Rating: 
Summary: So Far From Good....
Review: This book was honestly one of the worst books that I have ever read. The things that this author incorporates into this novel would not be something that would be allowed on TV which shows how far off the deep end this is. It seems Ana Castillo has absolutely no clue as to what is considered appropriate material. Any reader who likes this book must have very low morals and standards because this book is crude trash.
Rating: 
Summary: Be surprised . . .
Review: This book was on my Ph.D. reading list for comps and I approached it with the same weary "omigod yet another book I have to consume in two days" approach that had seemed to get me through the other hundred or so books on the list. I was surprised.Ana Castillo's novel is on another level of literary understanding. If you're living on a diet of cable television and typical Judeo-Christian-Western-Philosophy-White-Man metaphysics that you picked up off the floor because it seemed familiar to you, then much of the beauty of this book will be missed. Too bad. Change the channel. _So Far From God_ is lush, exotic--and remarkably familiar. This too is America. What strikes me, what shocks me, is the unbelieveable beauty Castillo creates in the midst of horror. People are tortured in this novel in the same manner that they are tortured in real life. The "magic" lies in how they transcend suffering. But there are moments in this novel that resist positivity--the chemical plant is one of those moments. A reader must reflect on what this means, on a political and spiritual level. Castillo's novel demands critical thought--not what many people look for in entertainment, but certainly what those in the humanities find sustaining. This novel will persist. If you find yourself reacting to it, question the nature of the reaction. You might find out something about how you define yourself: as an American, a woman, a believer in God . . . The mark of literature--not entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: the greatest novel
Review: This has got to be one of the greates novels I have ever read.... You get so involved with the characters, it's almost like you are part of their lives.... I urge readers of all ages to get this book .... it's a must !
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book...
Review: What a wonderful book! I have three sisters and all of us loved So Far From God. We shared it with our mother and aunts and comadres and they all loved the remedios and stories that brought home close to our hearts. Bless Me Ultima? Please! In So Far From God the spiritual strength is with the women and STAYS with the women, not passed on to a macho little boy who gives orders to his mother. Moving into the professional world has separated some of our family memembers but So Far From God was a shared and loved experience which brought us all back to the New Mexico of our childhoods where the sight of people traveling long distances on their knees inorder to fulfill a promesa was commonplace. What an incredible and amazing testimonial to female strenth is So Far From God. I don't understand why some of my fellow New Mexicans get so territorial that they can't see the beauty and the truth of the story. Who cares if Castillo comes from the moon? She's a gifted and versatile Chicana writer, the best in my opinion, and I am grateful she took the time to love my beloved New Mexico in one of her books. I am still living along the frontera en tejas, but far from my New Mexican roots. Reading Castillo's novel is like taking a trip back in time to the place of my childhood. Gracias.
Rating:
Summary: SO FAR FROM TRUE!
Review: When I heard a review of this book on NPR, I couldn't WAIT to read it because I'm from Tome', the tiny village in New Mexico where this tale takes place. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! Castillo has completely got the people of Tome' ALL WRONG - it is as if she has taken a group of Chicanos from Chicago and plopped them down in Tome', New Mexico - which is fine if they are said to be from Chicago - but these people are not from Tome'. She might have visited Tome' but she oviously wasn't here long enough to study us because NOTHING about the people in this story is even REMOTELY accurate. As a writer, she really needs to learn to study place, and characters in place before writing about something she is so obviously unfamiliar with. I am insulted because it seems Castillo thinks since she's Hispanic, she can just be the voice of all Hispanics, regardless of accuracy because she thinks everyone else in the whole world is just going to believe her, because after all, she's a Chicana, no? The characters in this story painfully indicate that Castillo didn't bother to first consider the unique individuality of the people of Tome' and the surrounding area - a uniqueness that comes from living for generations in a particular place. So Far From God should have been entitled SO FAR FROM TRUE. By the way, Chimayo is over 100 miles from Tome', up hill the whole way and over several rugged mountain passes - people don't make pilgramages to Chimayo from Tome' ON FOOT, much less on their knees.
Rating: 
Summary: Brings to life images of the southwest I have from travel.
Review: Years ago I traveled in the southwest, visiting the old missions, various museums, pueblos and eating in local restaurants. These images came alive in a new way as I read Castillo's novel and had a sense of the real people who contribute to the special character of life in the southwest. I wasn't sure about the book at first, but found it difficult to put down after about the third chapter
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