The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir

What amazed me about this memoir of a Native American woman was how much I identified with her perceptions and the similarity in our daily rituals. Silko's life is in teardrop perspective--thirty years of roaming the hills and arroyos outside of Tucson; witnessing the passing seasons, shifts in topography, behavior of creatures large and small, flora in its myriad formations, celestial movements, and development for good or ill by mankind. It's a walk with an Indian naturalist. The poetic, loving descriptions of her environment pulled me forward even though some details of her daily existence became tedious. Like her, my walk each day is my meditation. She once loved to ride her horse over the trails, but now finds the slower pace allows her to take in more of what she sees, hears, and smells. I share that feeling and her sense of being connected in the cycle of life without being maudlin. As a student of mythology--American Indian lore in particular--I enjoyed her insights into the ways of her ancestors and learning about the voices of the Star People who channel their wishes through her paintings. I could have done with fewer pet dramas and more legends of the old people, but I can honestly say I learned a great deal about the desert creatures, plants, and seasons through the eyes of this most caring woman. What stays with me is this:"As I walked I looked at the dark basalt hills, and at the cactus and shrubs and trees; all of them were in harmony with one another, and I felt within that beauty. In an instant I saw that even man-made things--the roll of old fence wire, the old rail ties withered by sixty years of the heat and the sun--were in the light of that beauty. In that beauty we all will sink slowly back into the lap of the Earth."

I want to admit something right up front. I have not yet read this book. I am a fan of Leslie Marmon Silko's work since an anthropology graduate student in Lawrence, KS, introduced me to Silko's short stories in the collection "A Man to Send Rainclouds" and to Silko's great early novel, "Ceremony." I used these in high school English classes with small groups of Native American Indian students (in 1984) and the texts stimulated positive developments. One group wrote their own play about life on the reservation, and another group went through Ceremony with me, chapter by chapter, with discussion questions, quizzes, and a final exam. I compare Silko's skill at describing the natural world to Thomas Hardy's skill in his descriptions of mythical Essex. I gifted this new memoir to a colleague at work who grew up near Tucson and loves Native American Indian artwork, etc. She wrote back thanks for the book and also thanked me for getting it autographed by the author. I wonder if all the copies ordered on Amazon are actually autographed by Leslie Silko? If so, that is pretty neat. I remember back in 1984 I made a serious effort to get Silko to come and speak at the high school graduation that spring, and got as far as leaving messages on voice mail and actually speaking to her mother for a few minutes one day. Well, I'm not sure this all counts as a review. I am going to obtain the book for myself soon and read it, and then I will know more of course. But I am not surprised by the reviews that say she has a gift for describing her natural surroundings. I can believe that, based on her fiction.

I can't put this book down. I read a bit and it seems to go no where, just a woman walking and picking up rocks in the desert. But I find myself going back again and again to read more. It feels like I am walking in the desert behind her, noticing the rocks over and over, living with the rattlesnakes and the mastiffs, noticing the rain clouds and hearing the bits and pieces of her life and family history.The prose is beautiful. I can picture the trees and cactus, I can feel this life lived with the animals, reptiles, birds and insects. There is no gossip, no reality shows, no newspapers although here is a woman obviously paying attention to modern society, politics and their impact on the natural world she inhabits.I open the book over and over to listen to this woman share her life with me. She doesn't care if I like her, she is simply speaking the truth of her life, one day at a time. She is intense, focused on her surroundings. She lives as an artist integrated into her environment. She doesn't consider herself as a human being to be the center of the universe. I am married into a Native American family and Silko reminds me of many of my women in-laws. Her voice rings true. She does not have a European American sensibility.

I really enjoyed reading this book. At first I found it difficult to follow, as the time she was talking about would shift without any notice. I actually did some research on her as a author and about the book. I saw a short interview with her talking about this book and I recall her saying that time was like ocean, flowing all around us. It wasn't something that was in a straight line of chronological order, memories and experiences flowed around us. Sometimes they were close to us and others they drifted further away. Once I heard her explain this the book made much more sense to me and I followed it without any confusion! I loved reading about her finding turquoise stones and reading about her animal friends. Really a great book!

The author's non-fiction set of essays was set up as a book, but to me it was a set of essays surrounding her area of Arizona near Tucson. I found that I was going with her on her day-hikes through the ravines and over the ridges that she took day after day. When she put humor in the writing, it fit well. When she put dark thoughts in the story, it fit. It is a little more New Age than I like, but this time, it fit.

One of my favorite books. It really made me consider all the things around me that I don't typically pay attention to...bees, snakes etc. Reading this took me to a place that I really need to be more often! Although I wasn't riveted by the entire book (it is long and goes off into some unusual tangents), I think about it often in my daily life just as I do Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire. I never thought I would find snakes so interesting!

A good read especially if you are travelling in that area.