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Summary: It's a Ceremony of Spiritual Healing and Self-Discovery
Review: Ceremony, By Leslie Marmon Silko 261 Pages Price: $ 10.36 Published by Penguin Books 1977 In Ceremony Leslie Marmon Silko describes the different aspects of Native-American life and it's transition to being part of American society. We see how by being integrated in the military system during World War II Native-Americans were affected by the issues of how they were treated with respect when they wore the military uniform and with indifference when they didn't. We see how Tayo; a Native-American from the Laguna Pueblo returned from the war traumatized. His trauma was because of the horrors of war and the issue that he had left his family in order to go to the war. During this period of time his uncle died trying to maintain the family work and land from collapsing from the Drought. Tayo blames himself for this and is tormented by his uncle's death. He enters a search for healing and redemption; he struggles for the call of two different cultures because he is half-Indian and half-American. Tayo finds this healing among the old ways of his Native-American culture and he finds out that this is where he belongs. During this healing process Tayo finds action, adventure, love and deals with many of the problems that affects Native-American society. Silko encourages us to see in Tayo the aspects of this transition and the internal struggle he has as a result of being half-Indian and half-American. This raises many questions for the reader: How does this heterogeneous mixture of cultures affect his relations with both worlds? Why when they wore the military uniforms were then seen as White Americans and were treated equally and when they returned home and removed the uniform they didn't? How does Tayo feel about the fact that he is half-Indian and half-American? How do his Native-American counterparts see him? What are his internal fears? Is he white or Indian? What does it means to be both? Silko takes us on a search for identity and in a quest for Home. Tayo is the new root of Native-Americans and he is fighting to find out who he is and where does he belongs. Silko presents the different aspects of life, both positive and negative on a Native American reservation, such as alcoholism, unemployment, family traditions, connection to the land. We see many facets of the lives of Native-Americans and the myths, stories, rituals and beliefs of their culture. We see in the poems of the reading cultural aspects and beliefs, they are the essence of the Laguna Pueblo people interpretation of life. For Tayo they are the essence of his healing process, the road to his true home and cultural heritage. This is a very intense reading because of the way the author shifts from reality to fantasy or subaltern states of Tayo's mind; present and past are also important factors in these shifts. The novel is kind of difficult to read but it is very interesting because the reader himself feels like he is part of the action of the novel. The poems are difficult to read but they give us a better understanding of Native-American culture and beliefs. If you like stories about a person's life and struggles and also like Indian culture and their life as part of a reservation this is a novel you may want to read.
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Summary: It's a womderfull novel that make's you live the ceremony.
Review: BOOK REVIEW Ceremony By: Leslie Marmon Silko (Penguin Books, 1977. 262 pp.) Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony is a wonderful novel about how some people fight to rescue and preserve their culture. Tayo, the protagonist, is a young Native American who has come back home to Laguna Pueblo after participating in World War II. In this war the Japanese imprisoned he and his cousin Rocky but only Tayo escaped alive. Rocky was beaten until he died. Seeing his cousin die in front of him plus the traumatic experience of fighting a war that he doesn't understand affected him mentally and physically. The nightmares, the weakness, and to vomit at any time made him refuse the white people's cultural influence and begin healing process searching his cultural roots. After the war veteran Native Americans earned some kind of "respect" and equality with white people but Tayo learned this vanished when he removed the uniform. He wants to recover his religion, the relationship his people have with nature and everything that reinforces his cultural identity. For this purpose he starts a ceremonial process in which he may discover those things that are really important in life. Also he will discover that to survive cultural extinction each person must make changes and adapt to the new social environment without losing their cultural essence. This novel is a real ceremony that makes you be part of it. In some moments you can feel the suffering, anguish, and despair of the characters. Each part makes the reader live the situation from the mind and soul of Tayo, the protagonist. The themes developed in this book make me think of the way many people around the world are losing their culture and the importance of it. The great talent of Silko makes this novel a masterpiece. She uses innovative writing techniques that place this novel in high level. She also includes in this novel some Native religious elements that give a magical and mysterious atmosphere. For example, it is really interesting the way the author intercepts some poems through the novel. These poem are prayers and stories equivalent to Biblical tales. Each poem presents many situations that help to create the scenario and the mood for this narration. I consider this work as a perfect example of excellent writing. I think this book a magnificent and rewarding work, and Silko, as a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, has an excellent perception of the reality of her people. For this reason I proudly recommend this novel to every person who wanted to know other cultures and to those who wanted to find their cultural essence. By: José Miguel Garcés Rivera/ Expository Writing (ENGL 3231)/ University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus
