1 & 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God & A Red Death

[papertigers.livejournal.com]

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
I've read short stories by ZNH over the years, but I avoided this book. from reading excerpts in anthologies of African-American literature, I somehow got the impression it was depressing. but once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down; I read it in about 15 hours. Janie's story is painful, it's sad, it's heartbreaking, but it's not depressing, because she's hopeful, always looking and waiting for the next opportunity to find or create joy inside herself. and it's not a desperate hope, because she never gives up expressing who she is; when she submits, it's on her own terms.

2. A Red Death, by Walter Mosley
I read Devil In A Blue Dress a few years ago, and I picked up another Easy Rawlins mystery at a library book sale, but I have a fixation about reading mystery series in order so I've been waiting until I could get a copy of this one before reading it. as always, Easy's getting it from all sides; the IRS wants him, preferably in federal prison, for not paying his taxes. to avoid that, the FBI wants him to infiltrate his neighborhood church to look for communist organizers. and someone wants him dead, cuz as soon as he shows up at the church, there's a trail of murders leading to his front door. I don't generally like detective noir, but I like Easy Rawlins. I didn't expect to, because cynicism and violence turn me off. but Easy is cynical without being bitter, and he's just as uncomfortable with the questionable necessity of violence as I am. he's intelligent without being so brilliant he's unreal, he's got common sense without being annoyingly street-smart or mystically wise, and he's not pathologically lucky or unlucky. I also like the twists that the analysis of institutional and individual racism add to the traditional conspiracy-driven themes of noir. I can't wait to get to the next book; good thing I already own it.

Comments

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Their Eyes... is seriously one of my favorite books ever. It's extra sad in the context of Katrina, but isn't it just luminous and gorgeous?

[papertigers.livejournal.com]

it is. there's so much to love about it; the lush way ZNH treats the geography, the dynamics of the interpersonal relationships, the strength and resilience of Janie's character, all the things I personally learned about how to get lost in love without losing myself... I kind of gorged myself on it because it was so rich, so I read it through again slowly so I could kind of savor it. I suspect it's going to get added to the list of books I read annually, like Kindred and Like Water For Chocolate.

[hymnia.livejournal.com]

I read Their Eyes Were Watching God for my 11th grade English class, and I remember enjoying it. While it had quite a bit of tragedy in it, I still remember it as being hopeful and uplifting. I'd like to re-read it now as an adult and see how my perceptions of it may have changed (or not changed).