Shroud and Their Eyes were Watching God

I finished reading "Shroud" by John Banville and "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston.

Shroud left me a little unsatisfied. The writing is beautifully crafted, but the plot was not much. It begins with an old man who apparently has lived a life of lies. The buildup of the book is toward the mystery behind his lies. My discovery of what that mystery was didn't exactly knock me off my feet. I didn't think it was such a terrible lie compared to the build-up. But the writing itself is lyrical and descriptive, if not sometimes slow. If you can appreciate the writing, I would recommend borrowing the book from the library. Otherwise, there are probably other books that hopefully are beautifully crafted and with better plots.

I have wanted to read Their Eyes Were Watching God for some time now. The author has certain radiant passages (including the beginning and the ending). In between, she tells the story of a woman's life with dialogues in the dialect of that time and region. I was personally curious about what the title referred to. Towards the end of the book, readers run across a sentence that actually contains the title of the book. I found it curious that the author chose a title that refers to more than one person ("their" eyes, not "her" eyes) when the main story of the book really is about Janie.

Janie tells the story of her life. She chronicles her three marriages and her search for happiness. Janie finds that she cannot make herself love a man in her first marriage, even though her husband tries his best to be good to her. Janie runs off to be with her second husband for 20 years. Although the second marriage begins with love, Janie finds that she is not happy because her second husband confines her to a role he determines for her. It is only in her third marriage that Janie finds both love and happiness. It is in the unconventional third marriage (the man is more than 10 years younger than her) that Janie finds love and happiness. The key is that her third husband loves her and is happy to let her be who she is. The book is well written, and I think it is worth borrowing from the library.