Marmon Reviews

_The Delicacy and Strength of Lace_ is an incredibly moving exchange between two great American poets who only met briefly on two occasions: Wright heard Silko read from her work which initiated the correspondence; Silko visited Wright on his deathbed. In between they exchanged letters about their everyday existences, everything from Silko's rooster to the nature of another animal, the human animal. Wright's inititial letter told Silko of his high regard for her book, _Ceremony_ and it's importance and stature in American literature. The letters quickly take on the knowing, personal feel of two people who have known each other for years. The reader is drawn into their lives and, especially, their visions. I recently re-read the book, and once again found myself examining along with the writers the very heart and nature of our existence in this vale of tears. Fans of the poetry of either will find this exchange especially enlightening, but I came to it unfamiiliar with either and found its simplicity and yet its warmth and vision compelling. I often give it as a gift. My copy has been around the world. This is a book to read, relish and re-read. Most readers will probably move next to the works of these two wonderfully compassionate soulmates. Many of Silko's poems appear in the letters.

The reason I wanted this book was because my husband's family has the remains of a V-16 behind their barn. The front fenders (sidemount) are almost 8' long! I wanted to learn more about this particular car (there were only 390 V-16s built), but little did I know what I was in for with this book. My wonderful husband gave it to me for Xmas '96 (from Classis Motorbooks), and it is big, heavy, and packed with info. From the family's beginnings in Europe to the company's unfortunate demise in 1933, this book is amazing! The engineering done on Marmon autos, considering the "state of the art" of the technology available at the time, makes you wonder what they could have done had they survived. Would you believe cast aluminum body panels, before 1910? How about a double frame, one for the engine and one for the body (patented double 3-pt suspension)? This made for a very smooth, stable vehicle, one that was more than a match for the roads of the period. The 1905 Marmon had a cast aluminum barrel engine crankcase! Later Marmons continued this theme of engineering genius and design. Even if you don't like pre-World War II autos, if you like technical detail and engineering, you'll love this book. Engineering specs and drawings abound, with lots of historical contemporary commentary. This book has over 600 close-printed pages, and I haven't read it all yet. It is not a coffee-table book--it has substance, not fluff and lots of color pictures. It rates five stars, two thumbs up, a 10--all the cliches for the best. My only complaint--copyrighted in 1985, and printed in 1990, 2nd edition, I think a supplement is in order--perhaps one that updates the survival statistics, and places where a Marmon (any Marmon) can be seen. This book is a "keeper" in my old car library, and I'm not letting it get away.

The quality varies in this collection of essays, newspaper/magazine commentaries and other textual fragments. Also, because they often touch on similar topics, the book is a bit repetitive at places - especially in the case of "Fences Against Freedom" and "The Border Patrol State," which contain a number of identical passages. Even so, it is in these two pieces in particular that Silko provides some of her sharpest insights and most damning criticism of official U.S. policy toward Mexico and toward its own citizens living in the Southwest. Also interesting are Silko's observations on the concepts of collective memory and consciousness contained in the complex system of oral narratives among her own Laguna Pueblo nation. Although none of the contributions in this book are in-depth studies, taken together they all offer a great deal of food for thought.

Silko's collection of essays present an open, expansive view of her mind and art, her background and destiny. If you've read any of her other works, reading this short book will enrich your appreciation as well as assist you on the next step of your journey. If you haven't read any Silko yet, this is a gentle way to ease you into her writings.

I read it for the background that she gives about storytelling and the narrative process; for wonderful sentences like this: "The storyteller did not just tell the stories, they would in their way act them out. The storyteller would imitate voices for vast dialogues between the various figures of the story. So we sometimes say the moment is alive again within us, within our imagination and our memory, as we listen."

I read it for the wisdom of the old ways of the old-time people; like this: "...time was round--like a tortilla; time had specific moments and specific locations, so that the beloved ancestors who had passed on were not annihilated by death, but only relocated to the place called the Cliff House. At Cliff House, people continued as they had always been, although only spirits and not living humans can travel freely over this tortilla of time. All times go on existing side by side for all eternity. No moment is lost or destroyed. There are no future times or past times; there are 'always all' [her emphasis] the times, which differ slightly, as the locations on the tortilla differ slightly. The past and the future are the same because they exist only in the present of our imaginations...." and she continues, but, isn't that powerful? As well as good writing?

I also enjoyed reading of her political activism and her position on many issues of the west and Native-Americans.

For me, highly recommended. Can't you tell?

I was extremely surprised to find this collection of essays not reviewed here. The title essay alone, "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the spirit," carries more weight than most books in total, given the revelatory descriptions of traditional Laguna Pueblo culture.

