Storyteller

Rating:
Summary: A first, now a classic
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: There Are No Pigeon Holes For This Pigeon
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: There Are No Pigeon Holes For This Pigeon
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Confrontational and accusatory
Review: Silko has no shortage of opinions to share, mostly on how her people have been put down through the ages. She's not wrong -- Native Americans have indeed been done a great deal of dirt through the years -- but her style is accusatory and confrontational, not likely to win many converts to her cause. Read and enjoy for a point of view outside the mainstream, but expect to be offended by it if you were born white.

Rating:
Summary: Confrontational and accusatory
Review: Silko has no shortage of opinions to share, mostly on how her people have been put down through the ages. She's not wrong -- Native Americans have indeed been done a great deal of dirt through the years -- but her style is accusatory and confrontational, not likely to win many converts to her cause. Read and enjoy for a point of view outside the mainstream, but expect to be offended by it if you were born white.

Rating:
Summary: some good, some bad
Review: STORYTELLER is a collection of short stories rooted in Native American culture written by Leslie Marmon Silko. The first thing that strikes me about STORYTELLER is the way the book is formatted. Normally, the reader shouldn't pay attention to it; it generally has ntohing to do with the book. However, in STORYTELLER, it is a signal to the audience that this collection of writings is going to be personal, and based on the importance of oral tradition. The text flows around the page as if it was spoken word. Intimate family pictures compliment various stories for a very personal feeling...

...unfortunately, many of the stories didn't live up to my expectations. While some stories, like the title story, were interesting, many were too vague to me, as a cultural outsider, to understand. I wasn't really connected with Tony and his friend in the story of the oppressive state trooper, after they start to believe he is an evil spirit. I start to look at it in an overly critical way because I wouldn't say the officer is possessed, I would reason that he's simply racist. This is definitely geared toward those interested in Native American cultural studies, but not necessarily appealing to the general public.

Rating:
Summary: some good, some bad
Review: STORYTELLER is a collection of short stories rooted in Native American culture written by Leslie Marmon Silko. The first thing that strikes me about STORYTELLER is the way the book is formatted. Normally, the reader shouldn't pay attention to it; it generally has ntohing to do with the book. However, in STORYTELLER, it is a signal to the audience that this collection of writings is going to be personal, and based on the importance of oral tradition. The text flows around the page as if it was spoken word. Intimate family pictures compliment various stories for a very personal feeling...

...unfortunately, many of the stories didn't live up to my expectations. While some stories, like the title story, were interesting, many were too vague to me, as a cultural outsider, to understand. I wasn't really connected with Tony and his friend in the story of the oppressive state trooper, after they start to believe he is an evil spirit. I start to look at it in an overly critical way because I wouldn't say the officer is possessed, I would reason that he's simply racist. This is definitely geared toward those interested in Native American cultural studies, but not necessarily appealing to the general public.

Rating:
Summary: A different book
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A different book
Review: 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.