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Rating: 
Summary: A novel? A jumble? A really long book.
Review: A book only for those good at skimming. Where were this woman's editors? There are plenty of good stories in there, sadly, they are overwhelmed by Silko's yen to regurgitate every single thing she knows about thousands of unrelated items, like a messed up and poorly written encyclopedia (or almanac?), and not in the Borgesian sense, more in the long-winded sense.
There are good characters in this book. Unfortunately, Silko also includes their laundry lists, measurements of their teeth, the minutes from the board meetings they attend, their favorite recipes for cornbread...
Characters and story lines are introduced, then abandoned and left to dangle, only to be revisited in the most repititious and taxing prose imaginable. With a few years of editing and rewriting, this tome might yield some decent novellas, an interesting collection of folklore and ethnography, and some dreary journalistic material. As is, it is not some grand, free-flowing, apocalyptic--oh, I forget what the review said--but a big mess disguised as a novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The best novel I have ever read
Review: Anybody who thinks this is merely fiction is mistaken. This is reality, and it is happening as I type. Once the perceptive reader finishes this book (s)he will look around, and see that Almanac of the Dead is a completely accurate portrayal of the Western Hemisphere at the end of the 20th Century. Certainly the book may be too "strange" or "bizaare" for some readers. Those who think that reality is television, shopping malls, and suburbia may find the insights into how the rest of humanity lives to be disturbing. But the society set up by Europeans in North and South America is a hollow one, and the cracks are already showing. Almanac of the Dead is the blue print of the coming changes. We have been warned.
Rating:
Summary: Native Reality Check
Review: I am a Native American woman, and I found this book empowering, depressing and very raw. I can see people that I know in the characters in the book as well as having had some of the same experiences. The book gives a realistic glimpse of a small population of Native American experiences. It shows how hard our world really is, and how Natives struggle through their lives knowing that there is no alternative. This book shows the other, real side to the "noble savage" myth.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, Gritty, Graphic, and Beautiful
Review: I love Leslie Marmon Silko's book. I was able to relate to the story and the plot is believable. Leslie is a very talented, and worthy writer. While the book was depressing at times, it was filled with truth, righteous indignation, and deep wisdom. It is time to take our lives back from those that destroy and plunder our Earth Mother, and seek nothing more then greed for comfort.
I hope a revolution develops, like the one in Almanac of the Dead. It is time for Indigenous peoples to take back their lands and to put an end to all human suffering.
This book is a message for all peoples of the Earth. It is a change that is necessary to bring peace, and harmony to our lives. Resist!
Rating:
Summary: Novel Might not be the Best Term for this Book
Review: In much the same way that her brilliant and beautiful 1st novel Ceremony is intended to function as a ceremony for its readers, Almanac is intended to function as a a prophetic document. Silko's text is inspired by, and meant to serve as an extension of, ancient Mayan codices--books which keep exact and detailed record of Time and attempt to prophesy based on this knowledge. Time is as much a character in this "novel" as the Land is.
Of course, Silko doesn't lay all this out for her reader, but the clues are there. The ancient notebooks that old Yoeme leaves in the hands of the twins Lecha & Zeta are directly inspired by & directly refer to the codices. Twins themselves are of mythological significance in Mayan (and many other Southwestern) cosmologies. Almost every Native American character in this novel can be read as a mythological being in disguise. They all have dual functions, especially the female characters.
Silko has said that the anger which can be so overwhelming in her text does not come from her. She sees herself as more of a conduit for a much more ancient and dangerous rage. What began as a project about the seedy underbelly of Modern Tucson quickly transphormed itself to a work of mythological scope and political indictment.
This novel is demanding, complex, and mind-blowing in scope. It is by no means a casual read, nor is it sympathetic towards its reader. It requires things of you that typical novels don't. It even demands you abandon your theory of what a novel is and does. But if you are willing to follow Silko's narrative & thematic trails, the vision she reveals for you is truly astounding.
Silko's next novel, Gardens in the Dunes, was written, she says, to reward all of us who braved and withstood the onslaught that is Almanac of the Dead. It is true that those who make it through this book develop a bit of an obsession with it. Approach this text with this in mind, and you might make it to the end. But be prepared to return immediately to the beginning--you'll never get the scope of Silko's vision in one read.
Rating:
Summary: prettysnake says, sssssuper book Sssssssilko!!!!
Review: Not nearly as complex as some would like to make it. The "land" interacts with people to manifest its spirits. Those who are "cut off" from the land, become alienated and "alien." 500 years is not so long in the grand scheme of things. What is yet to come is what has been before, a people who are shaped by the spirits of the Americas. Her novel might not make some people "happy." It certainly isn't your romantic "Indian story" (that so many people seem to want). The lives it depicts in fiction aren't far from the convoluted inner workings of some of the indigenous movements here in the Americas (the Zapatista, AIM, etc.) nor from the "cultural elite" who rot in their penthouses in the monuments of Western civilization. It might not be an "easy" read, but it is certainly an engaging one, and a well-crafted one. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: prettysnake says, sssssuper book Sssssssilko!!!!
Review: Not nearly as complex as some would like to make it. The "land" interacts with people to manifest its spirits. Those who are "cut off" from the land, become alienated and "alien." 500 years is not so long in the grand scheme of things. What is yet to come is what has been before, a people who are shaped by the spirits of the Americas. Her novel might not make some people "happy." It certainly isn't your romantic "Indian story" (that so many people seem to want). The lives it depicts in fiction aren't far from the convoluted inner workings of some of the indigenous movements here in the Americas (the Zapatista, AIM, etc.) nor from the "cultural elite" who rot in their penthouses in the monuments of Western civilization. It might not be an "easy" read, but it is certainly an engaging one, and a well-crafted one. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother with it
Review: Wow, what a concept...we finally have a Native American stream-of-consciousness novel! Enough of these white-man's dreams like The Tunnel or Gravity's Rainbow, we finally are letting some other voices tell the other side of our sorry travels. Dense. Jumpy. And a few things you might wish you never read. But most of this novel is gripping and, quite sadly so, possibly the truth. If you've read the white man's tales listed above then you really should check this trip out.
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