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![Don Quijote de la Mancha I [With MP3] by Miguel de Cervantes](https://cdn.thestorygraph.com/kvhw6thtu7bpnhvxd1ocgvxncu5w)
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I initially enjoyed Don Quixote’s delusion of being a knight but overtime I got bored of his repetitive travels and small adventures. I stopped reading more due to personal taste.
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
All the subject is in that division. That is, the division of Don Quixote in two volumes, published ten years apart by author Miguel de Cervantes. After the release of the first (and at the time of its creation – only) volume of the novel in 1605, the book had such a huge success that a spurious second part was published by someone under the name of Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, most likely an unidentified Aragonese who was an admirer of Lope de Vega, rival of Cervantes. Perceived as an insult by the original author, this publication had the merit of pushing Cervantes into publishing his own, original, second volume. If the first part is a marvelous work of art, the second is enriched by an abundance of stylistic devices that are incredibly modern for their time.
The troubled story of the work itself is reflected into the intricacies of the authentic second volume: I can only imagine how outraged, offended and vindictive Miguel de Cervantes must have felt, having been robbed of what can be defined not only as his artistic creature, but also a vital source of income. And revenge he did take: in one of the book’s most meta scenes, Don Quixote winds up in a shop where the Avellaneda edition is being printed. He grows angry and annoyed and proceeds to pull the story apart, demonstrating that Don Quixote is none other than himself, while the other is nothing but a scandalous fraud. He also manages to give a detailed speech about the issues of publishing autonomously rather than with a publisher, an insight that would belong in a present-day discussion regarding the way Amazon is changing the market rather than a 1600s book print shop. Speaking of being ahead of his time!
This review is an excerpt, you can find the full version at http://mariapetrescu.com/2017/06/14/readme-don-quixote-or-the-ingenious-nobleman-mister-quixote-of-la-mancha/
The troubled story of the work itself is reflected into the intricacies of the authentic second volume: I can only imagine how outraged, offended and vindictive Miguel de Cervantes must have felt, having been robbed of what can be defined not only as his artistic creature, but also a vital source of income. And revenge he did take: in one of the book’s most meta scenes, Don Quixote winds up in a shop where the Avellaneda edition is being printed. He grows angry and annoyed and proceeds to pull the story apart, demonstrating that Don Quixote is none other than himself, while the other is nothing but a scandalous fraud. He also manages to give a detailed speech about the issues of publishing autonomously rather than with a publisher, an insight that would belong in a present-day discussion regarding the way Amazon is changing the market rather than a 1600s book print shop. Speaking of being ahead of his time!
This review is an excerpt, you can find the full version at http://mariapetrescu.com/2017/06/14/readme-don-quixote-or-the-ingenious-nobleman-mister-quixote-of-la-mancha/
Who knew this was so funny? Fart jokes? In general it's hard to be people ancestors laughing but here ya go.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
The legendary book - arguably the first European novel, and the best-selling book of all time. It's definitely a fun read. In addition to the wacky adventures they get up to, and the frequent puns and plays on words, I really enjoyed the bizarre relationship between Don Quixote and Sanco Panza. That said, the book is definitely repetitive. It reminds me of adventure-of-the-week TV shows like The A-Team or Murder She Wrote, where it's essentially the same show over and over again, only the details are different. This book is totally worth reading - for entertainment as well as historical and cultural significance. But I think the vast majority of people would be well-served by an abridged version. As it was, I read two-thirds of it before finally quitting. As much as I did indeed enjoy it, reading it became something of a chore.
"He likes to whip [...] and always finds a pretext so as to make it appear as if he were punishing them." — De Sade
Is the fixation on corporal punishment and attendant slapstick humor a particular quality of disrupted socialization (from which knight-errantry has potential to arise), or does it lie in a more fundamental plane anterior to psychology— a question for Pierre Menard.
“If Alexander the Great cut the Gordian knot, saying: ‘It does not matter if it is cut or untied,’ and that did not keep him from being the universal lord of all Asia, then in the disenchantment of Dulcinea it might not matter if I whip Sancho against his will, for if the condition of this remedy is that Sancho receive some three thousand lashes, what difference does it make to me if he administers them himself or if another does, since the essence of the matter is that he receive them regardless of where they come from?”
This book is so outrageous! A man reads and loves books of chivalry so much that he decides he wants to be a knight errant, too, so he does. He gets all the things he needs, like a horse with a noble name, a noble name for himself, a squire, armour, and a lady love. It doesn't matter if some things are made up, because this man actually believes they exist. So often it speaks of his madness, and he insists that inns are actually castles and windmills are giants, or that a peasant is his Lady enchanted to look like that to torment him. Don Quixote is so devoted to his cause and it's so admirable, because he puts up with a lot doing what he does, yet he doesn't notice people laughing behind his back. So ignorance is bliss, perhaps.