Also, Silko's essay "The Border Patrol State" and other notes on border militarism and race related discrimination are important and timely, and increasingly relevant.

"Gardens in the Dunes" covers a lot of territory, most of it new--for example, one subplot concerns botanical theft (uprooting specimens of a particular orchid species from its habitat in the Amazonian rainforest, then burning the rest of the habitat to increase the value of the specimens). Silko has obviously done exhaustive research on many different plants and garden types, European and Native mythology, the Ghost Dance, and numerous other topics outside the range of most historical fiction. These details definitely make the novel worth reading.

However, unlike some of Silko's earlier work (ie. "Ceremony"), "Gardens" is written with little attention to prose style. Instead of showing the characters' emotions through their actions or dialogue, Silko is often content to describe them ("Hattie felt sad...") which has little impact for the reader.

Considering the themes it deals with (suppression of Native cultures, women's rights, ecological destruction), the book is fairly apolitical. No one ethnic group is given a monopoly on meaningful spirituality or wisdom. White people are not the villains; the general human failings of greed, dishonesty, ignorance and condescension are what cause trouble, and the people that display these faults are in every culture. The destruction of nature and the oppression of fellow humans are the ills; a respect for the ancient wisdom (of any culture) and the beauty and providence of the natural world are the remedies.

"Gardens" may seem dry to some, but it's well worth the effort to discover Silko's unique and detailed cultural vision.

This new novel by Leslie Marmon Silko is a masterpiece. Silko has written another wonderful book about Native Americans, but at the same time we can read the history of Western civilization following the story of these gardens and plants. The prose is always original, intense, lyrical.

I loved this novel because of its vivid descriptions of plant life and gardens. I live in an urban environment and flowers, trees, colors and scents are not part of my daily life. I just couldn't get enough, and Silko creates dazzling gardens everywhere throughout her book.

The first section is about a young Native American girl named Indigo, her Sister Salt and their Grandmother Fleet. They are making a life for themselves in a small town in the American Southwest around the turn of 19th century. Their greatest wish is to return to the home of their people, the Sand Lizards, and tend their desert garden in the dunes. But they are in constant fear of being caught by the white government and forced to live in schools or on reservations.

Although the beginning of the book is wonderfully descriptive, I became very engaged with the characters about 50 pages in. Indigo escapes from the Indian school and wanders into the gardens of Hattie and Edward, a wealthy married couple. Edward's monkey, Linnaeus, charms Indigo out of hiding and as the 2 get acquainted, we learn of Hattie's life.

Hattie was a scholar devoted to studying the role of women in early Christianity. However, the all male Harvard review board rejected her thesis topic and when she returns home, she meets and marries Edward, an older man with a professional interest in botany. Edward travels the world in search of plant specimens and his trip to South America to gather rare orchids is described in detail. In Brazil he was sabotaged, causing him personal injury as well as legal and financial difficulties. His leg was hurt so badly that intimacy is painful and unlikely for him, but Hattie wished to marry him regardless of their passionless future. With the intention of curing his money problems, Edward seeks out profitable citrus cuttings guarded closely by the Italians.

Hattie becomes attached to Indigo and persuades Edward to let Indigo travel with them. Edward has planned a trip to Italy and en route they visit their families in Long Island where we get a glimpse into the frivolous lives of the wealthy and visit their cultured gardens. Indigo meets other Native Americans whose land and lifestyle has been taken from them. The story turns to Sister Salt who is now living in the Southwest with other Native American Indian girls. Sister Salt has become a laundress and works in an area where the government is building a dam to divert water to California, taking more life-sustaining farmland away from the Indians. Meanwhile, Indigo, her pet parrot Rainbow, Hattie and Edward travel to England and visit enchanting gardens in Bath, then more charming gardens in Italy where Edward pursues his illegal scheme. There is an underlying theme of the deification of snakes and the worship of the Mother figure that is explored and lends an air of mysticism to the novel.

Throughout the story Indigo and Sister Salt long to be reunited with one another and we always wonder if it will happen. The story could have been edited in several places and I was upset by the violence against Hattie in the end of the novel. Could the author have still made her point without Hattie's loss being so extreme? Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and I loved the journey it took me on. It is laced with many issues that are thought provoking and still relevant in today's world: feminism, religion, environmental awareness, class structure, oppression and beliefs about our relationships with others, the earth and our spirituality. I loved Indigo, Sister Salt and Hattie. I loved the mesmerizing Ghost Dance, Grandma Fleet's apricot tree, the lively Linneaus, the miniature farm animals, the Rainbow parrot, the eccentric Aunt Bronwyn, the allure of long distance travel by train and by boat, the snake in the water hole and most of all the lush and enchanting gardens.

