I will start by saying that Ceremony was a challenge for me to get through because of the writing style. The first half of the book follows the traditional style of Native American nonlinear storytelling. The narrative changes between Tayo's memories from the war, childhood, and a few perpectives from other characters in his life. In the second half, the story dials down to one single perspective that follows Tayo as he tries to complete the ceremony. There is alot of description of the nature and landscape of the Southwest, which I loved. Especially because I live in Texas and have some familiarity with the areas in the book. Thinking more about it now, the writing also seems to reflect Tayo's mental state as he tried to deal with his PTSD.

Even though it was difficult for me to follow, I learned a great deal about the experiences of the Laguna Pueblo. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book is that the main character is a BIPOC WWII veteran. BIPOC veteran experiences are severely underrepresented in literature. It was also interesting that Tayo was deployed to the Phillipines and was a POW of the Battle of Bataan. It was a new part of WWII for me to explore and learn about. I feel that WWII historical fiction leans more heavily on the war in Europe. I don't read much WWII fiction for those two reasons. Here are some more elements that I found interesting:

-treatement (or lack thereof) of PTSD in WWII veterans
-the experiences of BIPOC veterans heading off to war and after their return home
-the conflict between Native American, Anglo, and Mexican cultures

Lyric and haunting and unforgettable. There is a reason Silko has long been anthologized and taught in schools. Ceremony deserves to be brought back into the limelight for its artistic, historical, and human value.

This book is a classic - which explains the lovely new edition. I'm very glad for the fresh motivation to read it and purchase for my library collection. It includes a preface from the author that has been published before but is still great reading; it also offers a new foreword from Tommy Orange that I looked forward to reading but was not included in the ARC.