Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; narrated by Ruby Dee | 2004; originally published 1937 | HarperAudio | Audiobook $ 20.50
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 30’s. Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel follows Janie from her nanny’s plantation shack to Logan Killick’s farm, to all-Black Eatonville, to the Everglades, and back to Eatonville — where she gathers in “the great fish-net” of her life. Janie’s quest for identity takes her on a journey during which she learns what love is, experiences life’s joys and sorrows, and comes home to herself in peace.
While compiling my list for Classics Club, I wanted to be sure to include at least a couple of works of literature from the Harlem Renaissance. For non-Americans (or just folks who don’t remember a whole lot from history class), the Harlem Renaissance was a boom period of African-American culture in the early 20th century. Zora Neale Hurston was a major figure in this cultural movement, although this book of hers in particular was not especially well-received at the time.
When reading plot synopses while also trying to avoid spoilers for this nearly century-old book, I somehow got the impression that it was mostly about Black communities and experiences. Although it is partly about that, it turns out that this book is really mostly about the personal growth of an individual woman.
Janie’s story is one of struggle against invisible expectations and unmet needs — the expectations of her grandmother and her need for independence; the expectations of her husbands and her need for love; the expectations of her community and her need to be perceived as her own person. This is all colored and complicated by Janie being a Black woman in the South, pre- Civil Rights Movement and pre- Second-Wave Feminism.
The prose is evocative and the storyline is engaging. Although many scenes involve fairly prosaic elements, like idle conversations on front porches, the action actually moves along at a pretty comfortable pace. Sometimes the main character made questionable decisions or acted surprisingly passive when she is otherwise depicted as strong-willed, but overall I feel that this makes her seem like a more realistically complicated and relatable person.
I also want to mention that, for this version of the audiobook specifically, Ruby Dee has injected a lot of emotion into her narration. This is mostly a good thing! It can be a real immersion-breaking let-down when what should be an emotional discussion between characters is just read with the same even tone as the rest of the story, so I definitely respect this narrator’s choice to fully act out the dialogue with real feeling. That said, it was also… a lot. Listening to a highly emotionally charged conversation in which people sound near to shouting or on the verge of tears while on your way to a first-thing-in-the-morning meeting at work before you’ve even had any coffee is A LOT. So, that’s just something to keep in mind if you plan to listen to this one on audio!
I do want to make it clear that I don’t think you have to be Black or from the American South or a woman to “get” this book, at all. Janie’s story is really about one person’s quest to be seen and cared for as an individual, which is just a universal human experience.
Links:
- Official website of Zora Neale Hurston
- Biography of Zora Neale Hurston from the National Women’s History Museum
- Zora Neale Hurston Digital Archive from the University of Central Florida Center for Humanities and Digital Research
- “In Her Own Words: Remarkable Women in 20th-Century Florida” exhibit at Florida Memory from the State Library and Archives of Florida
Publication information: Hurston, Zora Neale. Their eyes were watching God. New York, NY: HarperAudio, 2004. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Libby.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
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