The format is unusual: poems, short stories, personal accounts, photographs, all intermingled through the pages. The book shape is unusual (landscape vs the conventional portrait). The poems and songs were not lined up, but the stanzas were scattered through the page. Very interesting, and i am happy that i've read it, but i think this book was trying too hard to be different, and that took away from the content.

Leslie Marmon Silko's Storyteller was the first of its kind--a combination of fiction, poetry, family history, oral tradition from her own and other Native American communities, photographs--woven together to create a sense of personal, cultural, feminist, and human identity. Others have adopted some of her techniques, but Storyteller ranks as a classic work of Native American and American literature--and a great read.

Librarians have a difficult time finding a place for this book. Should it go into the autobiographical section? There's a great deal of her past and her family's heritage in this book. Should it be placed next to the poetry books? She has included several of her poems. What about fiction? She has several of her famous short stories ("Storyteller," "Yellow Woman," "Lullaby,") collected here. It's even got photojournalism in it--26 photos taken by either herself or her father. Even the shape of the book is peculiar. Maybe this might disenchant a reader who would rather have boundaries and borders. But I found it amazing.

Of course, she puts the table of contents at the end of the book. And the beginning of the book is in the center, with her poem "Long Time Ago," and should be read outwards, like the circular, centrifugal pattern in a spider web.

She keeps the memories alive of her the old people by telling her stories. She relates in her poetry and fiction, narratives that are reflective, alarming, magical, and, well, fascinating. The voice is consistent, strong, and rhythmic. Thought Woman has been at work here.

I recommend this book for those that want to learn, who want to challenge themselves by being confronted, who long to find a book to counsel and lead them into reflections, and who respect all things, past, present, and possible.

This book collects five essays by scholars on different aspects of slavery in the Muslim Middle East. Contrary to the title, it is not a comprehensive review of the phenomenon -- vast in time, space, and social, political, and economic features -- but snapshots of slavery in a few limited contexts. Perhaps the essay that will appeal most to non-specialists is John Hunwick's discussion of the role race played in enslavement in northern and western Africa; he teases out the various conflicting strands of legal-religious theory and practice on the ground to bring to life a relationship between slavery and race with tantalizing differences from and similarities to the system Americans are most familiar with. Also good are the editor's (Shaun Marmon) discussion of domestic slavery among the Mamluks and Yvonne Seng's on slavery in Istanbul. Michel Le Gall contributes a translation of an account by a French doctor of the slave trade in late eighteenth-century Cairo; it contains some useful data and has been judiciously annotated, but anyone who wants to use it seriously will no doubt consult the original French. The volume ends with a posthumous essay ranging broadly over time and space by the great scholar David Ayalon. While there is probably nothing much new here, it is fun to watch a great mind playing with history on the broad scale. It is a pity that the editor did not feel the need to supply the references that a scholar like Ayalon would surely have included in a final revision had he lived to complete it.

Compiled and edited by Shaun E. Marmon, Slavery In The Islamic Middle East is an impressive and informative selection of scholarly essays examining the institution of slavery as recognized and regulated by Islamic law, and as incorporated into Muslim societies well into the modern day. Looking at military slavery in Islam in the pre-modern period, the connection between skin color and slavery, a memoir portraying a raw and real look at victims of the African slave trade, and more, Slavery In The Islamic Middle East is a welcome and invaluable addition to Middle Eastern History and Islamic Studies reference shelves and reading lists.

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.

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.

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.

At least for Europeans, Mr. Deloria found a way to show a new image of Native American culture and religion on the one side and to talk about Christian Ethic on the other. He provoked me to think more about "my" religion, I discussed a lot with my friends after reading it. I do not share all his opinions, for example I don't think that Dee Brown's "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" had no positive reactions for Natives today. But because I love books that provoke me and books I can learn from according to history, culture and philiosophy I rate "God is Red" with 5 stars.

This is the best book I have ever read. The only reason someone whould criticize this book is because it makes them take a look at the absurdity of their own beleifs and forces them to face up to the legacy of racism, oppression, bigotry and hatred that go hand in hand with the Christian religion. No non-native person has the right to critisize Deloria, because he is simply stating truths that he has come to know from his experience as a Native American. Basically, this book encompases virtually everything that I, and others with my naturalistic mindset embrace, and everything that the conservative, fundamentalist, religious right types hate and fear. This book is freedom. And it is freedom for all people, of any color or culture;freedom to live in a world full of beauty and warmth, freedom to let one's spirit soar without fear of oppression. I suppose you can try to knock Deloria for extremely minute innacuracies, but to do so is to completely miss the point of what he is trying to say. Actually, NOTHING in this book is innacurate, because Deloria is speaking about his people's and his personal experiences. Lastly, this book represents a complete revolution in the Western world. We finally have a non-white person from a native, earth based culture who is applying the very same methods of critisizm to western culture that western culture has used in the past. The only difference is that Deloria does not need to rely on rasicm or myths to get his message across, the way westerners do. The reason for this is that Deloria speaks the truth, and forces us to see western culture for what it truly is.

