The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir
by Leslie Marmon Silko
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Description
Silko takes readers along on her daily walks through the arroyos and ledges of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, weaving tales from both sides of her family's past into her observations, and using the turquoise stones that she finds on her walks to unite the strands of her stories.Tags
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Member Reviews
I really really really love this book.
Through this book I've been given a new way to percieve snakes, instead of purely seeing them as venomous and frightening, Leslie describes the snakes that live around her house as individuals, and respects them as such.
I'm also enjoying her descriptions of landscape and clouds, the weather having it's own aliveness. Is it pantheism?
I'm really getting a strong feeling of her connection to her landscape and the other animals inhabiting it, which I'm missing in my life.
I'm getting a lot out of reading these memoirs, and I think I'll probably keep reading it continuously when I've finished it.
Through this book I've been given a new way to percieve snakes, instead of purely seeing them as venomous and frightening, Leslie describes the snakes that live around her house as individuals, and respects them as such.
I'm also enjoying her descriptions of landscape and clouds, the weather having it's own aliveness. Is it pantheism?
I'm really getting a strong feeling of her connection to her landscape and the other animals inhabiting it, which I'm missing in my life.
I'm getting a lot out of reading these memoirs, and I think I'll probably keep reading it continuously when I've finished it.
This was not my kinda book. I listened to about two thirds of it and then rejected it because it was just repetitive and unbelievable. the publisher says "...becomes a moving and deeply personal contemplation of the enormous spiritual power of the natural world..." She had me at multiple snakes on the property, but then when she began to converse with bees and two dogs with pet mouse and a talking one legged parrot, I just lost confidence with credibility and more of the book. When she complained to the county about disturbing the rocks, I thought that they must think her nutty. DNF.
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ThingScore 25
It reads like reflections written on legal tablets that have been heavily refined, edited. The dust jacket calls it “inventive structure.” I call it confusing.
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Author Information

22+ Works 6,847 Members
Leslie Marmon Silko was born in 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Growing up on a reservation, she went to Bureau of Indian Affairs schools before attending the University of New Mexico. She taught at the Navajo Community College in Arizona and is a professor of English at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Marmon has written short stories, poetry, show more plays and novels. Her books include Laguna Woman, Ceremony and Yellow Woman. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir
- Original publication date
- 2010
- People/Characters
- Leslie Marmon Silko
- Important places
- Laguna Pueblo; Acoma Pueblo; Tuscon, Arizona, USA
- Dedication
- To Mei Berssenbrugge,
and to Linda Niemann,
and to Bill Orzen—
Old flames burn brightest. - First words
- I was born in 1948, the year of the supernova in the Mixed Spiral galaxy.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Gratitude to all of you beings of the stars.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Fiction and Literature, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3569 .I44 .Z46 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 192
- Popularity
- 169,521
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 6




























































