Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
Harper Perennial, 2006 (1937)
256 p., $15.95
Unabridged Audio, Narrated by Ruby Dee
Caedmon, 2004
7 discs, 8 hrs
Janie has had three husbands and just come back from her third with nothing but her overalls on her back and everyone in Eaton, Florida is wondering why she left her husband Tea Cake. What follows is the long and lilting tale of a strong, beautiful, intelligent, southern black woman who has finally found and lost the love of her life. At times poetic and others gritty and realistic, Hurston's evocative prose is a sumptuous feast of language. Her vibrant descriptions of the Florida towns and the feelings welling up inside her character Janie are so moving that I would fall into a reverie, wondering about the pollen and sunshine and who would kiss me over the fence.
It's cliche to say that I laughed and I cried, but it's true on both counts. Numerous times I was brought to tears by the heartwrenching loneliness that Janie felt with her first two husbands and how much she came to love Tea Cake. And there were so many times that I laughed out loud it must have seemed strange to the people on the bus.
I listened to the audio version of this book, and Ruby Dee's performance was immaculate. From character voices to intonation to story telling suspense, she captured every word flawlessly, and I found myself completely enwrapt in her voice. I also find myself falling into that southern backwoods drawl while recounting the story to friends. This is where the audio version actually facilitates the reading, as the print is written in that same kind of dialect. But once you get used to the rhythm and the sound of it the dialect is an easy hurdle to surmount.
Beautiful, tragic, gorgeous, wonderful, inspiring... All of the above.
I would recommend this book to anyone.
Zora Neale Hurston
Harper Perennial, 2006 (1937)
256 p., $15.95
Unabridged Audio, Narrated by Ruby Dee
Caedmon, 2004
7 discs, 8 hrs
Janie has had three husbands and just come back from her third with nothing but her overalls on her back and everyone in Eaton, Florida is wondering why she left her husband Tea Cake. What follows is the long and lilting tale of a strong, beautiful, intelligent, southern black woman who has finally found and lost the love of her life. At times poetic and others gritty and realistic, Hurston's evocative prose is a sumptuous feast of language. Her vibrant descriptions of the Florida towns and the feelings welling up inside her character Janie are so moving that I would fall into a reverie, wondering about the pollen and sunshine and who would kiss me over the fence.
It's cliche to say that I laughed and I cried, but it's true on both counts. Numerous times I was brought to tears by the heartwrenching loneliness that Janie felt with her first two husbands and how much she came to love Tea Cake. And there were so many times that I laughed out loud it must have seemed strange to the people on the bus.
I listened to the audio version of this book, and Ruby Dee's performance was immaculate. From character voices to intonation to story telling suspense, she captured every word flawlessly, and I found myself completely enwrapt in her voice. I also find myself falling into that southern backwoods drawl while recounting the story to friends. This is where the audio version actually facilitates the reading, as the print is written in that same kind of dialect. But once you get used to the rhythm and the sound of it the dialect is an easy hurdle to surmount.
Beautiful, tragic, gorgeous, wonderful, inspiring... All of the above.
I would recommend this book to anyone.