THE BIG READ: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
By guest reviewer, Sarah Hamfeldt, Young Adult Librarian at Northside Library
Most of the time, THE BIG READ tends to reunite me with old friends. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird took me back to Ms. Greenfeld’s seventh grade class, and Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God moved me to reach out to an inspirational former professor. In the the past, the books become new again, revived upon re-reading and sharing with the thousands of people who participate in BIG READ programs each year. This year was different. The magical realism of Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya piqued my interest and I eagerly looked forward to meeting this classic of Chicano literature.
At its core, Bless Me, Ultima is the story of Tonio, a young boy coming-of-age and besieged on all sides by powerful formative influences. Tonio lives in a post-war New Mexico countryside, where modern influence is starting to bleed out from the cities. Within his family, he is torn between his father’s hard-riding ranch ancestors, his mother’s predictable farm folk, and his personal calling as an altar boy. His world is irrevocably changed by the appearance of Ultima, a healer who moves in with the family. Ultima taps into Tonio’s spiritual nature, coaxing brilliant visions, and inspiring respect for the land and the true meaning of bravery.
A native of the New Mexico, Anaya fills the seemingly empty plains and surrounding mountains with color and life through powerful and expressive language. With Ultima as our guide, we learn to look closer, to see the great and hidden bounty of the desert, a gift to be honored and protected.
Tonio’s journey is a universally accessible one. The strong, concise narrative takes me back to my own adolescent confusion, a story to which we can all relate. The struggle to reconcile inherited belief systems with new ideas. Tonio does not want to disappoint his family by turning his back on his heritage, but he cannot deny what Ultima teaches him. Though specifics may change, we all must learn that embracing a choice means leaving others behind, no matter how much we are taught to value them. The genius of Anaya’s work is the presentation of this conundrum through young Tonio’s eyes, without reducing its complexity and the magnitude of consequences.
I had the great pleasure of visiting New Mexico a few years ago and was thrilled to find myself reunited with its complex landscape in these pages. A book, however, is never fully read until it is shared, and I look forward to hearing your reactions. Join the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library for a book discussion, share your BIG READ video in YouTube contest, or enter the chile pepper salsa contest! Check THE BIG READ website for more info at www.jmrl.org/bigread and share your thoughts with the JMRL staff throughout March!
