Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) |
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| Title: | Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) |
| Author: | Leslie Marmon Silko
Larry McMurtry (Introduction) |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books |
| Type: | Book / Paperback |
| Publication Date: | 26 December, 2006 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0143104918 / 9780143104919 |
| List Price: | $16.00 |
| You Save: | $5.60 |
| Amazon Price: | $10.40 |
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This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon.com, from $8.87.
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Thirty years since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power.
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Customer Reviews:
• Haven't Finished It, But So Far It's Good
20 November, 2008
I have to read this for a lame LBST class, but I'm trying to make the best of it. As far as I can tell, it is pretty well written, it's just a shame that I don't care. My teacher, however, gives it rave reviews. If you're just looking for something to read that's interesting. Search Dean Koonz or Greg Hurwitz. Unless you are actually into anthropology, then this book might be for you. And why I spent this much time reviewing a book I don't even care about...well...I guess I don't know. Hahaha
- Amazon Customer Review
• A Must Read
30 November, 2009
Beautifully written novel focusing on Southwest Native American history and culture and psychological/cultural conflicts with larger Anglo-American society. Author helps reader to get inside the minds of the various characters and to appreciate the positive aspects of Native American culture.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Wwii And Native American Culture
14 August, 2009
This story of a Native American WWII vet going through a process of healing from the trauma (physical and psychological) of war incorporates traditional Navajo culture. It was a melding of how ancient cultural practices helped a man to heal wounds imposed by being drawn into a modern culture. I enjoyed the melding of the two cultures, learned about some traditional Native American cultural beliefs, and it made me think about the lack of support my dad had after returning from WWII: his white culture had no way of dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder until almost 40 years later.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Breath-taking
21 August, 2008
All I can add to the many thoughtful reviews here is this:
I've read very few works of fiction that have provoked a profound paradigm shift. This is one of the ones that did.
I couldn't look up from the pages and the story will stay with me for life.
I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to the author for her glorious writing and for helping me to see out of the eyes of someone from another culture. Not an easy book at times, if you're someone who can be caught up by a good writer's story. But not to be missed.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Emperor's New Clothing
07 August, 2009
While reading the 1-star reviews, I noticed that all of them just generalized the book as "stupid", "waste of time", "retarded", "I would rather shoot my toe off", etc.
Now, while I fully agree with those statements, they hold little merit as they provide no real fundamental explanation behind their hatred; or at least, none that can be interpreted on a literary level.
Ceremony is an unconventional novel employing many unconventional literary tools and devices. I will take an example which fellow readers complain about: the abrupt change of tenses and time. Non-linear plot lines aren't awfully uncommon, but in this case Silko actually uses it as a witty cultural mirror that reflects a Native American's perception of time.
In an interview she gave (in which she was quite hazy and inarticulate, by the way--Peyote?), she stated that "time is like an ocean" and in the eyes of a Native American, "what happened 500 years ago is the same as the present," (i.e. the spider web connection). However, instead of blatantly forcing this belief on the reader, she presents the idea in a clever manner by actually implementing this outlook in the timeline. I will give her that.
BUT!
The reader has to keep in mind that this is merely a tool the author uses and regardless of how astute it may seem, if it compromises the novel itself, it should still be critically scrutinized. And how it did. There were parts of the novel where it was nearly impossible to locate on a timeline or fit into the story. The same thing happened with some random characters: Silko will suddenly start developing the backstory of a minor character, and it seemed like it was going somewhere but it just wandered off and didn't connect with anything.
This become a pattern with Silko's themes and symbols; the concept and tools are interesting and new but they don't add anything to the novel. Another key example is Tayo, our mysterious protagonist. Personally I feel like I had no idea who he was or is. He really did seem like "white smoke" rather than an entity--but christ, you can't form a novel around that!
I could not connect with him on any kind of level because Silko did not allow for it. Rather, she built his character through, for example, the description of the landscape or nature. Once again, this is an interesting concept and most likely reflects the Native American culture but does not make for quality literature. The amount of times he vomited or cried was the closest indicator the reader has to Tayo. When he cried, I understood the unstated reasons, but I could care less because Silko left him isolated from the reader and no sympathy was developed (I was almost glad). As another reviewer so articulately put, "The whole time I wished Tayo would come to life and try to kill me with a beer bottle."- MM.
I read this book with my senior IB class and we (students and our 2 English teachers) were all assigned specific symbols or motifs to track. Symbols are used in literature to carry across a point and give the novel a deeper significance. In Ceremony, it simply became a nuisance. For example: the colors, oh god, the colors.
It is obvious that Silko implemented colors with symbolic intentions as her pages are littered with them. Let's take blue. The woman Tayo shags had the blue door, blue shawl, etc. But blue is used EVERYWHERE in the novel and it was impossible to distinguish when it was significant or not. You can't, however, say that any of the symbolic meanings of the colors contradict them self because they were never clearly defined. This is the whole feel on the book: vague and ambiguous. I finally gave up trying to figure out the colors and their many uses mean and asked my English teacher. Her reply was along the lines of: Silko often describes nature and blue, of course, is pre-dominant there, so sometimes her imagery and symbolism overlap. Our English teacher is probably one of the best I have had in my high school career but here I disagree: the author has a responsibility to the reader to at least be clear and consistent in what she puts forth.
I understand why this book was part of the IB curriculum and that it is always worthwhile to reach beyond the borders of your own culture/comfort zone and try to see different viewpoints of different cultures in order to become more open minded yourself. But I feel that Silko did an awful job of advocating for the part of Native Americans. Her intentions feel sincere but the product lacking.
Imagine her sitting around a campfire on a reservation with her fellow Indians giving a "book reading". I would bet my grandmother's tombstone that everyone would either fall asleep from her 3 page-long, mundane descriptions of imagery or they would just become frustrated and throw glowing coal at her. I don't believe that this is the format in which Native Americans share their stories--besides the interwoven poetry which I will grant as a beam of light (it's interesting to note because the novel strongly promotes the importance of stories in their culture).
I have listened to university professor's lectures on the book on youtube and their analysis of the novel, but I don't buy it. It seems to me the emperor's new clothing.
But don't take my word for it, flip through the pages and see for yourself. I especially recommend trying to read it on a Sunday night when you want to fall into a deep sleep, free of any coherent thoughts.
- Amazon Customer Review
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