Bless Me, Ultima

By Rudolfo Anaya

Book Overview

This coming-of-age classic from "one of the nation's foremost Chicano literary artists" follows a young boy as he questions his faith and beliefs after a curandera woman introduces herbs and magic into his life (Denver Post) .

.Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past--a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world... and will nurture the birth of his soul.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446675369
• ISBN13: 9780446675369
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Hypnotic and Magical... a true chicano work of art

I read this for a class almost ten years ago... and I have shared this book with everyone from my brothers and sisters to my cousins, grandmother and even work collegues ever since. This book awakens every ounce of magic you have in your mind, body and soul. It's a great work of fiction with every aspect you could ever want in a story: Action, Good vs. Evil, History, Love, Family, Pride, Justice... You name it, it's got it. The best character I've ever met in any novel... Ultima... guides us through building our own sense of pride for our culture and allows us to grow as she shows us the most important things to live for. This is a story for the entire family and crosses multitudes of cultures... Read this to yourself or to your kids, and I'm telling you -- YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. Enjoy!

Bless Me, Ultima

Beautifully written, Anaya brings the culture of the southwest Chicano alive. Antonio grows up before our eyes, nurtured and taught by wise and magical Ultima. He is struggling with faith: Catholism, local legends/myths and the magic he witnesses that heals and transforms. He asks the age old questions concerning life and death, god's purpose and meaning in the world and the life force of the earth, the plants and animals and the curandera. I was particularly struck with a conversation between father and son, "You mean God doesn't give understanding?" asks Antonio. His father replies, "Understanding comes with life, as a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, he plays, meets people--sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having a sympathy for people. Ultima has sympathy for people, and it is so complete that with it she can touch their souls and cure them--"" Bless Me, Ultima was Anaya's first novel, and the first book of his I've read. I very much look forward to reading all the works of Mr. Anaya!

Book review for "Bless me Ultima"

"Bless me Ultima" is a wonderful story based on the "Chicano" or Northern New Mexico native people culture, religion, and customs that tells us about the relationship between a six year old boy called Antonio and an Old wise Lady called Ultima who is a "curandera" or healer, and how Anotonio faces a lot of difficulties and has to deal with curses, healings, dead people and mean friends and becomes a man of learning throughout his chilhood with Ultima's help. Since the author is from Northern New Mexico and the book takes place in two real small villages called Las Pasturas and Puerto de Lunas wich are located North of New Mexico i think Rodulfo Anaya put a little bit of his life experience into the story to remark the origins of a culture that tends to dissapear as new Chicano generations come to this world which makes the book more exciting and more valuable.I really enjoyed reading this book because i could follow the story very well considering that english is my second languaje and that i'm still having some problems with grammar and sentence structures and because i like reading mythical stories and i'm very familiar with them. Another aspect of this book that i liked and i found familiar was that New Mexican culture and Colombian and Latin Americna culture in general have a lot of things in common such as believing in ghosts, witches, curses, spirits, etc; and that the religion is the same and that there are not really too many differences within it.