Books

Recently we sold our house and needed to find a place to live for a year. Our agent found a home to rent and sent us to see it, and when we drove by it, I dismissed it right away. It was too far away from our business, too small, too this, too that. The next day I got another call from her. “Just come and stand in this home, and tell me you don’t want it,” she said. So I did. I’m sitting here now, at my desk, in this cozy home that is just perfect for our needs, and I’m so glad she made me step inside the door before I passed it by. I’m telling you all this because I want you to step inside this little book with me before you pass it by. You might have heard of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, or it might be unfamiliar to you. It might not be a book you’ll enjoy, but then again, it might be one you will never forget. You’ll have to step inside to see. When I read the first two paragraphs of this book, they startled me with the way they combined homely wisdom with pure poetry, and I read them over and over with delight. Here they are:

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.

Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly. (1)

Hurston writes differently than most authors who are telling a story using occasional images for emphasis.  In Hurston, the images are the story. There is no distinction in this novel between imagery and reality, between the spiritual and the temporal: it’s all one. This woman’s writing makes my heart pound. I’ll just throw a few more sentences at you:

 “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.” (8)

 “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” (20)

 “Janie turned from the door without answering, and stood still in the middle of the floor without knowing it. She turned wrongside out just standing there and feeling.” (30)

 “Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” (184)

Out of Step

Zora Neale Hurston was out of step with her time. She lived in Harlem in the early 1920’s and was educated at a University under the patronage of some sympathetic white women. She worked as an anthropologist and a teacher. Later, she wrote two novels, which were harshly criticized because they lacked the angry political stance that both the black and white literati felt were essential to a “black novel.” Hurston’s sweet evocation of the illiterate black working folk seemed to these critics to be a kind of concession to white supremacy in the South. Zora’s quiet, independent heroine, Janie, held no appeal for the angry generation who first read this book. It went quickly out of print, and Zora Hurston ended her life working as a maid, impoverished and defeated by those dreams she so eloquently described.

In the early 1970’s the great writer Alice Walker used a second hand copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God as a text for her literature students. She loved the novel, and was dismayed to learn that Hurston was buried in an unmarked grave, so she traveled to Florida to correct this insult to her memory. Wading through waste-high grass, she eventually found what she thought was Hurston’s grave and placed a marker on it which read, “Zora Neale Hurston/A Genius of the South/ Novelist / Folklorist / Anthropologist / 1901 – 1960.” Her personal essay about this experience for a national magazine brought the book to the attention of a new generation. The book has been in print continually since then.

A Different World

Hurston’s characters speak in the dialect of the deep south, and the world they inhabit is wonderfully different from our own. I love to feel that, through a book, I have entered the essence of another kind of life, and this book offers that experience. Once in a while, however, I get a letter that scolds me for recommending books where people break the commandments, so I must tell you that these people are not Latter-day Saints. They are simple folk trying to find the right way. Mistakes are made, but the overwhelming feeling I get here is one of faith in the goodness of the human spirit, and faith in the goodness of God. That is the guideline I use in selecting literature, and on that basis I recommend it to you. We’ll close with Janie’s philosophy of life:

 “Talkin’ don’t amount tuh uh hill uh beans when yuh can’t do nothin’ else…you got tuh go there tuh know there. Yo papa and yo moma and nobody else can’t tell yuh and show yuh. Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.”

Their Eyes Were Watching God is the March selection for the Best Books Club, a group of readers who enjoy the classics together. To join us, just log on to the website at www.thebestbooksclub.com or write me at be*******@me**************.com“>be*******@me**************.com. Our selection for April:  ATLAS SHRUGGED, by Ayn Rand.

Best Books Club Members Love Les Miserables

I sent an email to the members of the Best Books Club, asking them about their experience with Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, our selection for February. Here is a sampling of their enthusiastic responses. There are so many insightful comments here that added to my appreciation of this wonderful book. My thanks to all who took the time to respond.

 It’s funny you mentioned ‘Les Miserables’.  My husband, Quinn, and I were re-tiling a countertop yesterday and talking about just that novel. We’ve enjoyed all Hugo’s works, but we decided if ever there was a novel that resonated with members of the Church, it would have to be Les Miserables.  I think it may have to do with its strong theme of integrity and commitment in the face of great tribulation.

