Rating: 
Summary: An excellent chicano story
Review: Bless Me Ultima, is a book I would recommend for 6th graders and up. Bless Me Ultima deals with issues many young adult can relate to, such as developing an identity and religion. The novel focuses a lot on the theme of religion. Many teenagers struggle understanding what religion is all about. We grow up going to church with our parents every Sunday, wether we like it or not, and wether we are getting it or not. In Bless Me Ultima,Antonio stands between his mother Maria who is a devoutly catholic and his father Gabriel who is a cowboy. Antonio decides not to follow either one, but to stand by Ultima who is a Curandera (healer). Ultima tells Antonio,"As you grow into manhood you must develop your own truths." These are powerful words for any teenager. As a parent we often think for our children, decide for our children and take actions for our children. As children grow, it is important to allowed them to find their own identity,not what we want them to be. In the novel Antonio's mother wanted him to be a priest. That made Antonio terrified and afraid to do wrong. In the other hand Antonio's father wanted him to be just like him. I believe for some of us parents that is usually normal. We expect our children to be more like us and often better than us. I believe strongly that we need to set limits and allow children to be who they want to be as long as they are not harming themselves or others. Antonio had to make a decision through his life experiences that would ultimately help him decide which road to take and what to believe. He also had to keep an open mind, which for many teenagers is hard to do,but at the end it is them who benefit from it. Rodolfo Anaya's way of writing is powerful because it touches the reader in an emotional way. He makes it easy for the reader to understand the chicano culture.
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Summary: wonderful spiritual book
Review: Bless me Ultima is a good story about a small boy and his trials of living in and growing up in New Mexico. This is no ordinary little boy though his destiny was sealed at birth by an old woman know as Ultima. Ultima is an old curandera, a woman of good magic and healing. Antonio, the little boy, is the crossing of two ancient bloodlines the Marez and Luna. These families are as opposite as night and day, the Marez being wanderers and herders while the Luna are constant and silent like the earth that they till. Antonio is torn between becoming the preacher that his mother wants and going to California to make his father's dream come true. His life is forever changes when La Grande comes to join the family. Ultima introduces Antonio to a world that is new to him the world of magic and pagan gods. When Ultima comes to live with the family she instantly gains a rapport with the little Antonio who spends much of his time with her learning about her herbs and even help her to save the life of his uncle Lucas. Trouble follows Ultima many of the Catholics in the town believe her to bee a witch but she finally dispels this notion by walking through a portal that is protected by the sign of the cross. Antonio eventually goes to school and is confronted by the local kids but when he stands up for himself he is praised and asked to join their little gang. He eventually realizes that he is different that the others and finds himself in with a group who stands out as well. Antonio is troubled by dreams in which God is angered at him for doubting God and believing in the golden carp. Ultima reveals that it is Antonio's destiny to be a man of learning which makes his mother very happy but crushes the hopes of his father who's other sons have forsaken him, Antonio was his last hope for his dream of a vineyard in California. Bless me Ultima is a story that is told wonderfully from the eyes of a child who sees his whole world change as he learns more and more. The perspective of the child lends an unbiased view to all of the action which is nice to see. Even as Antonio changes and sees his whole world change around him he still seems to view things through the innocent eyes of a child and we are still kept interested in the book by the internal and external conflicts that Antonio faces. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone out there. The various lines throughout the book that are in Spanish make some things a little tough but they can be easily translated with the help of a Spanish-English dictionary. The book is a slow read at first but is overall worth the time to read. It is a very good book and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: This kid is in first grade????
Review: I began truly loving this book. I thought the language was beautiful, the magic realism combined with mexican-american cultural practices was magnificent. I can't believe people thought it was boring! But, I do have to say I was repeatedly bothered by the fact that this was supposed to be a 6-7 year old boy having these enlightening thoughts and concerns. Come on, when you're six you're worried about the monster under the bed not the bigger ramifications of 2 sides of the family, older brothers destroying the dreams of their parents and what are the secrets of the universe! At least bring the kid up to 11 or 12 to make it semi-realistic. That really ruined it for me! and his bud Cico (sp?) he was supposed to be, like 8, and he was like a wise old guru spouting truths and gems of wisdom (In third grade!!)
Rating: 
Summary: Bless Me Ultima, please?
Review: Bless Me, Ultima is a book I would recommend because it deals with issues young adults can relate to, such as, developing our own personal identity. Not what our mother wants, our father wants, or what the family expects, but our "own." Antonio, the main protagonist of this novel has to face the opposing forces in his life to create himself, a combination of all he has lived through. Ultima tells Antonio, "as you grow into manhood you must develop your own truths(112)." I agree, as we become older, hence wiser, we must take our own stand, make our own decisions, establish our own beleifs. We can not expect our parents to decide for us, tell us what to beleive, who to become. We have to take responsibilty for our actions, our life.
