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Their
Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
By Marilyn Green Faulkner
Recently
we sold our house and needed to find a place to live for a year.
Our agent found a home to rent and sent us to see it, and when we
drove by it, I dismissed it right away. It was too far away from
our business, too small, too this, too that. The next day I got
another call from her. “Just come and stand in this home, and tell
me you don’t want it,” she said. So I did. I’m sitting here now,
at my desk, in this cozy home that is just perfect for our needs,
and I’m so glad she made me step inside the door before I passed
it by. I’m telling you all this because I want you to step inside
this little book with me before you pass it by. You might have heard
of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, or it might be unfamiliar to you.
It might not be a book you’ll enjoy, but then again, it might be
one you will never forget. You’ll have to step inside to see. When
I read the first two paragraphs of this book, they startled me with
the way they combined homely wisdom with pure poetry, and I read
them over and over with delight. Here they are:
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some
they come in with the 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.
Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember,
and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is
the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly. (1)
Hurston
writes differently than most authors who are telling a story using
occasional images for emphasis. In Hurston, the images are the
story. There is no distinction in this novel between imagery and
reality, between the spiritual and the temporal: it’s all one. This
woman’s writing makes my heart pound. I’ll just throw a few more
sentences at you:
“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.” (8)
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
(20)
“Janie turned from the door without answering, and stood still
in the middle of the floor without knowing it. She turned wrongside
out just standing there and feeling.” (30)
“Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish
net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it
over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in
her soul to come and see.” (184)
Out
of Step
Zora
Neale Hurston was out of step with her time. She lived in Harlem
in the early 1920’s and was educated at a University under the patronage
of some sympathetic white women. She worked as an anthropologist
and a teacher. Later, she wrote two novels, which were harshly criticized
because they lacked the angry political stance that both the black
and white literati felt were essential to a “black novel.” Hurston’s
sweet evocation of the illiterate black working folk seemed to these
critics to be a kind of concession to white supremacy in the South.
Zora’s quiet, independent heroine, Janie, held no appeal for the
angry generation who first read this book. It went quickly out of
print, and Zora Hurston ended her life working as a maid, impoverished
and defeated by those dreams she so eloquently described.
In
the early 1970’s the great writer Alice Walker used a second hand
copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God as a text for her literature
students. She loved the novel, and was dismayed to learn that Hurston
was buried in an unmarked grave, so she traveled to Florida to correct
this insult to her memory. Wading through waste-high grass, she
eventually found what she thought was Hurston’s grave and placed
a marker on it which read, “Zora Neale Hurston/A Genius of the South/
Novelist / Folklorist / Anthropologist / 1901 – 1960.” Her personal
essay about this experience for a national magazine brought the
book to the attention of a new generation. The book has been in
print continually since then.
A
Different World
Hurston’s
characters speak in the dialect of the deep south, and the world
they inhabit is wonderfully different from our own. I love to feel
that, through a book, I have entered the essence of another kind
of life, and this book offers that experience. Once in a while,
however, I get a letter that scolds me for recommending books where
people break the commandments, so I must tell you that these people
are not Latter-day Saints. They are simple folk trying to find the
right way. Mistakes are made, but the overwhelming feeling I get
here is one of faith in the goodness of the human spirit, and faith
in the goodness of God. That is the guideline I use in selecting
literature, and on that basis I recommend it to you. We’ll close
with Janie’s philosophy of life:
“Talkin’ don’t amount tuh uh hill uh beans when yuh can’t
do nothin’ else…you got tuh go there tuh know there.
Yo papa and yo moma and nobody else can’t tell yuh and show yuh.
Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go
tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.”
Their Eyes Were Watching God is the March selection for the Best Books Club, a group
of readers who enjoy the classics together. To join us, just log
on to the website at www.thebestbooksclub.com or write me at bestbooks@meridianmagazine.com. Our selection
for April: ATLAS SHRUGGED, by Ayn Rand.
Best
Books Club Members Love Les Miserables
I
sent an email to the members of the Best Books Club, asking them
about their experience with Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables,
our selection for February. Here is a sampling of their enthusiastic
responses. There are so many insightful comments here that added
to my appreciation of this wonderful book. My thanks to all who
took the time to respond.
