part of the book's character and charm. It would be a fun book to read aloud with others as part of a book club or drama exercise. Despite her dialectical storytelling, her prose are brilliant and lyrical, and her use of imagery and metaphor is as ingenious as any of Garcia-Marquez' best stuff. She has a similar ability to sum up a whole character in a few well chosen images. E.g. her description of mayor Joe Starks, "He can’t help bein’ sorta bossy. Some folks needs thrones, and ruling- chairs and crowns tuh make they influence felt. He don’t. He’s got uh throne in de seat of his pants.” A whole character summed up in one brilliant image! You feel you know the man and could predict his behavior based on this one word picture! This story is wonderful and wonderfully told from start to finish. Hurston's characters are rich and human and Janie, the main character, is well developed and grows from each of her significant relationships over the course of her life. The storyline serves to develop the characters who exist to show what it is to be human; to love, to lose, to feel and to be both crushed and exhilarated by simply living our lives as they come rushing at us.

This is a fantastic story. I loved the plot. It's complex, yet easy to understand (once you get used to the colloquial dialect). SPOILER ALERT - I like how the story unfolds. All the poor black people are finally done with work, so they sit on their porches and watch Janie as she comes home. Everybody gossips and wonders where she has been and what has happened to her. Her friend Pheoby goes to ask her, and Janie tells Pheoby all about what has happened in her life. She tells Pheoby about what Nanny said. What happened was that when Nanny saw Janie kissing a boy, she (Nanny) decided to tell Janie that she always wanted to see Janie get married, instead of ending up like her (Nanny). She tells Janie that she (Nanny) was a slave, and that the overseer was the father of Janie's mom, and that the overseer's wife said she was going to see her (Nanny) punished for having a baby with her husband, the overseer. So one night Nanny and the baby (Janie's mom) escaped. Eventually they were taken in by nice white people who helped put Janie's mom through school. Then Janie goes on to explain that one day her mom literally crawled back home to Nanny. It turns out she (Janie's mom) was molested by a schoolteacher, of all people. That's how Janie ended up coming into the world (she never meets the schoolteacher, who is her natural father. He's out of the story. He's just barely mentioned). Anyway, Nanny said that she didn't want any of that sort of thing to happen to Janie. So Janie met Logan Killicks and married him. At first he was nice to her, but then he treated her like dirt, so she left him for another smooth-talking guy named Joe Starks, who was also called Jody. Joe was very ambitious. He married Janie, then made himself become the mayor of the town, and of course, Janie became the mayor's wife. At first, Jody was nice to her, but then he was less and less kind and sweet as time went on. For example, he didn't let her wear her hair down. He scolded her about every little thing. They ran a grocery store, but he always told her she was doing everything wrong. Also, he didn't like to see her talking to anybody. He was very bossy and controlling. After about 20 years, Janie became hardened and eventually told him off. She didn't hate him or anything, but she didn't let him mistreat her anymore, especially when she noticed that he was not as handsome as he used to be, and he had begun getting saggy and flabby and frail and weak. He soon died from poor health After about eight or nine months, Janie was visited by another smooth-talker whose nickname was Tea Cake. They started hanging out together, and cooking fish and corn bread and eating together, and going hunting and fishing and to the movies. Eventually Janie and Tea Cake got married. Tea Cake wasn't a bad guy at all, although he was mainly good for only gambling (and winning), and growing beans. Growing beans is what he did when they moved to the Everglades in Florida. Then there was a terrible hurricane. Tea Cake and Janie seemed to be watching the sky (but "their eyes were watching God", to see what God would do about the hurricane, and to see whether God would let them live). While trying to escape the hurricane, Tea Cake got bitten by a dog when he was trying to prevent the dog from attacking Janie as she hung on to the tail of a cow in order to survive the hurricane floods. Eventually, Tea Cake ended up getting rabies (it wasn't specified in the book, but the symptoms of rabies were described---for example, Tea Cake could no longer tolerate water). When he lurched toward her with a gun in his hand, she had to end up shooting him dead. She went to trial and was found innocent. After the trial, she picked herself up and went back home, and the story ends with her telling her friend Pheoby that this was the way things happened.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is a powerful read for all. It teaches both men and women, adults and children, the power of respect, equality, love, and freedom, especially for women. This book is a solid 4 out of 5 and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great story, that is not overwhelming to read. In my opinion, the book starts slow and is sometimes difficult to read on, however don’t give up on it. About a quarter of the way through, my eyes were glued to this book. I felt a connection to Janie and I wanted to see how her life panned out. When I reached the final few pages, I was actually sad it was over (which shocked me because I was so bored in the beginning). This book originally grabbed my attention because it was narrated by a strong female character. Janie is a fair-skinned African American woman who grew up in poverty with her traditional grandmother, Nanny. Stuck in the time before “equality” existed, Nanny wanted Janie to live a life of leisure, something she was unable to have. She married Janie off to Logan Killicks at a very young age. Janie then left Logan to venture to a new town with Joe Starks who offered her a grandiose and comfortable life, where she didn’t have to work and he could show her off. In a naive way, she believed that Joe loved her and wanted nothing but the best for her, however as he became more obsessed with his store and his town, she became more oppressed by his harsh words and head kerchiefs he forced her to wear. As Janie moves onto her third marriage to Tea Cake, she finally finds the relationship she is looking for. She knew “he could be a bee to a blossom--- a pear tree blossom in the spring.” This was something she dreamed of, having a relationship wear she could lay under a pear tree and simply be in love. This book sends a powerful message about the importance of an equal relationship. Janie is oppressed by Logan and Joe, leaving her sad and lonely. When Tea Cake comes along and takes her to picnics, hunting or fishing, and teaches her to drive she realizes what she has been missing for years. He even chopped down a tree she didn’t like, along with “all those signs of possession” in Joe Stark’s house. Despite the strong relationship they have, Tea Cake still has control over Janie. He takes her money and goes off spending it without her permission, but she can’t say anything about it. This made me very angry. He also whips her when she talks to another man, though nothing was going on between them. He believes that “being able to whip her reassured him in possession.” She doesn’t let these things affect her because she loves Tea Cake and believes God is working in her life. When she comes to terms with this, she finally finds peace. At the end of the novel, when she is completely free of all relationships and ties to people, Janie is truly a happy woman. She is described pulling in “her horizon like a great fish-net” and “calling in her soul to come and see” the life in its meshes. At this moment her life is fulfilled. This book hit all emotions. I was sad and felt empathy for Janie, I was happy, and I was angry beyond belief. Sometimes I laughed, while other times I wanted to tell one of the characters off. This story that Hurston created is so relatable that I felt aspects of Janie’s life in my own, even without the many years of experience she had. I truly believe that I could go back and read this book in a couple of years and learn a whole slew of new lessons.

