Their Eyes Were Watching God in Never too Late to Read Classics

Dec 05, 2013 Antonomasia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, 1001-books, 2014, decade-1930s, american

[4.5] I didn't like all the essays in Zadie Smith's Changing My Mind, but the piece about Their Eyes Were Watching God was excellent - and all the more likeable to me because she talked about her teenage reluctance to a) have the cultural background of one side of her family foisted on her when she was more interested in other things; and b) read this book because of the demographics of the author. She was, of course, surprised to find that she loved the book when she finally did read it. And I ...more

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May 31, 2012 midnightfaerie rated it liked it

Shelves: classics

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was a piece of black literature that was infinitely more poignant than Uncle Tom's Cabin, yet the plausibility has yet to be decided. I also enjoyed it much more than Uncle Tom's Cabin. The story is about Janie, a beautiful black woman and her journey into adulthood, and on through three marriages that shapes who and what she becomes. Although many criticize Hurston's use of authentic literary diction ("Dey gointuh make 'miration 'cause mah love Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was a piece of black literature that was infinitely more poignant than Uncle Tom's Cabin, yet the plausibility has yet to be decided. I also enjoyed it much more than Uncle Tom's Cabin. The story is about Janie, a beautiful black woman and her journey into adulthood, and on through three marriages that shapes who and what she becomes. Although many criticize Hurston's use of authentic literary diction ("Dey gointuh make 'miration 'cause mah love didn't work lak they love, if dey ever had any. Then you must tell'em dat love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch."), to me, it was much like Shakespeare, once you got to reading, it grew on you. It also added to the reading experience.

When I mention plausibility, the story loses this for me when a character does something I can't understand or relate to. If a character's action is so far removed from something I'd ever do, I'm either left feeling cheated or I'm left with the only other alternative, that the character is an idiot. And I didn't want Janie to be an idiot. I'm speaking of the hurricane and not leaving the lake. Much like a Stephen King book I once read, I wonder how any person cannot leave a situation when they see every other creature known to mankind leave, friend and foe alike, in the same direction. The Indians left first, then the townies, then a few of their own, and still, I could maybe understand their decision to stay in spite of the hurricane. However, when the wolves and snakes and every other natural born enemies begin to all move together in an eastwardly direction, with no thought or concern for who's walking next to them, who wouldn't get the hell out of there? Hence, my decision of low intelligence that I attributed to the characters.

The only rationalization that I could possibly come up with to excuse Janie and Tea Cake would be that they were both extremely adept at talking themselves out of thinking that they could be in any danger. They were both excellent at denial. They just didn't want to leave so they convinced themselves that there was nothing to worry about. Maybe. This is still a far-fetched rationalization in my opinion.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I also found the whole inception into popularity interesting as well. For the first thirty years after the novel was published in 1937 it went largely unread and was not thought well of by many a critic. The most popular opinion seemed to be that Hurston didn't depict enough turmoil and hardship of black life in the south and made her life out to be almost nice compared to what most really went through, according to the critics. This is why, they said, this literature could not be taken seriously. Then, little by little, it grew in popularity in certain circles. It was an underground phenomenon, especially in the sixties, during a time where questioning, self-realization, and woman's studies became more prominent. Then in the early seventies, Alice Walker began to teach it in African-American studies. Walker was appalled at how it had been deemed unimportant and even went so far as to go on a quest to find Hurston's grave and honor it. Then it was so popular, they couldn't keep up with the demand in 1975 and was out of print. It only grew in popularity from there.

For a novel with such a tentative and unappreciated beginning, to a popularity in required reading classes, this little book has had quite the journey. I think it deserves more recognition. Mostly because of Janie, our self-reliant, articulate, and ever evolving heroine. She's someone we can admire. Through her adversity she triumphs, she's a strong woman who doesn't look back when walking away from one man who she's already married to, to marry another. Her story wasn't tragic, and she wasn't pathetic, like so many women characters written during this time. And even though her story was sad, she's still going strong, ever standing in the end, to the tenacity and credit of her spirit.

The book has been respected for a while, it has many underlying themes pertaining to the human condition, and it has a huge following. I believe this book can be considered a classic. The only reason it's not a four are the issues I stated earlier dealing with the hurricane. But highly recommended and well worth the read.

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