Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
192 Rating(s)
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Their Eyes Were Watching God

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Narrator: Ruby Dee

Unabridged: 6 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/31/2005

Synopsis

“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 SmithOne 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.

About Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee) and was still working on her fifth novel, The Life of Herod the Great, when she died; three books of folklore (Mules and Men and the posthumously published Go Gator and Muddy the Water and Every Tongue Got to Confess); a work of anthropological research (Tell My Horse); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road); an international bestselling ethnographic work (Barracoon); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.

About Ruby Dee

Not only is Ruby Dee one of the most respected African-American actors of her day, she was also an important part of the civil rights movement. She is probably best known for her role in A Raisin in the Sun, which she performed on both the stage and the screen.Dee has also written plays, fiction, and a column in New York's Amsterdam News.Born in Cleveland, she worked initially with the American Negro Theater in Harlem, where she grew up. She is married to the actor and author Ossie Davis.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on April 04, 2022

I read this masterpiece for the first time in high school. The love story of Janie and Tea Cake is one of stupendous beauty. Zora Neal Hurston's text is a treasure: "So she went on thinking in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness." Early in life, Jan......more

Goodreads review by Emily May on January 16, 2019

Janie saw her life like a giant tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches. I've spent many years wanting to read this book, but also not wanting to read it because the title made me think it was going to be heavy on religion,......more

Goodreads review by Jesse (JesseTheReader) on February 20, 2017

I have mixed feelings on this book. On one hand I loved the writing style and I loved the main character and following her journey through life's struggles. On the other hand it was slow moving, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I felt things could've been cut to keep the story moving better.......more

Goodreads review by emma on May 10, 2024

Two things: 1) This is deserving of the one-of-the-great-classics-of-the-20th-century title. 2) Every book should be large print. To elaborate on both: This is a beautifully written, brilliantly characterized, and consuming read. I tend to hate historical fiction, but when it's done like this I love it......more

Goodreads review by Fabian on September 23, 2019

A story as melancholic for its relationship to the writer's own life/destiny as another Southern masterpiece "Confederacy of Dunces." I cannot imagine that this isn't Toni Morrison's true foundations of prose--the beauty of which borders on the sublime. The modernism of "Their Eyes" lies in the inte......more

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