Why did it take me so long to read this beautiful book? It also took me too long to write this review because I finished this book about a month ago. During this time, I have not forgotten Janie or Tea Cake. They are characters that will stay with me. The story is Janie’s, her journey through life and towards happiness. Written decades ago, it feels timeless. The writing is seamless. Not a spare word, but at the same time there were stunningly vivid descriptions of people and places that brought out every sense. My dad, an avid reader and writer, has always said that the most talented authors can say it all in fewer words, and that she does, writing with intention and purpose. I did not find the dialect hard to read, perhaps because I live in the south, but also it is consistent throughout, and it added so much to the authenticity of time and place in the story. As I mentioned above, Janie is very much on a journey. The first chapter foreshadows that she’s been on a journey that’s not gone well, and she’s now home. For the entire book, I thought I knew what that journey may have been, how it went with Tea Cake, and I was entirely wrong. I loved every bit of that because the journey was a complete surprise to me. Through a series of marriages, she finds her true love, and through him, love for herself. I have to mention the hurricane Janie and Tea Cake experience. Having lived through several myself, I never had to experience on literally on the ground, on foot, running to escape the winds and rising waters. I felt like I was alongside them as they make their treacherous escape. One of the biggest messages in the story is that people are complex and imperfect. You can love a person and not love everything they do. When characters are drawn this way, as they are in this book, they become living, breathing real people, and that’s exactly how I felt the entire time I read this book. I’m disappointed with myself that I didn’t write this review sooner after reading because I think my feelings would have flowed better. If this is a classic you haven’t read, it’s more than worth the read. Between the spare writing and shorter length, it’s a quick read, too. As many of you know, I hardly ever re-read, but this is one I will re-visit because I know I will get even more out of it the next time. As it is, I highlighted dozens of beautiful passages. Zora Neale Hurston was an immensely talented writer, and this book was not given the recognition it deserved during her lifetime. I look forward to exploring her other works.

