Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Kindle Edition

"She taught me this above all else: things which don't shift and grow are dead things."That has been around for four decades and speaks a deeper truth to our culture than almost all other texts is worthy of recognition, which Silko's novel has undoubtedly received. It is not only that Silko creates a vivid, substantive depiction of her main character--Tayo, an army veteran returning to his reservation but not finding open arms--but that she shines and refracts a light through this character to expose simultaneously the beauties and flaws of the surrounding world, particularly the larger white culture that has perniciously tainted much of the good.Getting to these truths, though, is a struggle--and I have a feeling this book will take several readings to fully digest. It has little semblance of plot, and at times you will feel lost reading it (much like the protagonist does). I would much rather have read this book with a professor guiding my thinking, or at least I should say that it would have been a much more accessible experience. But the inaccessibility probably says just as much about me and my own mindset as a reader than the text itself, and that is the beauty of Ceremony: it lends a mirror that is insightful--and incisive--no matter the context.Worth the struggle, I am 99% sure.

What a waste of a great premise and the reader's time. Silko really botched it, which is a shame because the first chapters are so well done and the prose is intoxicating. A half-white, half-Laguna Indian WWII veteran with PTSD struggles to rejoin a society that has returned to disregarding his people despite their sacrifice, but it goes off the rails, quick. It's a common device in NA lit to join classic myth into the present/reality, and anyone with PTSD knows this slipping into the past is a major struggle, so the promise of introspection is obvious. Wrong. Silko brushes past it and digs right into arcane nonsense. It is in these rituals that Tayo gets confused. He has moments of clarity in which he relies on his own wit to navigate his journey, but then gets bogged down in the mythos of his people and shaman forecasts and adhering to this prescribed ceremony and enacting the elements of an ancient story just because the stars are the same and there's a drought (in a DESERT), and if anything it derails his healing process further by introducing so many confounding elements and stating Tayo must understand his struggle as a bit player in a global drama that includes ancient rites and fables he must adhere to, rather than looking inward and to mental health experts for answers and strength. Spoiler alert, it doesn't help and (really seriously this time, this is a big spoiler) in reducing his friends to analogues in an ancient ceremony narrative, he lets them be tortured and killed because the medicine man predicted he would let it happen. That's great for PTSD, forcing the patient into another very similar traumatic event. It's astonishing, especially because the book is so pompous about the efficacy and accuracy of their predictions, while this man has a full-blown meltdown following their counsel. Tayo thinks about helping while he watches his best friend in the world get strung up on wire and maniacs cut his toes off, and certainly could have if he had retained free will, but ultimately doesn't. Because why be accountable and have agency in your own life when you can resign yourself to a bit role in someone else's story?

I loved the mystical aspect of this mans journey through his PTSD I don't believe he would have been able to come through it without the traditions of his people . It was a sad, brutal story. Not just about war and what that can do to you, but the racism against native Americans and also about the particular form of racism that mixed race people have to deal with. When you are not embraced by either part of your heritage you are truly lost

I read it for class. It was a good book, maybe a little confusing, but I still think the Professor made a good choice exposing us to it. I'm not sure what "graphic violence" in a book would mean, this book has some pretty violent parts and and a fairly intense message, clearly not written for someone very young. I don't think someone would give this book to a kid anyway since it is a little bit of a hard read because its different than your average book. I don't think if I had picked it up casually that I would have finished it because it was not a book I could pick up in a busy hallway waiting for my next class and read a few chapters, it took a little more thought to really comprehend than the kind of book I would do that with and I kind of learned to appreciate that as I read because I ended up setting aside times to sit and try to really read and understand what was going on. If you want something different and meaningful to read, this book is for you

The author tells a story of great current interest, a soldier returning from the war, traumatized by what he has seen, and his search for healing. She weaves together Native poetry and traditions in a conventional narrative form. Her imagery of "skid row" in Gallup NM is particularly clear and real. The central character's thoughts are intermingled with present events and I found myself sometimes thinking I was reading events in the present when they were actually being recollected in memories. This can be momentarily confusing but effective for a character who is deeply troubled by his memories and trying to regain his footing after his difficult experiences, in World War II, and as a mixed-blood member of a community and family, growing up with feelings that he didn't fit in.I'm reading this for a two-book seminar on Native Americans coming home from the war. The other book is House Made of Dawn by N Scott Momaday. I'm looking forward to completing Ceremony, reading House Made of Dawn, and following on with in depth discussions. Highly recommended!

Good book about retrurning damaged veterans from World War 2 in the Pacific who were native american indians. It is about the power of native american culture and ancient traditions helping native american veterans returning form the Pacific to cope with mental illness, depression and post traumatic stress. It ia also a severe indictment of the way Native American Indians have been treated in the USA and the alchoholism and discrimination that they suffer from. It is a beautifully written book with large elements of poetry and the imaginative use of language and words. A difficult book to read with many levels and depth and considered to be one of the greatest novels written by a Native American author. Not an easy read but well worth the effort.

I loved this book and the central character, Tao, who is the product of a very mixed race background with his "light brown skin and hazel eyes". It lets you enter his world as he returns shattered by the experience of war. While he fights in an American Uniform he is a hero but on returning home without his army dress he is again a non-person. He suffers post-war traumatic stress but there is little or no help for him. He goes to his own native indian ancestors for help in overcoming his problems by their constant telling of native stories and remedies.The book is divided not by formal chapters but poems and wonderful prose passages which are a joy to read. I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone.Christine Harris

At its simplest this is a tale about a young native American survivor of a Japanese death march being cured of his post-traumatic stress by an extended healing ceremony, which puts him back in touch with his roots. But it is more than that: Tayo's healing is in some ways a more general healing, his ceremony part of a wider ceremony for his people.I loved this book. It is a fine example of magic realism addressing real issues in a profound way and this is something I look for in a book.

I read this on my 2nd year uni course as part of an "Introduction to American Literature" course. I absolutely love this book as it is written in such a unique way that combines narrative with poetry and older myths. I had never read anything quite like and there is definitely something for everyone in this story.

The story is an interesting tale of Tayo's journey to reconnect with his Native American ancestry after experiencing the trauma of war, however the poem structure that runs throughout the text makes it difficult to follow. A challenging read.