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Summary: Read me! This book is a puzzle
Review: Ceremony is a well written novel. Leslie Marmon Silko takes us through the life of an Indian veteran named Tayo. He goes to Second World War with his cousin Rocky were he losses him. There both of them were Japanese prisoners. Then during war his cousin dies at the hands of Japanese soldiers. When he comes back he had to struggle with the other Indians veterans and their attitudes, his family and his own life. His family sends him to two medicine men. The second, Betonie, is the one that begins the healing process for Tayo. This novel will reveal to you the power of self-identity, wisdom, family and love. It is obvious that a person of mixed ancestry such as Silko writes such a story. Her ancestry consists of Laguna Pueblo, Mexican and white. These three roots are inside the novel. Her place of birth, Albuquerque, is one the settings of the novel. She is a smart and intelligent writer, worth reading. If you are of a mixed blood you may be uncomfortable reading thisnovel. In this novel they present the white side as mean or as Silko calls them the destroyers. But also the Indians that look for comfort in alcohol, like Emo, are criticized. It is not easy to hear someone talk bad about your people (Indian or white) even if they are right when they say Indian veterans got drunk and that white people mistreated them. Silko decided to write about her own suffering and the suffering she saw among Indians. This novel presents the unhappy life of an Indian veteran, who was also half-breed, and his search for self-identity and happiness. The suffering of the Laguna Pueblo Indians is seen through his eyes. The stories of veterans in bars drinking away their sorrows, Indian girls looking for money and white people a S.O.B. is almost a cliché. The suffering war causes is known to every one and is a bitter experience all soldiers have to handle. Blacks, blues, yellows, reds, purple, anyone that went to war knows these stories. A black writer will write about his experiences, a Chinese will write about his own memories and Silko writes about Indians being disgraced by white people, even though she is of mixed ancestry. Each writer will write about his/her own pain and experiences happening in the time span they are living. If you have lived in a secluded area or experience the pain of being rejected because the color of your skin, you will understand this novel and its themes. It is clear that Silko identifies herself as an Indian. She writes about the pain white people caused them. A suffering that has not been forgiven, a suffering that is still in their hearts. A person that has mixed-blood and him/herself with the whites will get uncomfortable because is hard to accept the past. It is not easy to face that-Yes -white people did some pretty dirty things, for example: taking away Indian cattle,their land and their life. But not every single white in America is like that; and in Ceremony this other perspective is not presented. Why if Silko is also white? Although this novel is written looking only to the suffering Indians had caused by the whites, it is worth reading. The author uses techniques like retrospection, analogies and poems. These poems make the reader try to puzzle out what is happening. The reader will feel as if he/she were walking through a labyrinth. The poems are the little clues to come out in victory. The richness of the descriptions and the elements of nature presented are excellent. It is fascinating to see how Silko manages to make such amazing contrast between the tears and the joys, between the sorrows and the happiness. Ceremony is a novel worth reading if you want to have another point of view on things like: magic, witchery, interracial relationships and racism. A novel that is great if you are ready to face the past and probably the present.
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Summary: Silko shows complete knowledge of Native-American culture.
Review: Ceremony By Leslie Marmon Silko Published in 1977 By Penguin Books 262 pgs Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko tells the story of a Native-American family who deals with the confusion of living a modern lifestyle while keeping their traditional ways. Tayo, the leading character, faces symptoms of depression after his return from the Second World War. He needs to find answers but he doesn't know where to find them. He feels lonely, sick, and even suicidal. His so-called friends, who also went to war, seem to take him through the wrong path by persuading him to drink his pain away. On the other side, his family members try to help him by taking him to a medicine man who performs a ceremony that only begins to let Tayo realize how he can help himself. Throughout his journey, Tayo learns more about himself, his family, and his native traditions than ever before. I think it is interesting to know how people in different cultures face their problems or "internal demons" which we all have. The author combines narrative and poems, which assist the reader, and breaks the monotony of the long reading. In the poems, she incorporates traditional beliefs of the Indians, such as names of "the creators of the Universe" and other explanations they give to natural phenomenon's in a story-like fashion, as if a true native were telling you their legends. They also present a symbolic relationship with the plot that captivates ones attention toward finding their sequence and meaning. Leslie Silko is a wonderful writer who shows complete knowledge of the Native-American culture.I feel this book helps anyone who, like me, knows little of their way of life these days.
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Summary: Great novel to learn more about Indian American Culture.
