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notesbynnenna 's review for:
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
Wow, this book was a revelation. This was my first time reading anything by Zora. I really knew nothing about it- I never had to read it in school or anything like that. I just knew it was a classic and one of those books that I wanted to read at some point.
I think a part of me thought perhaps it would be somewhat dry and difficult and I was prepared to slog my way through it. But instead it was a beautifully written story about a woman finding herself and finding love, and I loved that my presumptions about this book were entirely wrong.
Zora is such an amazing storyteller. Her writing is so vivid and I felt like I was there, immersed in Janie’s world. Janie is a character that is constantly yearning and that felt so human to me. Even when she’s young, she’s not content with the life she has. She wants more- to do more, to experience more, especially when she realizes that her first marriage is not the adventure she dreamed it might be.
So many things struck me about this novel. There’s a moment when Janie is a young child and realizes that she is Black. There’s that loss of innocence when the construct of race rears its ugly head in her life for the first time. I thought about how Janie is lighter-skinned and pretty and how colorism and beauty definitely play a role in the course her life takes. Also, Janie is ambitious in wanting to leave the town where she grew up to explore the wider world, but at the same time we see her yield to the whims and desires of the various men in her life over and over again.
Even though it’s a shorter book, there’s so much to chew on in this novel. It’s truly incredible and compelling storytelling and writing, and now I know why this book has stood the test of time.
Wow, this book was a revelation. This was my first time reading anything by Zora. I really knew nothing about it- I never had to read it in school or anything like that. I just knew it was a classic and one of those books that I wanted to read at some point.
I think a part of me thought perhaps it would be somewhat dry and difficult and I was prepared to slog my way through it. But instead it was a beautifully written story about a woman finding herself and finding love, and I loved that my presumptions about this book were entirely wrong.
Zora is such an amazing storyteller. Her writing is so vivid and I felt like I was there, immersed in Janie’s world. Janie is a character that is constantly yearning and that felt so human to me. Even when she’s young, she’s not content with the life she has. She wants more- to do more, to experience more, especially when she realizes that her first marriage is not the adventure she dreamed it might be.
So many things struck me about this novel. There’s a moment when Janie is a young child and realizes that she is Black. There’s that loss of innocence when the construct of race rears its ugly head in her life for the first time. I thought about how Janie is lighter-skinned and pretty and how colorism and beauty definitely play a role in the course her life takes. Also, Janie is ambitious in wanting to leave the town where she grew up to explore the wider world, but at the same time we see her yield to the whims and desires of the various men in her life over and over again.
Even though it’s a shorter book, there’s so much to chew on in this novel. It’s truly incredible and compelling storytelling and writing, and now I know why this book has stood the test of time.