Their Eyes Were Watching God

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At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was the preeminent black woman writer in the United States. She was a sometime-collaborator with Langston Hughes and a fierce rival of Richard Wright. Her stories appeared in major magazines, she consulted on Hollywood screenplays, and she penned four novels, an autobiography, countless essays, and two books on black mythology. Yet by the late 1950s, Hurston was living in obscurity, working as a maid in a Florida hotel. She died in 1960 in a Welfare home, was buried in an unmarked grave, and quickly faded from literary consciousness until 1975 when Alice Walker almost single-handedly revived interest in her work.

Of Hurston's fiction, Their Eyes Were Watching God is arguably the best-known and perhaps the most controversial. The novel follows the fortunes of Janie Crawford, a woman living in the black town of Eaton, Florida. Hurston sets up her characters and her locale in the first chapter, which, along with the last, acts as a framing device for the story of Janie's life. Unlike Wright and Ralph Ellison, Hurston does not write explicitly about black people in the context of a white world--a fact that earned her scathing criticism from the social realists--but she doesn't ignore the impact of black-white relations either:

It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.

One person the citizens of Eaton are inclined to judge is Janie Crawford, who has married three men and been tried for the murder of one of them. Janie feels no compulsion to justify herself to the town, but she does explain herself to her friend, Phoeby, with the implicit understanding that Phoeby can "tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause mah tongue is in mah friend's mouf."

Hurston's use of dialect enraged other African American writers such as Wright, who accused her of pandering to white readers by giving them the black stereotypes they expected. Decades later, however, outrage has been replaced by admiration for her depictions of black life, and especially the lives of black women. In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston breathes humanity into both her men and women, and allows them to speak in their own voices. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published -- perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

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"E-BOOK EXTRA: Janie's Great Journey: A Reading Group Guide; PLUS: The Comphrehensive Edition: This special e-book is the only edition to include all three essays by Edwidge Danticat, Mary Helen Washington, and Henry Louis Gates.

Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person -- no mean feat for a Black woman in the '30s. Zora Neale Hurston's classic 1937 novel follows Janie's quest for identity -- a journey during which she learns what love is, experiences life's joys and sorrows, and comes home to herself in peace. "There is no book more important to me than this one." --Alice Walker "Their Eyes belongs in the same category with [the works of] William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, that of enduring American literature." --Saturday Review

Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person -- no mean feat for a black woman in the '30s. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three marriages and into a journey back to her roots."

Customer Reviews:

One for the Ages.......2007-10-07

Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has been analyzed, criticized, and lionized over the brief span of its existence. Lately, praise has predominated though with continued carping on issues which she made clear she considered secondary to her purpose.

Hurston's mastery of language places this work in the top tier of Anglophone literature, and the broadness of her comprehension defies spatial, temporal, social, or political confines. Her novel is powerful because it is humane and universal in scope. The story enchants because the voice relating it is unfailingly compassionate.

This lyrical voice was owned by no one but Zora Neale Hurston herself. Throughout her professional life, she remained true to her vision regardless of praise or criticism.

Ultimately, Hurston's literary worth, and that of her detractors, critics, and rivals, will be judged by generations to come. I'm confident that her stature will endure and her insistence on self-definition will be vindicated.

A Novel Reviewed by an author.......2007-09-30

Three stars due to the consensus that it is a classic.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston September 2007 Amazon
Janie Crawford, an attractive, confident, middle-aged black woman, returns to Eatonville, Florida, after a long absence. The black townspeople gossip about her and speculate about where she has been and what has happened to her young husband, Tea Cake. They take her confidence as aloofness, but Janie's friend Pheoby Watson sticks up for her. Pheoby visits her to find out what has happened. Their conversation frames the story that Janie relates. Janie explains that her grandmother raised her after her mother ran off. Nanny loves her granddaughter and is dedicated to her, but her life as a slave and experience with her own daughter, Janie's mother, has warped her worldview. Her primary desire is to marry Janie as soon as possible to a husband who can provide security and social status for her. She finds a much older farmer named Logan Killicks and insists that Janie marry him. After moving in with Logan, Janie is miserable. He is pragmatic and unromantic and treats her like a pack mule. Janie flirts with and marries in secret another man. After two decades of marriage, Janie asserts herself, Jody insults her appearance and after a savage domestic quarrel, it's over for them. Jody dies from illness and Janie is free. She rebuffs various suitors who come to court but when a man twelve years her junior enters her life there is mutual attraction. Only with her third and last lover, a roustabout called Tea Cake, does Janie at last bloom, as does the large pear tree that stands beside her grandmother's tiny log cabin. "She saw a dust bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!" They move to the everglades for the final tragic conclusion of the book. Rife with dialect, some may find the book time consuming. The title has nothing to do with the story, but it is a beautiful thought. The book has been made into a written-for-television movie starring Halle Berry.
Trish New, author of The Thrill of Hope, South State Street Journal, and Memory Flatlined.

