Although Ceremony is normally classified as a novel, the text is in fact a combination of styles and genres that defies easy categorization.
Mesmerizing descriptions of desert and drought, musings over the significance of turquoise, concern over environmental destruction, harrowing personal struggles, and haunting revelations of spiritual forces converge in a provocative and numinous memoir that backs Silko’s resounding perception that “in the Americas, the sacred surrounds us, no matter how damaged or changed a place may appear to be. A narrative of loss, struggle, and redemption in the wake of World War II, Ceremony (1977) ranks among the defining works of Native-American poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko. Vivid portraits of her grandmothers and mother are matched by amazing tales of the animal members of Silko’s extended family, from horses and dogs to macaws and rattlesnakes. She digs even deeper in this richly veined, dramatic, and mysterious self-portrait, telling gripping stories of suffering and wisdom from each branch of her complex family tree that reveal the consequences of racism, the war against Native Americans, and the abuse of nature, including shocking glimpses into the Indian slave trade and the dire effects of the atomic bomb tests and uranium mining. A MacArthur fellow, Silko drew on her Laguna Pueblo, Cherokee, Mexican, and European ancestry in her previous books, including her seminal novels Ceremony (1978) and Gardens in the Dunes (1999). Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.The turquoise stones Silko finds in the Tucson Mountains near her home embody the story of the land and her own complex heritage. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. The Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition contains a new preface by the author and an introduction by Larry McMurtry.įor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people.
Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation.
More than thirty-five 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. The great Native American Novel of a battered veteran returning home to heal his mind and spirit
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