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When our daughter, Elizabeth, was a teen, she discovered Les Miserables through the score of the musical.  She wasn’t the wimp I am, and found an unabridged copy of the novel.  A huge read, but she loved every word of it! And, as our family discussed the novel, we decided to watch for the recurrence of Hugo’s characters in other forms of literature.  We discovered the combination of Val Jean and Javier everywhere.  – Terry Montague

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Yes, I have read ‘Les Miserables’ – if you were to ask me my favorite book – that would be it.  It has been a few years since I read it.  If you need a more in depth endorsement, let me know.  I read ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ a few years ago and loved the writing.   – Suzanne

Yes I have read ‘Les Miserables’.  My mother-in-law gave me a copy probably 20 years ago and I looked at the size of the book and put it aside.  Then I proceeded to give it away.  I have seen the Cameron Mackintosh musical twice and a couple of movie versions which I enjoyed.  Then last year our book discussion group in Clear Lake, Texas decided to read it so I took the challenge.  I bought what I thought was a condensed version, to find when I got it home that it was only part I so had to go back and buy the whole abridged book.  I did love the book and was disappointed when it ended. To me this novel of Victor Hugo is great because it keeps you moving through his characters, symbols and plot.  We watch the purification of JeanVal Jean from the depths of prison and hell to businessman, Mayor, rescuer, sacrificer and savior.  The plot is constantly weaving us through good and evil, with the good pointing to God.  After I finished the book, I wished I had read it twenty years earlier.  – Claudia Fisher

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I enjoyed so much reading this book and as soon as I finished it I watched the movie again and I enjoyed it so much more than the 1st time I watched it.  The book helped me to feel a deep feeling as to how when a person tries to overcome a fault and change themselves for the better, we make it impossible or at the least very hard by not forgiving or forgetting. – Betty Tomlinson

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The beauty and symbolism of ‘Les Miserables’ is well known throughout the world. I hesitate to comment at all, but will mention just one thought. Although Jean Val Jean’s life was horrible, through the kindness of a Bishop, he was able to rise above it. Even though he became a mayor and did much good, he was never free of the oppression of his pursuer and nemesis, Javert. When in our lives we bring ourselves, through repentance, into a state of righteousness and oneness with God, we feel that we will be free of problems. But that is a dream that will never come true. Each man has his/her “Javert.” Illness, poverty, and death are the big ones, and there are many little “Javerts” also. It is at those times I remember Jean Val Jean and his love for his adopted daughter, his love for his fellow man. This noble character in spite of tremendous persecution reminds me of Job. It is our duty to do our best for our families and for our fellow man, even if it is only to be humble and cheerful in the midst of great calamities. Reading this great book makes me a better person. I just love it. Thank you for the opportunity to belong to the book club. – Judy South

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I read ‘Les Miserables’ when the musical was first coming to the U.S. and I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford tickets. I was in my late forties or early fifties. (Then someone gave us tickets!) I had put off reading it for years, because my best friend in high school had plowed through it and complained the whole way. I am truly sorry that I let her frustrations put me off for so many years. I dived right in and bought the unabridged edition. I was hooked right away! I soon noticed that the story was threaded between chapters on history and philosophy.  If anything bogged me down at first, it was those explanatory chapters. When I came to see the reasoning behind the more difficult (for me) chapters, I was able to press forward so that I could soak in the whole benefit and flavor of the book. Every teenage girl should read the chapters on Fantine – and even better – she should read them with her mother or with both parents.

I loved the chapter on the sewers of Paris. That was fascinating – history told with such visualization! The intricate unraveling and bringing together of the various threads of story is amazing. I cried when I finished the book. I passed it on to my daughters, with my explanation of the story-history-philosophy pattern. The girls know by now that if I love a book, they probably will. One has now read the book four times, and her husband is on reading number three. For me, a truly good book is a treasure to be enjoyed more than once. Peeling back the layers of language and meaning and life lessons is sort of like eating an artichoke. I also mark as I read, and write favorite page numbers on the flyleaf. ‘Les Miserables’ fits that mold for me. It will always be a favorite. You’ve jogged my memory. I’ve got to read it again! – Ann

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Thanks for your email.  I just finished ‘Les Miserables’ last night.  Although I’ve seen the play, of course the actual words from the book were wonderful. Thank you for putting together this book club with books that have “meat” to them.  I just can’t get excited about the NY Times Bestsellers’ list!  – Lari

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Yes, I have read it twice, It is the best book written. – Gayla

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Yes, I loved the book and I had my eyes opened to the fact that when a sin is repented of and changes made in ones life, others still remember and make it difficult for the repented one to go on with life. – Betty