Their Eyes Were Watching God.......2007-09-10

My son needed this book for school and we received in time for school. Great service!

Their Eyes Were Watching God.......2007-09-04

This book has been an extremely enjoyable read for me. It had a certain easy flow to it that made you want to keep reading it. This book didn't hook me right away, but I still gave it a chance. I am glad that I gave it a chance because it turned out to be one of my favorite books. If you enjoy hearing a good story, i recommend this book to you. Actually, I recommend this book to anybody and everybody! When i was asked to rate this book on a scale from 1 to 10, I replied by saying an eleven because i thought that this book was that good.

Good Read.......2007-08-21

This book is an easy read but it contains underling themes and plot structures that can be discussed in a class room setting. This is a good book and provides an interesting insight in young black woman's life who is trying to find her perfect mate.

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An outstanding reading of a seminal work of American literature
Great Reading

Their Eyes Were Watching God CD
Zora Neale Hurston
Manufacturer: Caedmon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0060776536
Release Date: 2004-11-23

Book Description

Their Eyes Were Watching God, an American classic, is the 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 70 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 and long out of print, the book was reissued in 1975 and nearly three decades later Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a seminal novel in American fiction.

Performed by Ruby Dee

Customer Reviews:

An outstanding reading of a seminal work of American literature.......2007-09-22

This was my first book on CD, and honestly I wasn't sure what to expect. _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ is a wonderful story about finding yourself, living, and love, but the Southern vernacular Hurston uses can be an obstacle in its reading. On the advice of a friend, I picked up the CD to try it out. Ruby Dee's reading of the story is masterful: rich, lyric and beautiful, much like the story itself. While I deeply love the book, I also highly recommend the CD as well. It is a sublime reading.

Great Reading.......2007-05-03

I bought this for my classroom and it was a terrific reading of the novel.

Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)

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Inspired

Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)
Zora Neale Hurston
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450836

Book Description

When she died in obscurity in 1960, all her books were out of print. Now, Zora Neale Hurston is recognized as one of the most important and influential modern American writers. This volume, with its companion, "Zora Neale Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings," brings together for the first time all of Hurston's best works in one authoritative set. It features the acclaimed 1937 novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," a lyrical masterpiece about a woman's struggle for love and independence. "Jonah's Gourd Vine," based on the story of Hurston's parents, details the rise and fall of a preacher torn between spirit and flesh. "Moses, Man of the Mountain" is a high-spirited retelling of the Exodus story in black vernacular. "Seraph on the Suwanee" portrays the passionate clash between a poor southern "cracker" and her willful husband. A selection of short stories further displays Hurston's unique fusion of folk traditions and literary modernism--comic, ironic, and soaringly poetic.

Customer Reviews:

Inspired.......2006-02-20

If Ms Hurston finally gets the readers she deserves, she will take her place among America's finest writers of the 20th Century. She is a joy to read and repays second and third perusals. The oral narrative quality of her writing places her squarely in the company of the best of her Southern contemporaries. She shares their great gifts. By all means, don't deny yourself the pleasure of reading her work.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Cliffs Notes)

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Their Eyes Were Watching God (Cliffs Notes)
Megan E. Ash
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764586610

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

In CliffsNotes on Their Eyes Were Watching God, you discover the work of one of the 20th century's first African-American female authors – Zora Neale Hurston. In the novel, Janie Crawford returns to her hometown in Florida and relates to her friend Pheoby the tragic story of her 40-year search for love and respect.

