Wanderings And Ponderings

  Sitting with Ceremony: A Reflection on Place and Healing Michael Bradley   Ceremony, written by Leslie Marmon Silko and published in 1977, is a novel centered on Tayo, a Laguna Pueblo man returning home after World War II. Silko, who is of Laguna Pueblo heritage, draws heavily on Indigenous storytelling traditions and her own cultural background. That influence is clear throughout the book, both in how the story is told and in the ideas it explores. Reading Ceremony was not like reading most books. I kept trying to follow it in a straight line, like I usually do, paying attention to what happened next and how the story moved forward. But the deeper I got into the book, the more I realized my approach was not really working, it is not that kind of book. After finishing it, and thinking back on it, I started to see that the story is less about plot and more about experience. The book kept rolling through my mind, as I read it and even days afterward. I wrestled with ...