From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 28, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: February 2018 Completist Book Club Poll Winner
[close] February 2018 Completist Book Club Poll Winner

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Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Feb 08, 2018 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, hoopla, tear-jerkers, classic, 2018, completist-book-club, audio

There are two ways to approach this book:

1. Enjoy the writing! Take in the dialect and try to put yourself in the atmosphere that is created by Hurston’s fantastic prose and poetry. (Side note: The audio version narrated by Ruby Dee only makes this better)
2. While reading, think about this as more of a historical fiction story. Take a moment to read a bit about the South between the Civil War and World War I. How does the end of slavery and the establishment of a free black community in the Sout There are two ways to approach this book:

1. Enjoy the writing! Take in the dialect and try to put yourself in the atmosphere that is created by Hurston’s fantastic prose and poetry. (Side note: The audio version narrated by Ruby Dee only makes this better)
2. While reading, think about this as more of a historical fiction story. Take a moment to read a bit about the South between the Civil War and World War I. How does the end of slavery and the establishment of a free black community in the South affect the progression of the story? What are the attitudes within the black community?

I was able to do a bit of both with this.

I thought the writing was great. While there were times the dialect and the content caused me to get a little lost, in general I loved getting into the world created by Hurston. While the story was simple, the simple intricacies of the writing were anything but. Sometimes when combining poetical writing into a story it feels forced – almost like the writer is trying to impress you with their ability to be flowery and fancy. That was not the case here. With this book, the Hurston couldn’t help but combine poetry with her prose.

As I was reading I could not help but think about the climate of the Southern United States at the time of this story. I am reading Gone With The Wind at the same time as I am reading this and it really is a great companion story to give additional fuel to my thoughts on where black Americans in the south stood during the Civil War, how they came out of it, and where things were for them going into the 20th century. What is also fascinating is to read about the attitudes within the black community; while we might think that everyone was united in the black community after the Civil War, that was not necessarily the case.

If you like historical fiction, stories about American people during different eras, well-written prose combined with well-written poetry, you should check this book out. It is great for either a getaway into great writing, or lots of fuel for a discussion about a volatile era in American history. ...more

90 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2022 Jess Penhallow rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: boxall-s

This classic has been sitting on my shelf for a while so I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. Although I was frustrated by a lot the decisions she made, Janie was a great character who was strong minded, adventurous, romantic and loving. You really want to root for her to get her happy ending. The men in her life are a whole other matter but you can understand what attracted her to each of them.

The real triumph of this book is in the writing. It is lyrical without being dense of flowery ...more

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