Their Eyes Were Watching God

By: Zora Neale Hurston

Narrated by: Ruby Dee

Publisher's summary

Their Eyes Were Watching God, an American classic, is the luminous and haunting novel about Janie Crawford, a Southern Black woman in the 1930s, whose journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance has inspired writers and readers for close to 70 years.

This poetic, graceful love story, rooted in Black folk traditions and steeped in mythic realism, celebrates boldly and brilliantly African-American culture and heritage. And in a powerful, mesmerizing narrative, it pays quiet tribute to a Black woman who, though constricted by the times, still demanded to be heard.

Originally published in 1937 and long out of print, the book was reissued in 1975 and nearly three decades later Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a seminal novel in American fiction.

©1937 Zora Neale Hurston, Renewed 1965 John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston (P)1997, 2000, 2004 HarperCollins Publishers

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Critic reviews

"For readers who know Hurston's work, this program will be a joy; for those who are lucky and wise enough to discover her here, it will be an exceptional experience." (AudioFile)

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5 out of 5 stars

By Tracy P. on 07-13-16

RIVETING!

If you could sum up Their Eyes Were Watching God in three words, what would they be?
BEAUTIFUL LITERARY GIFT

Who was your favorite character and why?
TEA CAKE was my favorite character because he was the one person Janie had encountered in her life up to the point of meeting him that allowed her to develop into her authentic self. He wasn't ( but then who is ) perfect, yet he had no qualms about being who he was. He enjoyed the people in his community! He truly loved being around people and seeing them have fun and lots of laughter. This being so, despite the hard times and unsure future. He lived in the moment, and that was refreshing for me, the listener.

Which scene was your favorite?
My favorite scene was when Janie's second husband (Joe Starks ) shut her out of his life as he was dying, and Janie refusing to let him die without hearing her out, and explaining why she said such hurtful things to him. She wanted to apologize, and also let him know that she didn't say the hurtful things for any reason other than reacting to the awful way he had treated her.
She truly wanted them to end things on a good note before he died. He denied he was dying, as he died in front of her. His denial, resentments, and insecurities led him to spend his last years angry and fearful.
He lived in so much self-centered fear that he was more willing to believe a witch doctor, who was only out for his money, rather than make peace with his wife, and allow Janie to provide his care. She had real concern for his genuine well being, and how sad he couldn't rid his resentments towards her, and die peacefully.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Hope, Courage, Joy, and Peace- One woman's journey to finding her authentic self.

Any additional comments?
Highly recommend! Great Novel! SO much to learn and ponder within this amazing literary classic!

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5 out of 5 stars

By Jennifer on 12-22-09

Perfect

The story itself is not gripping. It's a tragic tale of love long awaited and too soon lost. I usually avoid tragedies, but this came so highly rated that I thought I'd give it a try, and I am so happy I did.
You know from the beginning that it isn't a happy story, that the love isn't going to end well, but- despite not liking the leading man- you root for the couple and try to find a way around the impending tragedy.
The writing is heartbreakingly beautiful, with perfect dialect for the characters and breathtaking language in the narration. It combines the colloquial with the esoteric.
The narrator is perfect. She gives a rich preformance that makes characters out of people who otherwise could be caricatures and gives passion wisdom and heart to the voice of the narration.

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4 out of 5 stars

By Robert Studyvin on 04-12-17

the positives and negatives

I mostly got this audio book because it was hard for me to read some of the southern terms, not knowing what they where supposed to be (like the word keer in the book is supposed to mean care, so without the audio book I wouldn't have know that) the only thing I didn't like about this audio is the narrator over preformed some parts , like when a character was upset she acted like she was crying and then it was hard to understand what she was saying. A decent amount of times also it was hard to understand what the narrator was saying because she woukd speak to fast (when using a southern accent). overall the rest was great, I enjoyed the tone and emotion put into the reading (except the crying parts )

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