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A review by asolorio02
Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
4.0
The book started a little slow and I was wondering what was up with the format. Zora was narrating her trip down to her hometown in Florida, meeting up with old friends and the people who used to get to lyin', essentially the folks who would tell folk tales. At first there wasn't a lot of stories, and I guess I had been expecting a book structured without the narrative backdrop of the writer actually going about gathering the stories. The traditional method of the narrator being outside of the story narratives is most common, I think.
Anyhow, the actual folktales start slow, but when Zora heads to a backwater town, a rough place where the people work in turpentine stills, she befriends some of the workers and begins to hangout with them. This is when the stories really start to flow, and they come non-stop. John or Jack getting over on ol' Massah, brer rabbit and brer dog becoming enemies, the devil helping out slaves and a bunch of others.
There's also several chapters dedicated to New Orlean's Hoodoo (Voodoo). Zora actually got initiated by several Hoodoo conjurers and she writes about the rituals, uses, and practices of Hoodoo practitioners and believers. It was all very interesting. If you ever find a slip of paper with your name written on it nine times, and stuffed inside an old sock, a doll, beneath a candle or buried beneath your doorstep—beware!
Another fascinating, rich read by Zora!
Anyhow, the actual folktales start slow, but when Zora heads to a backwater town, a rough place where the people work in turpentine stills, she befriends some of the workers and begins to hangout with them. This is when the stories really start to flow, and they come non-stop. John or Jack getting over on ol' Massah, brer rabbit and brer dog becoming enemies, the devil helping out slaves and a bunch of others.
There's also several chapters dedicated to New Orlean's Hoodoo (Voodoo). Zora actually got initiated by several Hoodoo conjurers and she writes about the rituals, uses, and practices of Hoodoo practitioners and believers. It was all very interesting. If you ever find a slip of paper with your name written on it nine times, and stuffed inside an old sock, a doll, beneath a candle or buried beneath your doorstep—beware!
Another fascinating, rich read by Zora!