Everyone has a favourite scene or two (it's so hard to choose) from Don Quixote that will never be forgotten. Mine is how Sancho Panza, DQ's squire, went away to talk with shepherds and purchase some cheese, and then DQ calls him over quickly so he can fight a wagon. He calls for his helmet, which Sancho, hurried, had put the cheese/milk quickly because he didn't know where else to put it. Rather than telling him this, Sancho gives DQ the helmet, DQ puts it on, and curds and whey drip down his face. DQ exclaims that his brains are mush and he's expiring heavily, while Sancho waits by nervously hoping not to be discovered. It's hilarious and ridiculous, and I've never read anything like it. Crazy adventure after crazy adventure. It's not all funny, though, and it tends to become repetitive or dragging considering the book's length, but it's also touching. There are so many characters you meet and then never see again (or who do show up again), and it's easy to get attached to some. You've got to admire DQ's perseverance and Sancho's loyalty. You feel like you know them and forgive them of their quirks. You feel sad when DQ begins to lose his fantasy at the end, becoming more like Sancho with his low-brow proverbs and lack of belief in enchantments. All games come to an end, and DQ's travels as knight errant end eventually.
I liked all the narrator's inclusion. It was clearly Cervantes the author speaking, pretending to be the translator of the original author Cide Hemete Benengeli. He explains aspects to Cide Hemete's style, which brings this "author" to life, too, in my imagination. He is very upset about someone else publishing a book about the continued adventures of DQ and he says so often in frequent pointed remarks and rants. It was interesting seeing the difference between the first and second parts of the novel, as in the second part DQ was less enthusiastic and more realistic, even though fantastic adventures did happen still. He's more breakable and doesn't get up as easily.
So overall, good book but too long. Some adventures aren't as interesting as others, but you'll never get to the really great parts if you don't bother reading, and you miss part of the point of DQ's travels if you only read his adventure highlights.
Everyone has a favourite scene or two (it's so hard to choose) from Don Quixote that will never be forgotten. Mine is how Sancho Panza, DQ's squire, went away to talk with shepherds and purchase some cheese, and then DQ calls him over quickly so he can fight a wagon. He calls for his helmet, which Sancho, hurried, had put the cheese/milk quickly because he didn't know where else to put it. Rather than telling him this, Sancho gives DQ the helmet, DQ puts it on, and curds and whey drip down his face. DQ exclaims that his brains are mush and he's expiring heavily, while Sancho waits by nervously hoping not to be discovered. It's hilarious and ridiculous, and I've never read anything like it. Crazy adventure after crazy adventure. It's not all funny, though, and it tends to become repetitive or dragging considering the book's length, but it's also touching. There are so many characters you meet and then never see again (or who do show up again), and it's easy to get attached to some. You've got to admire DQ's perseverance and Sancho's loyalty. You feel like you know them and forgive them of their quirks. You feel sad when DQ begins to lose his fantasy at the end, becoming more like Sancho with his low-brow proverbs and lack of belief in enchantments. All games come to an end, and DQ's travels as knight errant end eventually.
I liked all the narrator's inclusion. It was clearly Cervantes the author speaking, pretending to be the translator of the original author Cide Hemete Benengeli. He explains aspects to Cide Hemete's style, which brings this "author" to life, too, in my imagination. He is very upset about someone else publishing a book about the continued adventures of DQ and he says so often in frequent pointed remarks and rants. It was interesting seeing the difference between the first and second parts of the novel, as in the second part DQ was less enthusiastic and more realistic, even though fantastic adventures did happen still. He's more breakable and doesn't get up as easily.
So overall, good book but too long. Some adventures aren't as interesting as others, but you'll never get to the really great parts if you don't bother reading, and you miss part of the point of DQ's travels if you only read his adventure highlights.
Be prepared for an uneven book--actually, 1 book and its sequel that are now commonly published together.
The first book is the most uneven as it doesn't just tell the story of Don Quixote. Interspersed are the tales of other characters, and even a novel inside a novel. Clearly, Cervantes received criticism for that--he actually addresses how people wanted more Don Quixote and less other stuff (through the guise of a fictional Arab author and a translator into Spanish). That said those stories within the story can have value. The story of Cardenio was adapted by Shakespeare into a now lost play (and reading it you can tell why) and another story inspired the term Lothario as an unscrupulous seducer of women.
All in all, Don Quixote is as much the narrative as a crazy would-be knight as Cervantes commentary on the world around him, and critique of modes of fiction (not just chivalric fiction). In the second book he even has fun with the unofficial continuation of Don Quixote by a different author. I've seen it said that Don Quixote is a work that is hard to interpet, and I have to agree. At times I saw a point to his critiques of society and fiction, but then the message could be almost reversed in a later scene or story. Maybe hat is part of the issue with having so many stories within the story. In part, though, it feels like Cervantes was as much having fun as making any unified point.
The first book is the most uneven as it doesn't just tell the story of Don Quixote. Interspersed are the tales of other characters, and even a novel inside a novel. Clearly, Cervantes received criticism for that--he actually addresses how people wanted more Don Quixote and less other stuff (through the guise of a fictional Arab author and a translator into Spanish). That said those stories within the story can have value. The story of Cardenio was adapted by Shakespeare into a now lost play (and reading it you can tell why) and another story inspired the term Lothario as an unscrupulous seducer of women.
All in all, Don Quixote is as much the narrative as a crazy would-be knight as Cervantes commentary on the world around him, and critique of modes of fiction (not just chivalric fiction). In the second book he even has fun with the unofficial continuation of Don Quixote by a different author. I've seen it said that Don Quixote is a work that is hard to interpet, and I have to agree. At times I saw a point to his critiques of society and fiction, but then the message could be almost reversed in a later scene or story. Maybe hat is part of the issue with having so many stories within the story. In part, though, it feels like Cervantes was as much having fun as making any unified point.
