It was different when I was reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God." I truly believe I could have gotten a better score on my last Evidence test if I had quit picking up that book to steal away to another time...and to another place. Written in southern black dialect from the earlier decades of the 1900's, I had to read each and every word syllable by syllable, each paragraph line by line - and it was delicious.
It's perhaps another story, like "To Kill A Mockingbird", that I can't add any extra thought to or make any remarks that haven't been made...but what a story! (So I won't do it any injustices, it's "blurb" is here.)
What a woman, Janie, the lead character is! She is proof positive that no matter what your situation, your education, your color, your gender, your prospects...love is love - the way it leaves you wanting and dreaming; the determination to find it and the surprise that you feel when it comes, and the situations you find yourself in when its "true."
My favorite part of Miss Zora Neale Hurston's writing is the way she describes things that most of us take for granted. Like, instead of just saying, "The sun rose..."
...the line is written,
"Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun."
Oh, the extravagance of the sun just simply rising! That is the essence of this book...the extravagance of every day life...told like you've never read it before, I'm positive.
This is by far NOT an "easy read." Not that it begs for Cliff notes, but it is slow going because of the dialect. I will promise you though that if you take the time to read it, word by word, line by line - you'll find yourself sneaking away and avoiding things you're supposed to be doing just like I did... :)
Thanks, Kim W., for another great suggestion! :)
Onward and Forward to Book #14!
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