Anyone here read "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by

>>8875487

Eh. Like most 'black' literature, I think most of its popularity is a result of it being politically hot right now.

Ton Morrison, especially I think made it because she was black rather than by virtue of being a good writer.

There are excellent non-western writers, even in translation (Arab, turkish, or even Japanese writers like soeseki come to mind). But African American literature tends to be non-stop 'woe is me' and poorly written at that.

>>8875492
>Ton Morrison, especially I think made it because she was black rather than by virtue of being a good writer.

Song of Solomon is legitmately, unironically good and I'm a white cis male who is proud of it.

Invisible Man is also great.

>>8875492
>I think most of its popularity is a result of it being politically hot right now.

In other words, they say something relevant? What's wrong with that?

>>8875492
lol wasn't zora neale hurston criticized for not talking about black issues enough? Their Eyes Were Watching God barely had any political undertones. If anything it has more of a feminist appeal to it

>>8875649
Yup. She was also criticized for portraying black people badly. Black civil rights people thought the dialect was offensive and lost their shit. TEWWG got literally nowhere in its time, it was rediscovered a few decades ago I think.

>>8875649
her and Baldwin, yeah.
Their work wasnt accepted by the black community during the Harlem Renaissance because they didn't focus on black issues. Baldwin didn't give a fuck and moved to Europe so he could write without having anyone tell him what he should/should not write

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Since we're talking about black literature. Is Things Fall Apart worth reading? Is it well written?

>>8875821
Boring and drawn out, full of unlikable characters. Maybe something just didnt click for me, but i really dont recommend.

>>8875821
It's on my to-read list.
I opened it once and really liked the paragraph I read, for what that's worth.
Good enough for Everyman's Editions to collect the trilogy

>>8875821
It's worth a read. Fleshes out its cultures customs and mythology like Hesiod. I'd say if anything the thing that holds it back is the way Achebe appeals to the western canon sensibilities as a way of bridging the cultures. Also the larger theme of them losing their cultural identity to a stronger outside power reminded me of Submission of all things.

It was hard to read for me too, but it's a good story in my opinion. Reading about Hurston's life made me a little sad.

>>8875821
Also, I don't know you could call anything "black literature", african literature and african-american literature are two completely different beasts coming from totally different cultures. There's a good Baldwin essay about it.

>>8875934

Might be a little early to be comparing it to hesiod.

it's a pretty shitty book. great style, sure, but stupid as shit. i don't really understand why people find it acceptable other than papa bloom giving it his blessing.