From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 15, 2021

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Matt

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Classics Corner

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What Members Thought

Oct 22, 2014 Renata rated it really liked it

Tough reading, but what a powerful story. Glad I read it, finally!

17 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2015 Dree rated it liked it

Shelves: african-am-can-diaspora-lit, the-south, 1001-read, 2015-reads, the-novel-project, 1000-guardian-read

I don't love books that are written in dialect--because I have such a hard time reading it. I had to read a fair amount of this out loud so I could get the meanings, which were not obvious to me in the written form.

I know a lot of people love this book. I wouldn't say I love it, but I would say it is a great book for high school and college students to read. Eatonville is a real place, and Hurston grew up there. A real all-black town, and because she grew up in such a place she had a strong sens ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 23, 2009 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american-fiction, audio-books, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, virago-modern-classics, read-2013

From BBC radio 4 - Book at Bedtime:
African-American classic, first published in the 1930s, which tells Janie's story in dazzling Southern prose. Read by Adjoa Andoh. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2018 Linda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cultural, own, audio, fiction, ill-chcpl, classic, 2018, banned-book

Even though I had just read this book, when I heard the audio version recorded by Ruby Dee recommended. So, I securred it and listened. Ruby Dee's performance is powerful and perfect. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2014 Rosana rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books, 2015, the-novel, roundtable-w15-challenge

I first tried this book in audio format, but I had a lot of trouble following the dialogues in heavy accented language.

I then read it, and I am glad I did, but I have to say it did not live up to my expectations. It should get extra points for the opening lines, which are among the most memorable book openings I have ever came across, but the book structure
felt contrived, and some of the characters close to caricatures.

Overall it was an uneven book, with moments of brilliancy and poetry, while ...more

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Aug 16, 2025 William rated it it was amazing

A great book with one of the best opening paragraphs I’ve read: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”
It traces the life of Janie Crawford, a light skinned black woman’s pursuit of freedom from the demands of societal norms, dominating husbands, racism a ...more

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Jul 25, 2010 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: southern, 1001

Compelling in a quieter way today than when Hurston was writing, but still powerful and moving - a tribute to how the choices we make shape us in ways not always positive, but easier to bear when we know they're our own. ...more

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Jun 15, 2018 Linda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, chcpl, hardback, 2018, transcon-book-discussion, great-american-read, banned-book

Wow, did I get sucked into this gem. I was so into Janie. I feared she was waking into something that would not turn out well after her second husband died and Tea Cake came hangin' 'round. The book is related in dialect, so, I was acting it out in my mind.

I'm eager to hear what the others in the Skype book discussion feel about this one. I'd read it again. Hard to believe that it was not well received when it was first published in 1937. ...more

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Mar 11, 2008 Clackamas rated it really liked it

Shelves: college-lists-and-classics

I hadn't read this since high school, so gave it a reread. It's still good. I still can't relate. Her first husband seemed fine. Her second one might have been if she had ever asserted herself. But she had to have Tea Cake.

Different time, different place, different dynamics at play. ...more

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