All the Pretty Horses pg. 100-132

Where to start. I was beginning to get really bored with this book. Like really bored. So bored that I fell asleep reading it during etymology last Thursday (sorry Mr. Hill). I just find the sequence of events concerning John Grady and Rawlins' travels to be redundant and uninteresting. Not to mention I know very little about Mexico and its history let alone the language, therefore I get lost in those passages talking about the mountains and dialogues spoken in the native language. However, it is required of me to log about this section so here we go.

Part II begins with John Grady and Rawlins living Grady's dream of being a cowboy and working on a ranch. John Grady quickly proves himself to be a virtuoso (VOCAB WORD!) horseman as he breaks a total of sixteen horses in only three days. The success of the two boys along with all the attention they bring to the ranch greatly impresses the ranch's foreman, Armondo, and his brother, Antonio. With this success, John Grady is promoted by the ranch owner, Don Hector. His new title is unknown, however with the promotion John Grady is moved into his own room in the stables leading to more time with the owner's daughter, Alejandra.

Alejandra invites John Grady to a dance at the local grange hall where the two teenagers strike up their first in depth conversation. It may not have been much, talking about John Grady's past and what not, but you could tell there was a spark between the two and that there will be future encounters based on Alejandra's closing remarks to the conversation:

"I will introduce you to my friends. I will introduce you to Lucia. She is very pretty. You will see."
"I bet she aint as pretty as you."
"Oh my. You must be careful what you say. Besides it is not true. She is prettier."

The fact that Alejandra plants the idea that Lucia is prettier than she is into John Grady's mind acts as a tool to fish for comments. Its almost like she expected John Grady's response to the judgement of Lucia's appearance. Also, Alejandra warns John Grady to watch what he says to her. What I took from that comment was that either Alejandra is connected with another boy--which is unlikely because wouldn't he be at the dance with her?--or that her father would not accept a relationship between his aristocratic daughter and one of his simple workers. Either way, I found this section of the reading to be the most interesting. It was a nice break from all the ranch and horse talk. It was nice to unfold the beginning of Alejandra and John Grady's relationship.

Alejandra and John Grady meet once again in the stables when she demands to ride the stallion bareback and for John Grady to take her horse back to the stables. John Grady is hesitant at first but is unable to deny the wish of the one he loves. While sneaking Alejandra's horse back into the stables he is observed by a shadowy figure. This mysterious figure is not identified because John Grady refuses to turn around and is determined to get out of there.

Hopefully the next section of reading continues the development of John Grady and Alejandra's relationship because I was instantly bored again once the story deferred away from the two characters.