Bless Me, Ultima (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1972; vuoden 1976 painos)

As a dear friend and fellow bibliophile said to me, this novel is the Southwest's answer to the Southern masterpiece, "To Kill A Mockingbird". Rudolfo Anaya has written a masterfully charming story of a young boy coming of age in New Mexico, struggling to make sense of his dual heritage of plainsmen and urban Catholics The struggle is mediated by Ultima, a curandera, or healer, who guides the boy along the path, and helps him find his own spiritual self. This window into the juxtaposition of New Mexican and Catholic culture, the intimacy with the landscape, and the cultural mythology were just a few of the characteristics I loved about the book. Read it for pleasure, for insight, for spiritual guidance or for any reason you choose. I think you will love it! ( )

This book is about a six year old boy who grows up too soon. He deals with the pressures of his parents opposing desires for his future. He witnesses death and feels loss. He experiences magic and questions his faith.

Not just full of gripping emotion, the book is also packed with symbolism! Every detail is beautifully tied to some greater meaning. And it’s masterful how some things can have multiple symbols associated with it.

My only criticism is that the grammar was a little iffy in some parts (I assume a result of translation), and the interspersed Spanish and Latin terms would have benefited from having a glossary in the back of the book. ( )

coming of age in Chicano community w bruja vs curandera

I read this book aloud to my husband while we were on vacation in New Mexico; it was a recommendation of a woman working at Collected Works in Santa Fe. I loved that we got to read it while traveling in that landscape. Beyond that, I appreciated Antonio's accessible and incisive treatment of the inherent practical (what will I do) and intellectual (what do I believe) conflicts of growing up: I think I would have found a great deal of solace in this book if I had read it in junior high.

My husband wants to know Theresa and Deborah's version of this story--he laughed every time Antonio's sisters were granted a hilariously cursory mention. The narrator expresses absolutely no curiosity about their lives--especially in comparison with his preoccupation with the lives of his older brothers--but Theresa and Deborah seem to be enjoying a pretty rich experience on their own. ( )

So this is one of those free audiobooks I got from Sync YA Literature. I really don't know that it's a book that I would have otherwise picked up but I'm glad I did. I found it to be a very interesting coming of age story. I thoroughly appreciate the way that Anaya blended myth and legend with reality and also the Spanish and English languages. It was a very interesting and well written book. ( )