Scan barcode
sbreadsfantasy's review
5.0
Maya Angelou’s foreword concludes that, in this autobiography, “It is difficult, if not impossible, to find and touch the real Zora Neale Hurston.” I agree completely. The appendix reveals that editorial oversight may have influenced this in some degree. I am left to wonder if perhaps the true Zora Neale Hurston would not have been palatable to her white readers in the early 40s, or if she herself did not wish to be that vulnerable.
Hurston’s autobiography is fascinating. Her imagery is striking, firmly planting her readership in Eatonville. In understanding her roots, I was able to connect Their Eyes Were Watching God with the real-life influences that lead Hurston to write her novel.
However, after finishing this book, I do not feel that I gained any intimate knowledge of who Hurston truly was. Throughout her autobiography, she holds her readership at an arm’s length. The most intimate emotion she conveys involves her feelings of failure as a nine-year-old girl. Her dying mother implored her not to let them take away her pillow or cover the clocks in the room, as tradition apparently called for, but Zora was unable to convince the adults in the room to respect her wishes. After that, I was hoping she would continue to show how that moment impacted her life, but Hurston becomes more emotionally closed off as the book progresses. Even in her tales of a passionate, jealous love affair that spanned years, there was little emotional depth truly conveyed.
I am intrigued by her research on “Negro lies” (folktales), and her discussions of race were interesting, if not confusing.
Although it is not an intimate portrait of Hurston, it is an interesting tale of her life and definitely offers insight into her novels. The book itself is relatively straightforward, but the task of analyzing what went unsaid ended up being highly complex and occupied most of my time while reading. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the Harlem Renaissance or Ms. Hurston.
Hurston’s autobiography is fascinating. Her imagery is striking, firmly planting her readership in Eatonville. In understanding her roots, I was able to connect Their Eyes Were Watching God with the real-life influences that lead Hurston to write her novel.
However, after finishing this book, I do not feel that I gained any intimate knowledge of who Hurston truly was. Throughout her autobiography, she holds her readership at an arm’s length. The most intimate emotion she conveys involves her feelings of failure as a nine-year-old girl. Her dying mother implored her not to let them take away her pillow or cover the clocks in the room, as tradition apparently called for, but Zora was unable to convince the adults in the room to respect her wishes. After that, I was hoping she would continue to show how that moment impacted her life, but Hurston becomes more emotionally closed off as the book progresses. Even in her tales of a passionate, jealous love affair that spanned years, there was little emotional depth truly conveyed.
I am intrigued by her research on “Negro lies” (folktales), and her discussions of race were interesting, if not confusing.
Although it is not an intimate portrait of Hurston, it is an interesting tale of her life and definitely offers insight into her novels. The book itself is relatively straightforward, but the task of analyzing what went unsaid ended up being highly complex and occupied most of my time while reading. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the Harlem Renaissance or Ms. Hurston.
christinajcraig's review
2.0
2.5 - I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. It was worth reading to learn about Hurston's childhood and her thoughts about race and class. There were also some really beautifully unusual passages but altogether it didn't hold my attention.
sam_bizar_wilcox's review
5.0
Gorgeous. Zora Neale Hurston's autobiography is incomparable. She approaches life with such wisdom and such boldness; I am saddened that I will never get to meet her in real life - I feel that we'd be such good friends.
cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
I liked her book Their Eyes were watching God much better. The commentators of this edition I read felt she she may have taken some creative liberties with her life.
The part about her childhood and getting to college were very good. She becomes more reserved about her later life. Also the later part of the book is more political; maybe it was her politics that caused her to loose appeal as author until Alice Walker rediscovered her.
The part about her childhood and getting to college were very good. She becomes more reserved about her later life. Also the later part of the book is more political; maybe it was her politics that caused her to loose appeal as author until Alice Walker rediscovered her.
shadowmage196's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
kevin_shepherd's review against another edition
5.0
I fell in love with Zora Neale Hurston - anthropologist, writer, filmmaker, heretic - in the autumn of 2021.
As an author and public speaker, Zora was not above taking our religious institutions to task.
“You cannot have knowledge and worship at the same time. Mystery is the essence of divinity… It seems to me that organized creeds are collections of words around a wish. I feel no need for such.”
Did I mention she was a heretic?
“I do not pretend to read God’s mind. If he has a plan of the Universe worked out to the smallest detail, it would be folly for me to presume to get down on my knees and attempt to revise it. That, to me, seems the highest form of sacrilege… Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down.”
Politically, she favored diplomacy over military intervention…
“We [the United States] consider machine gun bullets good laxatives for heathens who get constipated with toxic ideas about a country of their own.”
…and philosophically, she challenged our stereotypes and embraced our shared humanity.
“…I feel that I have lived. I have the joy and pain of strong friendships. I have served and been served. I have made enemies of which I am not ashamed. I have been faithless, and then I have been faithful and steadfast until the blood ran down into my shoes. I have loved unselfishly with all the ardor of a strong heart, and I have hated with all the power of my soul. What waits for me in the future? I do not know. I cannot even imagine, and I am glad for that. But already I have touched the four corners of the horizon, for from hard searching it seems to me that tears and laughter, love and hate, make up the sum of life.”
In spite of all she contributed and accomplished, Zora Neale Hurston spent her final years working as a housemaid. She died in poverty and relative obscurity on 28 January, 1960.
Dearest Zora, our differences not withstanding (as in black/white, conservative/liberal, theist/atheist, living/deceased) I am so looking forward to spending more time with you.
As an author and public speaker, Zora was not above taking our religious institutions to task.
“You cannot have knowledge and worship at the same time. Mystery is the essence of divinity… It seems to me that organized creeds are collections of words around a wish. I feel no need for such.”
Did I mention she was a heretic?
“I do not pretend to read God’s mind. If he has a plan of the Universe worked out to the smallest detail, it would be folly for me to presume to get down on my knees and attempt to revise it. That, to me, seems the highest form of sacrilege… Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down.”
Politically, she favored diplomacy over military intervention…
“We [the United States] consider machine gun bullets good laxatives for heathens who get constipated with toxic ideas about a country of their own.”
…and philosophically, she challenged our stereotypes and embraced our shared humanity.
“…I feel that I have lived. I have the joy and pain of strong friendships. I have served and been served. I have made enemies of which I am not ashamed. I have been faithless, and then I have been faithful and steadfast until the blood ran down into my shoes. I have loved unselfishly with all the ardor of a strong heart, and I have hated with all the power of my soul. What waits for me in the future? I do not know. I cannot even imagine, and I am glad for that. But already I have touched the four corners of the horizon, for from hard searching it seems to me that tears and laughter, love and hate, make up the sum of life.”
In spite of all she contributed and accomplished, Zora Neale Hurston spent her final years working as a housemaid. She died in poverty and relative obscurity on 28 January, 1960.
Dearest Zora, our differences not withstanding (as in black/white, conservative/liberal, theist/atheist, living/deceased) I am so looking forward to spending more time with you.
krobart's review
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023/08/24/review-2226-dust-tracks-on-a-road/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023/08/24/review-2226-dust-tracks-on-a-road/