20. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and romantic Black feminist heroines

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today Chelsey and Sara are chatting about</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Their Eyes Were Watching God</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">by Zora Neale Hurston, the perfect book to discuss on a sweltering summer day. Sara read and did not finish this classic in high school. We talk about where she stopped and why, and how we both have a greater appreciation for this work as adults. We gush about Hurston’s writing, bond over our love of Janie the dreamer, and share some tips for approaching this seminal work of southern literature. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our discussion includes:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Hurston’s use of dialect [8:08]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our fondness and love for Janie Crawford [12:06]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Seamless symbolism: silencing, oppression, and Janie’s relationships [23:20]</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Reading Tea Cake’s fate symbolically [20:05]</span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic,  including a celebrity memoir and narrative nonfiction.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We will get into some spoilers in this episode, but we must say, we both read summaries prior to reading and think it benefited our reading to know more information going in. Having a prior awareness of plot helped us take in the dialect and rhythm of the story and allowed us to admire Hurston’s writing all the more. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em