Well, after years of the Western tradition doing 'comparative' studies of other cultures it finally gets analyzed in the same manner by someone from a different culture. Deloria is a well-known member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe who is also an author, scholar, philosopher and lawyer. Utilizing precisely the same methods practiced by the Christian-based, scientific-minded culture perpetuated in our present Universities he deftly slices open Christianity from his point of view.

Deloria's main thesis is to remind us that "we are a part of nature, not a transcendent species with no responsibility to the natural world." He makes this point in numerous ways, often in a very witty manner. I have no doubt this makes those entrenched in our Western condition very uncomfortable but it is healthy medicine for the insanity of the times. I also have no doubt his views make those with 'authentic Indian names', no doubt given at a three-day retreat, very uncomfortable.

Welcome to reality. The reality of forced sterilization, funded by the churches and government, and the the reality of children who were "rescued" to residential schools and force-fed Western culture. This book aptly exposes the hypocrisy and malaise affecting Christianity at this time.

It is only somewhat scholarly in style - compared to many such books, particularly Said's classic, this is an easy read. Enjoy even if it makes you squirm.

The point of the book is that an individual Indian sees himself not as individual like the people in white society but as a member of a people. The main character could not define himself as psychologically distinct from his culture. He was sad because of what he saw in war but he could only define this sadness in terms of how Indians saw the death of humanity. The only thing that brought the main character out of his shell shocked vomiting state of mind was a story about how it was the Indian culture itself that set the evil destroying white culture against it through witchcraft. The story came from a medicine man and it empowered the Indian. Either way everything around the Indian spelled disaster because destroying white society had defeated the Indians. His life was empty and the world is doomed. This is not romantic or uplifting, only sad.

I'd read some of Leslie Marmon Silko's short stories before starting on this novel. They were like gems, polished, smooth, and echoing with a gentle quiet not commonly found in English literature. CEREMONY is a far more ambitious undertaking; the building of a literary castle. Set in New Mexico, in and around Laguna Pueblo, immediately after WW II, the plot concerns a young Indian war veteran who has been traumatized by his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese. When we meet him, he's barely conscious, being released from a mental hospital. He lost his half-brother on the Bataan death march, his favorite uncle had died at home, a herd of special cattle---adapted to life in the desert---has disappeared, and his old friends are drinking themselves away in bars. To top it all off, Tayo, the central character, is illegitimate and half-white, raised by relatives, not accepted fully by everyone in the family. He seems destined for the asylum, jail, an early death from alcohol, or suicide; not exactly unknown fates for young Indians then or now.

Elders arrange a healing ceremony for him, but the healer is a maverick, not tied to traditional methods. Tayo's whole life and consciousness merge into the healing process and that process begins to look like a prescription for the Indian peoples in North America to heal nearly-fatal wounds dealt their cultures over the last five centuries. Silko sees the materialism and violence of Western civilization as a curse threatening the continued existence of everyone on the planet, a curse stemming from evil itself rather than from a particular group of people. In tones that ring most uncannily today, she wrote in 1977 [p.191] "If the white people never looked beyond the lie, to see that theirs was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand how they had been used by the witchery; they would never know that they were still being manipulated by those who knew how to stir the ingredients together: white thievery and injustice boiling up the anger and hatred that would finally destroy the world: the starving against the fat, the colored against the white."

The ceremony thus begins as a curative ritual for a single man, but expands beyond a simple hogaan to the whole world. Dream figures come to life, life becomes a dream, life is healing and healing is life. Silko attempted a very difficult task and I am not sure that it is entirely successful. Sometimes, the pieces don't seem to match. Her World War II sequences don't ring entirely true either. Americans never evicted Japanese soldiers from caves before the Bataan death march; they were not executing prisoners then. The shoe was on the other foot. But these are quibbles. CEREMONY's language, the poetry, the beauty of the land, the theme of healing--- all come through to make an unforgettable novel, an original voice that deserves an honored place in American literature. If you have a special interest in Native American literature and have enjoyed N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, or Sherman Alexie, Silko's work will be a welcome addition.

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.