Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is on my Classics Club list, as well as fulfilling my January requirement for the Birthday Month Reading Challenge. I had no idea what to expect when I picked up the book. I didn't read the summary on the back cover, and I skipped over the Forward. I definitely enjoyed this book. The dialect took quite a bit of getting used to, which meant I got off to a slow start. But eventually I got the hang of it and was able to enter into the story. Janie is a wonderful character, and I loved following her progress towards independence and becoming the woman she always wanted to be. It was even more powerful to hear it coming from her own mouth, rather than a third person narration. She learned how to tell her own story both figuratively and literally.
But the part I enjoyed most about this book was the writing. It was full of shiver language (for an explanation of shiver language, check out this post). I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes here.
But the part I enjoyed most about this book was the writing. It was full of shiver language (for an explanation of shiver language, check out this post). I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes here.
"The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky."
"They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment."
"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."
"Janie asked inside of herself and out."
"They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged."
"Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun."
"When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Then after that some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing but sparks but each little spark had a shine and a song."
"They made a lot of laughter out of nothing."
"He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place."
"Tea Cake came out throwin' laughter over his shoulder into the house."
"Several men collected at Tea Cake's house and sat around stuffing courage into each other's ears."
"The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall."
"She called in her soul to come and see."
"They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment."
"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."
"Janie asked inside of herself and out."
"They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged."
"Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun."
"When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Then after that some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing but sparks but each little spark had a shine and a song."
"They made a lot of laughter out of nothing."
"He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place."
"Tea Cake came out throwin' laughter over his shoulder into the house."
"Several men collected at Tea Cake's house and sat around stuffing courage into each other's ears."
"The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall."
"She called in her soul to come and see."
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