![]() ![]() When I think back, I could almost swear my memories are from being in this place with these people - not just listening to a book. Hurston's words come through Dee, and it was amazing. My caveat here is: I listened to Ruby Dee read this and that made all the difference in the world. If I would have missed this book, I'd have missed one of the best *reading* experiences I've ever had. 10 people can stand in front of a painting and see it differently read a book and give a different * rating sip a wine and give you everything from sooty, woodsy, to fruity. I'm not going to even attempt to describe the book it would all feel like hyperbole that would cheapen my experience. Those are the gems you find just once in a while TEWWG is one of those rarities. The kind of book so beautiful in its simplicity that it's a piece of the writer's soul that resonates in the reader. But, I can't help but have an affection for the rare humble books that seem to be less about an author's abilities, and more a revelation from their heart. Oh not Proust, Nabokov, etc., those tomes that intellectuals can discuss together for years.I know they are great gifted writers. But, when my sis-in-law said it was her favorite book of all time, I'm always excited to get a recommendation that someone is passionate about. Maybe this will change someone else's mind that turned the channel that day back in 2005. " Karen Valby of Entertainment Weekly comments, "While the book chews on meaty questions of race and identity, the movie largely resigns itself to the realm of sudsy romance." New York Times critic Virginia Heffernan writes, "the film is less a literary tribute than a visual fix of Harlequin Romance: Black Southern Series-all sensual soft-core scenes and contemporary, accessible language." *ouch-ouch-ouch* My purpose in bringing this up is that I had been so turned against this book I was never going to read it, and what a shame. I feel vindicated for my harsh opinion - I don't like to feel like a meany - by the reviews I just read concerning that debacle: "Catering to its TV audience, the film largely avoided the more controversial themes of race, gender, and power. There was a sense of arrogance to the production, like that you feel when someone thinks they can improve on great art, and goes on to disprove that haughtiness by giving Mona Lisa a bigger smile. The production felt like a piece extrapolated from art twisted for a motive. Why? Because I tried to watch the Harpo Production in 2005 and didn't feel it (hated it nod to Sandy's review). Uhhh.I have to admit, it was not one I wanted to read, and had in fact removed it from my TBR list. In our latest conversation I suggested a few I'd just finished - she gave me Their Eyes Were Watching God. The narrator's mode of speaking is distinctly literary in contrast to the Southern dialect of the other characters, but is nonetheless influenced by the language and imagery of the characters and their world.My sister-in-law and I share books, since we have similar tastes. However, throughout the novel, a third-person omniscient narrator interrupts Janie's narrations and direct presentations of characters' speech. Point of View: The novel is Janie's life-story, told to Pheoby Watson by Janie herself.Turner functions as an antagonist to both Tea Cake and Janie, expressing her racist views against black people to both of them and alienating Tea Cake in particular by suggesting that Janie leave him for her lighter skinned brother. Antagonist: Janie's first two husbands, Logan Killicks and Jody Starks, are disrespectful and abusive partners, effectively situating them as Janie's antagonists for the first half of the book.It is in this scene that Janie and Tea Cake are situated in clear opposition to the forces of nature, and find themselves fighting against the will of God for survival. Climax: The climax of the novel arguably unfolds in Chapter 18, during the hurricane.The novel takes place most centrally in Eatonville, Florida and in the Everglades. Setting: The American South in the early 20th century.In particular, Huston identified as a Republican and actively spoke against many Harlem Renaissance writers' support of the New Deal and Communism. Literary Period: Hurston's work coincided historically with the Harlem Renaissance, though she is actually known for diverging with the politics and ideologies of many writers of the movement, including Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison.Where Written: Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God while doing fieldwork in Haiti in 1936-1937.Full Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God.Key Facts about Their Eyes Were Watching God
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