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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Original price was: $17.99.$11.24Current price is: $11.24.
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A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
“A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.” —Zadie Smith
One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Original price was: $17.99.$11.24Current price is: $11.24.
Amel –
A very beautiful story depicting the struggle that being a woman of color was like in the early 20th century! Janie’s character is a very interesting one, and I particularly enjoyed her growth throughout the novel!
The writing style does take some getting used to but I think Zora Neale Hurston’s style adds so much authenticity to the story! Definitely a book to consider reading!
Jess Hungate –
This is – or, more realistically, should most certainly be – a classic, for those interested in long gone-by and extremely poetic description of how blacks used to live in America. The language, and the emotions portrayed, are so raw and so vital. Its a great read – highly recommended!
Sebastian Dornbach –
Authentische und mitreissende Geschichte! Besonders die besondere Schreibweise der Dialoge macht das Lesen sehr authentisch und flüssig. Klare Weiterempfehlung an alle
Joel Marks –
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.
LP –
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.
MMarbach –
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.
G. Bailey –
The story started off sad, but it picked up. I enjoyed reading about how the characters talked to each other. They were friends and had great respect for each other
Myosotis –
Cuando vi las malas reseñas tuve miedo de que el producto llegara deteriorado porque muchas de las malas reseñas es por este tema, pero me llegó en perfecto estado. Preciosa editorial. En cuanto a las malas reseñas porque es complicado de leer, sí, lo es, pero hay que informarse antes de por qué es complicado, investigar un poco. Yo ya lo sabía e iba preparada. Y es que la autora transcribió fielmente la forma de hablar de los afroamericanos, pero es algo que cuando te acostumbras y lees despacio, no encarna tantos problemas.
L –
Opens a window on a fascinating place and time in history I had known nothing about.
Written in beautiful poetic prose and dialect, the latter hard going but so vivid that the characters come to life.