This one human universal concern is developed by Rudolfo Anaya throughout the novel by the reoccuring theme of the loss of innocence. In order to develop a personal identity as young adults, one must lose their innocence, that is, leave their childhood behind ( if at all possible). Antonio realizes that, "the innocence which our isolation sheltered could not last forever (14)." Here, Antonio recognizes that although we may want to maintain the child within, full of innocence and no knowledge about the evils of the world, it is almost an impossible and inevitable event in life, that may not be bargained with, compromised or posponed.
Ultimately, all in all, Bless Me, Ultima, is a great novel easy to read, and to relate to, as it deals with issues we all must deal with/ encounter in that painful transition from childhood to young adulthood. As we fully open our eyes to the crude reality of the world, we develop our own personal identity, through losing our innocence. This the novel clearly outlines.
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Summary: This book is great!
Review: I liked this book for many different reasons. The story had many different sub-plots and ideas that I really liked. Religion was one of the big ones. The mix of Catholicism and Pagan ritual was a great description of the melting pot that was New Mexico. The story of a young boy finding himself and making choices that would effect his life was another great story. I found out after reading the book that the story is based on Anaya's life. So in a wasy its a autobiography. The story is really interesting and I recomend it to anyone. Especially people looking to find themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Mystic and Stunning
Review: I was impressed by this book. I found the langnuage as goreous as ever, and the story was beautiful itself. It contains scenes I will concider forever some of the most beautiful I will ever imagine.
Strangely enough, this isn't my kind of book though.
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Summary: One Summer...
Review: It was One Summer when I was very young that my sister force me to read this. I wasn't a bookworm like her or anything, in fact I hated books. But, this book made me flourish in my reading skills, a very good book, indeed. Now she made me a bookworm just like her, I hate you Lovy!
Rating:
Summary: A good,rite of passage story with worthy religious themes...
Review: BLESS ME,ULTIMA is Rudolfo Anaya's well regarded story of a boy named Antonio's rite of passage exposure to major beliefs which frame his family life and ethnic culture. His mother's Roman Catholicism(deeply influenced by iconic devotion to The Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, and Rosary prayer life)is challenged by old Mexican cult of The Healer(Curandera)and its black magic counter-force, Brujeria(witch craft). Ultima,herself,is revealed as curandera,adept in arts of astral projection(as an Owl)and herbal healing. Her enemy is a black magician(warlock/brujo)and his three daughters who are witches.Though restrained and controlled,this story is often violent and dark. Ultima is FAIRY GODMOTHER in classic sense. But Tony has his hands full witnessing murder; near-ritual lynching of his Grandmother; and on-going clash between his mother( from a family of farmers) who wishes him to become a Priest; and his father (from a family of vaqueros of the plain/llano)who expects him to be a rancher. Additionally, a mystical NATURE religion, confuses Tony further with its GOLDEN CARP illumination. BLESS ME,ULTIMA is a good story. Anaya does a fine job with characterization of the principals. It's a serious study of GOOD vs EVIL from viewpoint of a child who still knows the difference and values it. But Anaya is no Dostoyevsky;nor for that matter, Ray Bradbury. His writing is competent and his knowledge of Catholic theology(dogmatic and cultic)adequate, but hardly expert(Anaya incorrectly explicates THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION). The acclaim this novel justly earns is dimminished...to a minor degree, in my estimate...by the cult of PC praise lavished on it as masterpiece. It is not. But it's good stuff; an engaging read as rite of passage story(approaching classic Mexican cuento)comprising complex,worthy religious themes.
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Summary: Once upon a time in New Mexico
Review: A middlebrow Marquez for the masses. It lacks the mythic depth of "A Hundred Years of Solitude" and indeed, is not so finely written. But, it positively brims with ethnicity. So critics were able to let loose with their pent-up 'Poet of the Barrio' and 'Chicano masterpiece'. The market was hungry for ethnicity and Anaya provided it in spades. We even get chapters numbered 'Uno', 'Dos', and so on, along with bowls of atole (I had to look that up on the Internet) for breakfast and much gathering of herbs and roots along the riverbank, all to reassure us how authentic it all is. The result is an uneasy mixture of supernatural thriller and idyllic memoir, wicked witches and cute children, "Halloween" meets "Huckleberry Finn". At one point, there is a huge continuity error, with the boy talking to his father and in the next sentence with his friends on the way to school. How did the editors miss that? But it has its merits. The scenes with the priest are convincing and memorable. Best of all, you get to learn some colorful Spanish vocabulary that you won't find in the dictionary. Bottom line; if you have an interest in Chicano (Mexican American) culture, read this, but if you are looking for great Latino literature, read Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Summary: The Religous Theme of the book Bless Me Ultima
Review: The book Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya is an extremely thoughtful and provocative story. A great deal of this story revolves around the conflict between young Antonio's belief in God and other spiritual ideas such as Ultima's powerful curandera abilities and the Golden Carp.
Though many deeply christian, especially Catholic, readers may find this book a stretch, it is not anti-christian in the least. Instead it examines many conflicts without really taking a certain side within these conflicts. A very good book to read for anyone from a teenager to an adult a Catholic or an atheist.
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