The Nature of Things

The writer Zora Neale Hurston came to mind this week in another context and it reminded me of when I made her acquaintance in 2009. That was when I read and reviewed her book, Their Eyes Were Watching God . It was a memorable introduction to a gifted writer. Here is that review. ~~~ "...tell 'em dat love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore ." This quote from near the end of the book, when Janie is telling her story to her friend Pheoby, is a summation of the tale for me. Janie's life was like the sea, taking its shape from what it met, the things that contained it. Perhaps that is true of all our lives. This is, in many ways, quite a remarkable book, and I confess it is my introduction to Zora Neale Hurston. I knew her name, of cours...

(Note: My review of this book was first published on Goodreads on October 12, 2009, but had never been posted here.) Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston My rating: 5 of 5 stars "...tell 'em dat love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch.  Love is lak de sea.  It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore." This quote from near the end of the book, when Janie is telling her story to her friend Pheoby, is a summation of the tale for me.  Janie's life was like the sea, taking its shape from what it met, the things that contained it.  Perhaps that is true of all our lives. This is, in many ways, quite a remarkable book, and I confess it is my introduction to Zora Neale Hurston.  I knew her name, of course, but had never read any of her works.  I knew of her as an anthropology student of F...