Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

A woman in 1930s America attempts to live life on her own terms against both natural and societal obstacles, charting her path through the three men she married.

Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God is like sitting on the front stoop, listening to the wisest person in the neighborhood who's heard, remembered, and can tell all the best stories. Zora Neale Hurston wrote a book, more complex than it first seems, that can be approached from several angles all of which are rewarding, beyond simply being wonderful to read and enjoy. Historically, the book was written at a time in which former slaves were still alive. Hurston, an anthropologist and folklorist, was familiar with their stories, heard first hand, which inform every page. From a feminist perspective, this early effort is irreducibly a product of its time, and includes aspects that current writers might not address in the same way, but which reveal the unvarnished reality and necessity of life for women back then. It's not pretty. Our heroine's personal growth is revealed through her three marriages, reflecting the limited world available to women in that time and place, although she persevered. As the statement of an African American writer, the book describes the life of an all-black community, the world of interaction between black people and white people, and a woman who refuses to be a victim of anything that is arrayed against her. And simply as a story, the book doesn't at all need the layers of meaning I'm trying to throw at it. This was an irresistible read, and I devoured it in great long chunks as I wanted to know Janie Crawford and find how her life turns out -- what was next for this resilient, hungry, and determined woman. She had a vision for her life from childhood, and she patiently worked her way toward it. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a near perfect story, and that it was published in 1937 is all the more amazing. Two more points. First, the dialog is written in black vernacular ("Ebonics," to use Valerie Boyd's term), which took a little getting used to, but for me was more bothersome because so often such transcription is used to stereotype and demean. But Hurston, a folklorist, was using the vernacular to reflect the time and place, social realism. Second, as Henry Louis Gates, Jr. notes, the book has elements of Hurston's racial views, similar to those of the "militant integrationist" Albert Murray, that black lives are not simply a reaction to white actions, and as such she managed to offend black and white alike so that her career eventually went into decline. But put all of that aside: Their Eyes Were Watching God is a wonderful book and one which I was way overdue in reading. Hurston wrote four novels; I think I need to read them all. [4.5 Stars]