Chapter summaries and commentaries take you through Janie's journey, and critical essays give you insight into the novel's themes and structure, as well as Hurston's use of figurative language and dialect. Other features that help you study include

Character analyses of the main characters
A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
A section on the life and background of Zora Neale Hurston
A review section that tests your knowledge
A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

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This is a deeply moving story of one woman's search for love in this world. Although narrated by Hurston, the first and last chapters are "framed" around two long-lost friends who meet on a back porch. The book is a journey through the South and a testament to the hunger and fulfillment that love provides for each of us.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Literature Guide

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Literature Guide
Kristen Bowers
Manufacturer: Secondary Solutions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0977229548

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Casebook (Casebooks in Contemporary Fiction)

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Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Casebook (Casebooks in Contemporary Fiction)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195121740

Book Description

The rediscovery of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, first published in 1937 but subsequently out-of-print for decades, marks one of the most dramatic chapters in African-American literature and Women's Studies. Its popularity owes much to the lyricism of the prose, the pitch-perfect rendition of black vernacular English, and the memorable characters--most notably, Janie Crawford. Collecting the most widely cited and influential essays published on Hurston's classic novel over the last quarter century, this Casebook presents contesting viewpoints by Hazel Carby, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Barbara Johnson, Carla Kaplan, Daphne Lamothe, Mary Helen Washington, and Sherley Anne Williams. The volume also includes a statement Hurston submitted to a reference book on twentieth-century authors in 1942. As it records the major debates the novel has sparked on issues of language and identity, feminism and racial politics, A Casebook charts new directions for future critics and affirms the classic status of the novel.

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Notes (Cliffs Notes)

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Good cliffs notes edition
I heard it was good....
A wonderful book!
ehh
The touching tale of how a black woman learns to be free.

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Notes (Cliffs Notes)
Cliff
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822012758

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Good cliffs notes edition.......2000-06-30

These cliff notes are written very well and have nice summaries for anyone who is reading this book for school (like me!). Don't forget to read the actual book too though, you're missing out on great literature if you don't.

I heard it was good...........2000-06-01

I didnt actually read most of this book although it was assigned for our english class. I would say it was much too predictable because i picked up on it really well from just hearing about it. Most of my friends said that it was very sad/touching though. From what we read out loud, the dialog was hard to understand, and although there were some rascist parts, it was all in the interest of making a point about rascism, and it certainly did make some interesting points about society. The only thing that really bothered me was that she used a lot of sentence fragments. If you like to read books for fun I think that most people would enjoy it.

A wonderful book!.......2000-01-13

I had to read this book for my 11th grade English class, and I can seriously say this is the first book I've read that I liked. I've never been into reading much and only do it if I have to, but I finished this book in 2days and I'm glad I got a chance to read it. I would suggest it for anyone because it's a sad story when she is put on trial. But it is also happy because she finds love.

ehh.......1999-12-24

i didn't think it was overly exciting. parts of it were somewhat interesting, but it just kind of went on and on. i was assigned to read this and was relieved when i finally finished it. it's supposed to be some kind of a love story, but it only tells the feelings of Janie, it doesn't "show". From a girl's point of view, i think it pretty much sucked and dont ever plan on reading it again.

The touching tale of how a black woman learns to be free........1999-06-03

The novel is a wonderful love story but includes mystery, drama, and horror to make one of the best books I've ever read. The tale drags you in, and, although it can get tedious at times, the realistic dialect makes the characters that much more real. The revelations Janie has throughout the novel are true life lessons written in a vivid and beautiful way. I strongly suggest the novel.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0788700006

Product Description

For 30 years following its publication in 1937, this novel remained little-known and unread. It, like its author who was buried in an unmarked grave in 1960, seemed destined for historical obscurity. Then in 1975, when Alice Walker published an article in Ms. chronicling her search for Hurstons grave, interest in the once-famous Harlem Renaissance writer and her most successful novel soared. The story of Janie Crawford, unlucky in love but resilient in spirit, is now a deserved classic.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LDV7NK

Jonah's Gourd Vine, Mules and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Jonah's Gourd Vine, Mules and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000F1CYLW

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