It's funny you mentioned 'Les Miserables'. My husband,
Quinn, and I were re-tiling a countertop yesterday and talking about
just that novel. We've enjoyed all Hugo's works, but we decided
if ever there was a novel that resonated with members of the Church,
it would have to be Les Miserables. I think it may have to do with
its strong theme of integrity and commitment in the face of great
tribulation. When our daughter, Elizabeth, was a teen, she discovered
Les Miserables through the score of the musical. She wasn't the
wimp I am, and found an unabridged copy of the novel. A huge read,
but she loved every word of it! And, as our family discussed the
novel, we decided to watch for the recurrence of Hugo's characters
in other forms of literature. We discovered the combination of
Val Jean and Javier everywhere. - Terry Montague
-----
Yes, I have read 'Les Miserables' - if you were to ask
me my favorite book - that would be it. It has been a few years
since I read it. If you need a more in depth endorsement, let me
know. I read 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' a few years ago and
loved the writing. - Suzanne
Yes I have read 'Les Miserables'. My mother-in-law
gave me a copy probably 20 years ago and I looked at the size of
the book and put it aside. Then I proceeded to give it away. I
have seen the Cameron Mackintosh musical twice and a couple of movie
versions which I enjoyed. Then last year our book discussion group
in Clear Lake, Texas decided to read it so I took the challenge.
I bought what I thought was a condensed version, to find when I
got it home that it was only part I so had to go back and buy the
whole abridged book. I did love the book and was disappointed when
it ended. To me this novel of Victor Hugo is great because it keeps
you moving through his characters, symbols and plot. We watch the
purification of JeanVal Jean from the depths of prison and hell
to businessman, Mayor, rescuer, sacrificer and savior. The plot
is constantly weaving us through good and evil, with the good pointing
to God. After I finished the book, I wished I had read it twenty
years earlier. - Claudia Fisher
-----
I enjoyed so much reading this book and as soon as I
finished it I watched the movie again and I enjoyed it so much more
than the 1st time I watched it. The book helped me to feel
a deep feeling as to how when a person tries to overcome a fault
and change themselves for the better, we make it impossible or at
the least very hard by not forgiving or forgetting. - Betty Tomlinson
-----
The beauty and symbolism of 'Les Miserables' is well
known throughout the world. I hesitate to comment at all, but will
mention just one thought. Although Jean Val Jean's life was horrible,
through the kindness of a Bishop, he was able to rise above it.
Even though he became a mayor and did much good, he was never free
of the oppression of his pursuer and nemesis, Javert. When in our
lives we bring ourselves, through repentance, into a state of righteousness
and oneness with God, we feel that we will be free of problems.
But that is a dream that will never come true. Each man has his/her
"Javert." Illness, poverty, and death are the big ones,
and there are many little "Javerts" also. It is at those
times I remember Jean Val Jean and his love for his adopted daughter,
his love for his fellow man. This noble character in spite of tremendous
persecution reminds me of Job. It is our duty to do our best for
our families and for our fellow man, even if it is only to be humble
and cheerful in the midst of great calamities. Reading this great
book makes me a better person. I just love it. Thank you for the
opportunity to belong to the book club. - Judy South
-----
I read 'Les Miserables' when the musical was first coming
to the U.S. and I knew I wouldn't be able to afford tickets. I was
in my late forties or early fifties. (Then someone gave us tickets!)
I had put off reading it for years, because my best friend
in high school had plowed through it and complained the whole way.
I am truly sorry that I let her frustrations put me off for so many
years. I dived right in and bought the unabridged edition. I was
hooked right away! I soon noticed that the story was threaded between
chapters on history and philosophy. If anything bogged me
down at first, it was those explanatory chapters. When I came to
see the reasoning behind the more difficult (for me) chapters, I
was able to press forward so that I could soak in the whole benefit
and flavor of the book. Every teenage girl should read the chapters
on Fantine - and even better - she should read them with her mother
or with both parents.
I loved the chapter on the sewers of Paris. That was
fascinating - history told with such visualization! The intricate
unraveling and bringing together of the various threads of story
is amazing. I cried when I finished the book. I passed it on to
my daughters, with my explanation of the story-history-philosophy
pattern. The girls know by now that if I love a book,
they probably will. One has now read the book four times, and
her husband is on reading number three. For me, a truly good
book is a treasure to be enjoyed more than once. Peeling back the
layers of language and meaning and life lessons is sort of like
eating an artichoke. I also mark as I read, and write favorite page
numbers on the flyleaf. 'Les Miserables' fits that mold for me.
It will always be a favorite. You've jogged my memory. I've got
to read it again! - Ann
-----
Thanks for your email. I just finished 'Les Miserables'
last night. Although I've seen the play, of course the actual words
from the book were wonderful. Thank you for putting together this
book club with books that have "meat" to them. I just
can't get excited about the NY Times Bestsellers' list! - Lari
-----
Yes, I have read it twice, It is the best book written.
- Gayla
-----
Yes, I loved the book and I had my eyes opened to the
fact that when a sin is repented of and changes made in ones life,
others still remember and make it difficult for the repented one
to go on with life. - Betty
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Meridian Magazine.
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