Review: Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko, is a novel about Indian American People and their struggle to live life, maintaining their roots and their history. Tayo, the main character of the novel, is a young Indian with numerous conflicts that will help him understand his roots, who he is, and who he wants to be. Some conflicts in the story are war, the imposition of white life and ideas over Indian culture and beliefs, alcoholism, and prejudiced treatment to interracial relationships and children born of them. In page 40 and in page 169 we can see how Indians used alcohol to drown all pain war made them remember, the pain from their ancestors land: "Every day they had to look at the land, from horizon to horizon, and every day the loss was with them; it was the dead unburied, and the mourning of the lost going on forever. So they tried to sink the loss in booze, and silence their grief with war stories about their courage, defending the land they had already lost." (Page 169) "Liquor was medicine for the anger that made them hurt, for the pain of the loss, medicine for tight bellies and choked-up throats." (Page 40) The reader is transported into the stories of an Indian storyteller narrating his heritage, the changing stories told from generation to generation, the ceremonies. The writer uses a constant interconnection of stories that enable us to wonder about their outcome before they are finished, just like Sheherezade did in "The 1001 nights". The book offers an interesting and memorable way of learning about Native American culture and beliefs applied in a young Indian's life. People should look for background information about Indian Americans before reading this book. I recommend essays like Wounded Chevy at Wounded Knee, by Diana Hume George and movies like Surviving Colombus, which can help understand the history and other special topics of Native Americans and apply it in the novel. As a Puerto Rican woman, I'm part of two big minority groups that have overcome many barriers and still have a long way to go. Because of this, I can identify myself with the search for comfort in society and cultural conflicts discussed in the novel. This novel is good for every reader interested in cultural and social history, especially people who belong to sub-cultures in the U.S. -Melissa Ortiz, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
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Summary: A vision set in words - pointed, poetic, and important!
Review: This one book has restored my faith in literature as a form of discourse engaging all others. Far more than a novel of "ideas," more than a rehash of old mythic tales, CEREMONY presents a coherent vision - a paradigm, if you will - of the life in which we are all enmeshed in this most "American" of centuries. Frightening, but not without hope for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Contrary to some readers' opinions, the "white bashing" in this book is neither mean nor without compassion. It simply expresses a truth of our shared history from the viewpoint of a Native person. Indeed, Silko is careful to point past the historical genocide to a sense of transcendent evil afflicting oppressor and oppressed alike. In this regard, at least, we are all "one clan" - all in peril for our souls and for our grandchildren's survival, if not our own. Tayo's story thus becomes the reader's, regardless of ancestry or social class. The miracle of it is that he finds healing and redemption - as might any of us, should we first "hit bottom" with the lies and denials on which we've predicated our lives. Poor, alcoholic, and mentally ill, Tayo begins his journey fairly close to the ground. So many of us, flying higher, have that much further to fall. CEREMONY is a demanding book - not without flaw - but I found it extremely satisfying, both for its aesthetic delights and stringent spiritual expression. It spoke to me where I live.
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Summary: A must read for those who care about the native mind.
Review: This book contains a great insight into the workings of the native American mind. European Americans cannot understand the native thought process. It IS truly different. There are other ways of looking at things other than "work hard and save your money" --- this book will help a person understand a different thought process.
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Summary: Very Relevant to our Time
Review: This is the best written piece of modern mythological literature I have ever seen. It is the story of Tayo, who comes back from WWII having had his brother die in his arms. Instead of choosing to give in to his anger and hatred, like his friends do, he takes the hard road and fights for his salvation. The path he takes through the book is a kind of redeeming ceremony, and his rediscovery of his past and identity give him the strenth and inspiration to do more than to just survive, but to live. The prose is beautiful and sharp in its detail; it takes some concentration to read, but it's worth it. This book is about overcoming dispair, and is very relevant to all people today, especially Americans of all race.
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Summary: A book to Stimulate the mind.
Review: It is difficult to find novels about the Southwest that are not too romantic, but are still interesting and that tie the ancient stories and legends to present day problems and event. Leslie Marmon Silko seems to do that quite well in her novel "Ceremony." The interwoven Native American story and the story of Tayo's recovery help make the book easy to understand, despite the disjointedness of it. Tayo's flashbacks to World War II and life before the war sometimes make the book difficult to follow, but also add to the intrigue. As for the Laguna culture and the ceremony Tayo goes through; Silko explains this quite well. All the factors make the book interesting and enjoyable to read. One must think and analyze rather intensely in order to understand Tayo's sudden flashbacks and memories, his get-well ceremony, and the concept of the past and present being related through legends and how they help society understand and resolve quickly the strange problem of the present. The more complex the book, the greater the intrigue it lends to the educated, interested reader. As this complexity is illustrated in "Ceremony", it is and excellent book to stimulate the mind.
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Summary: demanding but beautiful!!
Review: silko put many riddles to the book and the piece is certainly a chalenging one to read. every reader should be able to find the message in the book by himself, because author does not interpret it one way. if you expect entertainment without any work than this is not book for you. do not read this piece when you go to bed. it requires full conscience and concentration but it rewards greatly...
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