Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

This weeks book is a classic, Their eyes were watching God. I read it for my English class, and I figured I would let you guys know what I thought. Personally, I thought it was not as bad as I expected. (side note: my English class has a bad habit of picking horrible books to read that have nothing to do with the class)
It is a love story of a woman who much go through many trials in life in order to find her one true love. She has to make hard decisions, that, as a woman at that time, would have determined her future. Let me explain:

Janie, a black woman living in a time when woman were the 'mule of the world' is forced to marry at an early age. She marries because her grandmother forces her to, and because she wants her to have a happy life with an old man who owns a lot of land. During this time Janie meets Joe one day, and the two run off together to get married and start a new life.
She hopes this will be love for her. But as time goes on she finds that her perfect image of Joe is not all that he appears to be. They are married for 20 years before he dies and she is left with all his money, as he was mayor of the town where they lived together.
Finally free of him, she begins to let loose a little more with her friends, and tries to go on with life now that she is 40 years old. That is when she meets Tea Cake, yes that is his nickname that everyone refers to him as, and even though he is 20 years younger than her, they begin a new relationship.
Tea Cake is everything that Joe never was to her. He includes her in games and takes her hunting and fishing in their free time. He works hard for his money and doesn't ask anything of Janie other than her being herself as long as she is with him.
Sure, there are bumps along the road for them, but eventually Janie realises that this is the love she was looking for all her life.
The two run off together to start a new life in 'The Muck' where the two work hard to earn a living. Things couldn't seem better for Janie. She has found true love, lived her life to its fullest and nothing is standing in her way anymore.
But a storm is brewing over the Muck, and Janie's perfect life is being threatened. To find out what happens to her and Tea Cake during this hard time in their life, you are going to have to pick up the book.
No really, pick it up. Stop avoiding the classics and give it a try. I wouldn't be writing it here if I didn't think it was worth a try.

The story, though older than our time, still holds true to today's values. Mostly. If anything, it shows us that you can't be told what the perfect love life is for you, or what will make you happy in life. You need to experience things and find your own love. Trial and fire I suppose until you have your happy ending.
And maybe your ending isn't happy. But as long as your have something to come back to, as long as you went out there and at least experienced love for the first time, then what have you really lost in life?
I gave this a 3 out of 5 star rating, because as a classic it touched my heart. I don't have a lot of love for the classics, mainly due to them being shoved on me from my school career, but this one is worth a read if you ever get the chance.
Have a nice day all, and I'll post again next Monday!
- K