Bless Me, Ultima Chapters 8-12

            I have reached chapter twelve in Bless Me, Ultima and I have to say I have lost interest. The action has picked up, but I have dropped out. The whole book seems to be about how Antonio will someday decide what he wants to be when he grows up, and I am not a huge fan of the classic coming of age tale no matter how mystical it is. I still believe that Antonio will grow up to be a male version of Ultima. That would explain why Ultima takes Antonio to cure Maria's little brother she knows he will come to question his faith and not just go with the flow. I'm not saying that it's right to make someone question their faith, but Ultima just wants to make sure Toni is his own person. Another reason why my prediction will come true is the part about the golden carp. Only a select few people can see the golden carp. This is just like in The Giver where only Jonas can see colors, making him the next in line to be the giver. I'm having a hard time picturing the setting as well. Even though it is World War II era Antonio's family doesn't have the basic technology of the time. For now I will be picturing the town and surrounding area as a wild west type setting. I fear that now that because I am not interested in this book I won't be looking for the writing techniques as much because I will just want to get through, but march on I shall. Walter Elliott once said, "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." And like Elliott said I need to look at the book as a bunch of little chapters and not one long section to read.