Their Eyes Were Watching God

I had been looking for this novel, by Zora Neale Hurston, for quite some time in my favourite bookshop in Belfast (Keats and Chapman, on North street if the opportunity should ever arise you should absolutely go to there). Anyway I finally found it, it was actually in the feminist section, although i'm not entirely sure why…i'll talk about that in a little minute. The novel, written in the 1930s is centred around a black woman (and I only mention that she's black as race plays a significant role in this novel, but not in a heavy handed way) called Janie. And before I get into giving a synopsis I want to write the opening sentence of this novel, now there are many famous opening lines; Tolstoys "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way", Walkers "You better not tell nobody but god", Austens "It is a truth universally acknowledged…" Dickens "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" but for some reason this one is my favourite, and is as follows "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men." It had me hooked from the off and this bit is important, if you do decide to read this novel, read the start of it once you finish it and I dare you to not cry, it really is quite something. Now I have that out of the way, onto the story of the novel, well it is basically Janie's story and it has a lot to say, so much so i'm not entirely sure how to begin. Janie is thrown into marriage at a young age on the behest of her grandmother (who raised her) who see's the world through old eyes and nearing death want's Janie to have someone to provide for her. Although this first husband is not abusive, Janie wants essentially to be in love and this man is not that. Then along comes Joe Starks who is full of plans and excitement and all the things he could achieve and he's a bit of a charmer too. They run off together and Joe basically talks his way to becoming mayor of a town that wasn't really a town before he arrived. Janie is then cast as 'de mayors wife' and is to all intents and purposes Joe's property, his charm is not used for her anymore but to get the things he wants in terms of wealth and position in society. This doesn't much suit Janie who as the novel progresses is finding her own voice as a woman, and knows she has opinions and thoughts of her own. She is however pretty much stuck with Joe and a life of wearing her long hair up so other men don't notice her as well she's Joe's…until he dies of kidney failure, leaving Janie with something of a financial cushion and henceforth freedom. And then in strolls tea cake a young man, about half janie's age who completely sweeps her off her feet, he's a gambler and lives hand to mouth and everyone warns her off him, saying he's only after her money but Janie is at the point in her life where she's confident and sure of herself and follows her own heart regardless of the opinion of others. And it works out, it is in fact one of the loveliest written and touching love stories I have read, and more to the point they don't have the usual fictional cinderella-esque love it's a love very much on both their terms. So the end of the novel is a tiny bit devastating but in the same sense Janie has become this stand on your own two feet kind of a woman and I'm guessing that is why this book is in the feminist section, the development of her character is one of the best things about this story and as everything else centres around that it bodes pretty well for the novel as a whole. Now as for the race bit, well this novel is interesting in that Janie is the daughter of a black woman and a white school teacher (who didn't exactly give Janie's mother an option in that regard) so Janie with her fairer skin and long smooth hair has to deal with racism from both sides, and it's how this is dealt with that is particularly effective. So then, this novel has a lot going for it, I like a book if it's more than just a story, if it carries something meaningful with it too and this has that in spades. But moreover it's written almost poetically, which is quite lovely in itself to read. In direct contrast to this Hurston writes the dialogue as you would pronounce it in your head, and the dialect used, although it takes a little getting used to, gives the novel I think a strong identity and only adds to it. If you enjoy the novels of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, then this novel and Zora Neale Hurston are certainly worth a read, she often being cited as a major influence in all their work, and really paved the way for them to write. It is however an excellent read in itself and I would have no qualms in recommending it.