I love this book. It’s a love story. I’m not used to coming across two characters in a novel who simply adore each other and merit their mutual adoration. These days one always expects a “catch.” And indeed life will catch up with these lovers. But the impression remains a happy one. But a story alone does not make a great novel, and what makes this one great is that it is well written and downright fun to read. The author was courageous to put most of the book into dialect. I have no idea how politically correct this is or isn’t by today’s lights. But it worked for me, and it seemed to fit the many subsidiary characters in the book as well, who had story and joke after story to tell one another. There is no question that it all takes place against a background that is far from funny or happy. But for once there is a book that shows how genuine happiness can nevertheless emerge under trying circumstances. Also, the main character, a strong and interesting woman, pays her dues along the way. And she’s no angel – just regular folk. But that’s good enough.

*spoilers This book deserves 5 stars for the language alone. Hurston's lyricism and use of the African-American vernacular of the period is just brilliant. I've never read a book where the characters and time are so vividly rendered through speech. The blending of the narrator voice and characters perspectives is masterful. While race is very important in the book Hurston was not overtly political and this was one of the reasons she fell into obscurity. Her themes about freedom and love are universal but she also provides many insights into different forms of oppression, particularly of women. Her characters are not defined by the relationship to white society and she explores life in a black community in all its facets, showing both the positive and negative sides of this community. I thought it was very poignant when Janie admitted to herself that she hated her grandmother because her limited worldview, shaped by the experience of slavery, meant she couldn't dream of anything more for her granddaughter than a loveless marriage. Janie wants more from life and she's willing to risk everything to find it. It's ironic that her first attempt at freedom lands her in a gilded cage and it's only after her second husband dies that she finds real love through Tea Cake. Their time together is the happiest of her life and his terrible death confirms how much they meant to each other. I did find it a bit annoying that they had to do manual labour in the Everglades because Tea Cake refused to live off her money and his conversation with the other men about beating her was very disturbing but realistic. Throughout the book Janie is defined by her marriages and I really wanted to know more about her life after Tea Cake died. Did she carry on as an independent woman or was she infected by rabies when her bit her and destined to follow him to the grave? There was never any mention of her taking serum but as the doctor knew about the bite maybe we are supposed to assume that she did. Overall a fascinating, enjoyable read.

Was a different version than pictured. Still the same book but was not the exact one that is pictured in the profile.

This story about Janie Crawford, a black woman in the South who wants to love and be loved, is spectacular. In Zora Neale Hurston's capable hands, the reader vicariously experiences several incarnations of Janie's life from poor to rich, disrespected to loved, and desperate to satisfied. Steeped in the Black vernacular of the times, a ripe understanding of people, and told in brilliant poetic prose, Their Eyes Are Watching God is a lush read. A simple sentence by Hurston transports me to Janie's world, "The morning road air was like a new dress." Her descriptions gift us with a character's essence, "Daisy is walking a drum tune. You can almost hear it by looking at the way she walks. She is black and she knows that white clothes look good on her, so she wears them for dress up. She’s got those big black eyes with plenty shiny white in them that makes them shine like brand new money and she knows what God gave women eyelashes for, too." Her deft portrayals of life enthrall, "The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God." Her takes on humanity resonate, "Then the band played, and Tea Cake rode like a Pharaoh to his tomb. No expensive veils and robes for Janie this time. She went on in her overalls. She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief." Her many memorable, quotable lines shine bright, "Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town." In 1973, Alice Walker had a headstone placed at her gravesite with this epitaph: “Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South." Indeed.