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Summary: Every young woman must read this book! Find Yourself!
Review: This was a book club selection by a member that likes heavy-feminist stories - not my favorite genre. What a wonderful surprise - I could not stop from turning the pages well into the night. As a newly married 29-year old, I relate well to Janie's struggles with society, marriage and family expectation. She is a woman that encourages women quietly to find themselves - to risk not doing so will cost us everything. Had she lived the life her family wanted would have left her as a shell. This is a story that will live with you for a while - I can't wait to read it again in a few years!
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Summary: "Brevity is the soul of wit." (Shakespeare?)
Review: With few words, Zora is able to paint an entire scene or evoke a familiar feeling--something that requires a paragraph or more from most authors! Beautiful literature & gripping story! Best book I've read, and I'm an over 40, avid reader.
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Summary: Janie Crawford is a model for the self-assured woman.
Review: I first read this novel as I was preparing to compose a seminar paper. I had no idea at the time that I would enjoy this tale so much.Janie Crawford is a hero(ine). Her struggle to protect her self from desecration is inspiring and wonderful. Zora Neale Hurston weaves humor and strength throughout to tie and bind this story. Her writing is, in my opinion, highly effective and the language and tone which Hurston uses has a story all their own. I loved this novel also because I was reminded of Alice Walker's The Color Purple for reasons so deep that I do not think I have enough room or time to describe.
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Summary: A Response Paper to Rýchard Wrights Criticism of Hurston
Review: Richard Wright, who defines Their Eyes as having no theme, no message, or thought and accuses Hurston of writing only to satisfy white folk's ego by creating black stereotypes,in fact objects the feminist theme that he coould not catch in his novels.While Wright treats black-white relations in the aspect of racism,Hurston touches the matter of male -female relations within the black race which she could not differentiate until the age of 13. The novel seems to be deprived of "high art" which Alain Locke thinks the new negro writer has to create.On the contrary, as an antropologist,Hurston devotes her life to analyze the true origin of negro culture.Black man,who has been deprived of a certain identity in the institution of slavery for years,finds himself choking in a dilemma and begins to search for identity after he broke down his chains. Richard Wright describes Husrton's style as natural but that is as far as it goes. Hurston sincerity in using Black Vernacular language cannot save the novel from being "simple".Janie's speeches cannot go farther than being simple black dialectic,but we observe the essence of a self-relied woman,who did learn how to stand in her own feet,behind this speeches. In conclusion, Hurston treats the race problem as much as Wright did in his novels,but in a very differnt dimension.In the opposition of conjectures, she did not write to satisfy white folk,she wrote to emancipate female conscience in Afro-American culture.she does noy see any harm in using Balck Vernacular language which is an essential part of black culture and she even lets it to dominate over the novel which places her name among the best Afro-American women writers.
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Summary: This Book Gave Me Hope
Review: This book taught me, or at least helped me to develop my understanding of what life is all about...why we are here. The search for love that Janie undertakes is not only one that I related to and could understand and feel, it went beyond a search for love to the search for one's own soul and the meaning of life and God's place in it. When Janie finds Teacake, she finds a great man, a real man, and she finds herself. She also finds the meaning of love and this brings her closer to God. The power of the book is not just the lessons that it teaches and its profound insight, but also the way that it teaches...by touching the emotions and the soul. I have never cried so hard reading a book. The tears are both out of the joy and the sadness, at once. I have always believed in true love and finding it, but after this book, there was no doubt. I am still waiting for my Teacake.
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Summary: Beautiful literature and an equally brilliant story
Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God was, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read.Not only was the literature beautiful but the story was beautiful as well. The characters are so real, and the book seems to give women readers a knowledge of life unequal to any other book I have ever read. Her writing is like poetry but of the best kind, and if I were to call it a poem, then it is the best poem I've ever read. Zora is truly talented and I would recommend this book to any one who can appreciate a book for the richness of it's language, for the authenticity of it's dialoge, for the simplicity of it's story, and for the beauty of it's plot.
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Summary: Definitley on my list of best literature
Review: I too read this book in college and was so moved. I have since become a fan of Zora Neale Hurtston and turned my daughter onto her when she had to make a reading selection and she also loved it. The lyrical true-to-life and scenery as well as the rich metaphors and analogies is just priceless. When asked to name my best reads, this was the first thing put down. How how wish Ms. Hurston was still around to impart such great writing.
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Summary: This book isn't worth reading.
Review: There are two types of fiction, general fiction and literary fiction. In general fiction, you rely on an exciting plot and suspense to keep you turning the page. In literary fiction, it's the thought-provoking content and profound ideas that keep you reading. This book fit into neither of these categories. There was hardly any excitement or entertainment value at all in this book, and no strong, well-conveyed message to fill the gap that the lack of entertainment leaves behind. I question the purpose of writing the book. Was Hurston trying to tell her own story? If she was she should have realized that the story wasn't worth telling. I think she was trying to convey a message of female empowerment, which unfortunately her message was supported by such a weak storyline, that the purpose was lost, and she failed miserably. She was basically reiterating the obvious, readers already know plenty about domestic violence and the problems facing African-Americans in post-slavery years. Yes, these are ideas that are important for everyone to recognize, but a book needs to be stronger than this one to be able to truely make people think and make the messages stick in their minds. Once again, this book wasn't worth reading and definitely not the $13.95 of purchasing it.
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Summary: This book isn't as good as I would have hoped.
Review: Although there are some good points about this book, overall I must admit, I didn't really see the point. Many parts of the book were unimportant or carried out too far. However, the language was a redeming quality. I liked the way the author changed the dialogue to sound completely different from the rest of the book. When she spoke of setting, used proper grammar and speach. But when she spoke of the characters, she used a slightly more correct version of the characters language. At the books high points, I would give it a 6, although during the inane portions, around a 2.
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Summary: This book was a really good book
Review: This book really caught my attention. At the begining of the book I have to admit it was a bit confusing, but I caught on to it and really got hooked on it. In order to understand this book and enjoy it you really need to pay attention in the beginning. This book basically talks about searching for the right love and survival. Jaine's experiences with love were not excatly what she thought they would be. Marrying Logan and Joe were good experiences for Jaine, they taught Jaine the true aspects of life and she learned to react to them. After she met the love of her life Tea Cake she realized that what she was living was all horrible. I guess when you run into the love of your life everything just seems to be wonderful. Marrying Tea Cake was the best thing that could ever happen to her, Jaine saw things a different way and learned what true love was regarding the age differnce.
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