Their Eyes Were Watching God

By: Zora Neale Hurston

Narrated by: Ruby Dee

“A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.” —Zadie Smith

One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. The audio is performed by the legendary Ruby Dee.

©1937 Zora Neale Hurston, Renewed 1965 John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston; (P)1997, 2000, 2004 HarperCollins Publishers

RIVETING!

If you could sum up Their Eyes Were Watching God in three words, what would they be?
BEAUTIFUL LITERARY GIFT

Who was your favorite character and why?
TEA CAKE was my favorite character because he was the one person Janie had encountered in her life up to the point of meeting him that allowed her to develop into her authentic self. He wasn't ( but then who is ) perfect, yet he had no qualms about being who he was. He enjoyed the people in his community! He truly loved being around people and seeing them have fun and lots of laughter. This being so, despite the hard times and unsure future. He lived in the moment, and that was refreshing for me, the listener.

Which scene was your favorite?
My favorite scene was when Janie's second husband (Joe Starks ) shut her out of his life as he was dying, and Janie refusing to let him die without hearing her out, and explaining why she said such hurtful things to him. She wanted to apologize, and also let him know that she didn't say the hurtful things for any reason other than reacting to the awful way he had treated her.
She truly wanted them to end things on a good note before he died. He denied he was dying, as he died in front of her. His denial, resentments, and insecurities led him to spend his last years angry and fearful.
He lived in so much self-centered fear that he was more willing to believe a witch doctor, who was only out for his money, rather than make peace with his wife, and allow Janie to provide his care. She had real concern for his genuine well being, and how sad he couldn't rid his resentments towards her, and die peacefully.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Hope, Courage, Joy, and Peace- One woman's journey to finding her authentic self.

Any additional comments?
Highly recommend! Great Novel! SO much to learn and ponder within this amazing literary classic!

Perfect

The story itself is not gripping. It's a tragic tale of love long awaited and too soon lost. I usually avoid tragedies, but this came so highly rated that I thought I'd give it a try, and I am so happy I did.
You know from the beginning that it isn't a happy story, that the love isn't going to end well, but- despite not liking the leading man- you root for the couple and try to find a way around the impending tragedy.
The writing is heartbreakingly beautiful, with perfect dialect for the characters and breathtaking language in the narration. It combines the colloquial with the esoteric.
The narrator is perfect. She gives a rich preformance that makes characters out of people who otherwise could be caricatures and gives passion wisdom and heart to the voice of the narration.

the positives and negatives

I mostly got this audio book because it was hard for me to read some of the southern terms, not knowing what they where supposed to be (like the word keer in the book is supposed to mean care, so without the audio book I wouldn't have know that) the only thing I didn't like about this audio is the narrator over preformed some parts , like when a character was upset she acted like she was crying and then it was hard to understand what she was saying. A decent amount of times also it was hard to understand what the narrator was saying because she woukd speak to fast (when using a southern accent). overall the rest was great, I enjoyed the tone and emotion put into the reading (except the crying parts )

Best Ever!

Ruby Dee brings this hard to read book to life. It was required reading for a class but very hard to get into. Thanks to Dee's narration, I find myself listening to the story because it is GOOD, not just because I must.

Just loved it

I really enjoyed Ms.Ruby Dee narration she made it in grossing. The characters came alive right there for me to see.