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Their Eyes Were Watching God

(P.S.)

By Zora Neale Hurston

(38)

| Paperback | 9780060838676

Book Description

Their Eyes Were Watching God, an American classic, is a luminous and haunting novel about Janie Crawford, a Southern black woman in the 1930s whose journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance has inspired writers and readers for close to seventy years.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God, an American classic, is a luminous and haunting novel about Janie Crawford, a Southern black woman in the 1930s whose journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance has inspired writers and readers for close to seventy years.

This poetic, graceful love story, rooted in black folk traditions and steeped in mythic realism, celebrates, boldly and brilliantly, African-American culture and heritage. And in a powerful, mesmerizing narrative, it pays quiet tribute to a black woman, who, though constricted by the times, still demanded to be heard.

Originally published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God met significant commercial but divided critical acclaim. Somewhat forgotten after her death, Zora Neale Hurston was rediscovered by a number of black authors in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and reintroduced to a greater readership by Alice Walker in her 1972 essay "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston," written for Ms. magazine. Long out of print, the book was reissued after a petition was circulated at the Modern Language Association Convention in 1975, and nearly three decades later Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a seminal novel of American fiction.

With a new foreword by the celebrated novelist Edwidge Danticat -- author of Eyes, Breath, Memory; The Farming of Bones; and Krik?Krak! -- this edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God commemorates the singular, inimitable voice in America's literary canon and highlights its unusual publication history.

6 Reviews

  • 3 people find this helpful

    Reading Their Eyes Were Watching God

    In the past year or two, I've become quite interested in the literature of the Harlem Renaissance (for more information on this era/movement, read the excellent young adult book Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill). This era, which saw a blossoming of art, liter ... (continue)

    In the past year or two, I've become quite interested in the literature of the Harlem Renaissance (for more information on this era/movement, read the excellent young adult book Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill). This era, which saw a blossoming of art, literature, music and culture in the African-American community, took place right after World War I and was centered in New York City. Famous writers of the time include Nella Larsen, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Walter White, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, whose novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is the subject of this entry.

    This heartbreakingly poignant novel centers on the growth of its female protagonist, Janie, as we see her move from a childhood amongst a white family (she is stunned when she sees a picture of herself with the group, realizing that she is black) to her arranged marriage to a man whom her grandmother selected for her. She then runs away with a snazzy, smart man who becomes mayor of the town where they choose to take up residence. In neither of these cases does she find the love that she so desperately desires. It is a younger man who goes by the dubious moniker of Tea Cake who finally makes her heart soar, though their together is turbulent and the reader is constantly left wondering if he is the man she believes him to be.

    The style of the book is fairly ingenious, moving back and forth from eloquent descriptive prose to more down-to-earth dialogue. The reader grows with Janie; she is an entirely sympathetic character in a book that is a joy to read.

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    ― moogle said on Mar 28, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Short review for a huge novel

    I really appreciated the fact this is neither a black or a female coming-of-age novel, but a universal Bildungsroman. Hurston's mastery in the use of symbols and language(s) makes this work a masterpiece.

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    ― Jadran said on Aug 19, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    一個黑人女性由祖母及丈夫的愛中自我覺醒的故事。

    雖然時間線拉得很長（跟Jonah's Gourd Vine一樣），但是這次處理得很不錯，沒有時空跳接或過於累贅的問題，內心描寫的比喻以及互動場景恰如其分，非常動人。女性主義及族群問題漂亮的融入Janie的生命歷程中，而沒有過於先進（以角色的教育背景、社會地位及時空背景來看）之感。本書中延續黑人方言的對白，很有特色但是讀者可能要一點時間來習慣，唸出來吧！這樣就知道在說什麼。

    最值得一提的事本書充滿黑人社群傳統、口述文學傳統以及希臘悲劇式（黑人社群令我聯想到希臘戲劇中的歌隊(chorus)）的開場，很久沒看到這麼令我印象深刻的 ... (continue)

    一個黑人女性由祖母及丈夫的愛中自我覺醒的故事。

    雖然時間線拉得很長（跟Jonah's Gourd Vine一樣），但是這次處理得很不錯，沒有時空跳接或過於累贅的問題，內心描寫的比喻以及互動場景恰如其分，非常動人。女性主義及族群問題漂亮的融入Janie的生命歷程中，而沒有過於先進（以角色的教育背景、社會地位及時空背景來看）之感。本書中延續黑人方言的對白，很有特色但是讀者可能要一點時間來習慣，唸出來吧！這樣就知道在說什麼。

    最值得一提的事本書充滿黑人社群傳統、口述文學傳統以及希臘悲劇式（黑人社群令我聯想到希臘戲劇中的歌隊(chorus)）的開場，很久沒看到這麼令我印象深刻的開場了。

    綜合以上，本書不愧為Zora Neale Hurston經典作品，也是黑人女性文學第一本傑作。

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    ― Sophie said on Apr 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • un libro bellissimo, su cui scrissi un paper universitario un anno fa (casomai interessasse a qualcuno..è troppo lungo per metterlo qua ovviamente). La storia di una donna di colore, che deve affrontare non solo i pregiudizi che il suo colore comporta presso i bianchi, ma anche i pregiudizi che la s ... (continue)

    un libro bellissimo, su cui scrissi un paper universitario un anno fa (casomai interessasse a qualcuno..è troppo lungo per metterlo qua ovviamente). La storia di una donna di colore, che deve affrontare non solo i pregiudizi che il suo colore comporta presso i bianchi, ma anche i pregiudizi che la sua condizione di donna comporta presso gli uomini della sua comunità.
    Una donna che attraversa diverse storie d'amore e diversi luoghi geografici, senza mai venir meno al suo desiderio d'amore e di identità, restando al contempo fedele alla sua comunità e ai legami emotivi con le sue antenate.

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    ― Oshima said on Oct 14, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    A beautifully written, powerful novel. I've heard some people have been put off by the dialect, but for me, that really brought the characters to life.

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    ― Readingrat said on Nov 27, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

    A timeless classic of the Harlem Renaissance era.

    After reading this novel and discovering that Zora Neale Hurston was the recipient of 2 Guggenheims, the author of 4 novels, 12 short stories, 12 essays, 2 musicals, and 2 black mythologies, I could not help wondering how this literary giant disappeared from us for nearly 3 decades. To my disappoint ... (continue)

    After reading this novel and discovering that Zora Neale Hurston was the recipient of 2 Guggenheims, the author of 4 novels, 12 short stories, 12 essays, 2 musicals, and 2 black mythologies, I could not help wondering how this literary giant disappeared from us for nearly 3 decades. To my disappointment I learned that her disappearance was due to her peers (mainly Richard Wright) criticizing her openly and publicly for not writing about the so-called "serious social trends" of the time.

    Read more: http://www.thegritsbookclub.com/Reviews/TheirEyes.html

    Is this helpful?

    ― thegrits said on Oct 15, 2007 | Add your feedback

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