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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
Obviously, the first book of books. The only reason I didn't rate it a 5 star is because I'm glad that we've come a long way in writing style. I think it would be better to listen to.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What struck me most about this book is how modern it is. With a couple of tweaks it could be released today as a searing indictment against whatever form of lowbrow entertainment one wishes to belittle. Does get a bit repetitive at times but I think Cervantes’ general cattiness makes it enjoyable nonetheless.
This was a decent rendition of Don Quixote de La Mancha. It was fun to read with the illustrations.
Me duró un año en leerlo, pero lo logré. Lo tanto que me he reído durante este libro. Leer Don Quixote es algo que cada uno debe hacer por lo menos una vez en la vida.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
I read through Part I and have decided that is enough. It is pretty decent story most of the time, but I am bored with Don Quixote and his story. I don't see how I can finish the rest of the book, it's just too long. Maybe one day I will pick it back up and finish the other half.
Translation by Edith Grossman, introduction by Harold Bloom. I'm not sure what to say about this nearly 1,000-page book that's more than 400 years old except that it stands the test of time. Grossman's translation is wonderful and easy to read, and the introduction by Harold Bloom puts it in historical context and clarifies some of the themes about the decline of Spain in the early 1600s and Cervantes theories and feelings about literature. My only regret is that my Spanish isn't good enough to read in the original, because some of the puns and wordplay don't come through and you have to read a footnote to get the gist of them in Spanish.
DQ is so embedded in pop culture that most people know he's a self-proclaimed and slightly deluded knight who has a squire named Sancho Panza and that he tilted at windmills. The windmill adventure actually happens pretty early in the book, and there are lots of other adventures. I read "The Decameron" earlier this year and they are alike in a few ways, namely that there are many mini-stories within the larger wrap-around story. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza have little adventures as they travel the countryside, and they hear the stories of the people they encounter. There's even an incident where a novella is found in manuscript form in an inn they stay at, and you get to read that story too. Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporaries, and apparently Shakespeare admired one of the short stories in DQ enough that he based a (now lost) play called "Cardenio" on it.
The book is very silly, but it's also pretty sad in a way. Don Quixote is a gentle soul who just wants to do good in the world, and Sancho is simple but wise (and full of ridiculously inappropriate aphorisms and proverbs), but they constantly get beat up, teased, wounded, imprisoned, and otherwise maltreated for trying to make the world a better place. It's likely that was Cervantes view of the world, since he was a war hero who tried to do good but twice wound up in jail. An interloper wrote and published a part 2 of Don Quixote as well, and Cervantes, in response, finished Part 2 of his own book just a year or two before he died. There's a lot to like about the book, but it's very long, so it's a bit of a commitment.
DQ is so embedded in pop culture that most people know he's a self-proclaimed and slightly deluded knight who has a squire named Sancho Panza and that he tilted at windmills. The windmill adventure actually happens pretty early in the book, and there are lots of other adventures. I read "The Decameron" earlier this year and they are alike in a few ways, namely that there are many mini-stories within the larger wrap-around story. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza have little adventures as they travel the countryside, and they hear the stories of the people they encounter. There's even an incident where a novella is found in manuscript form in an inn they stay at, and you get to read that story too. Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporaries, and apparently Shakespeare admired one of the short stories in DQ enough that he based a (now lost) play called "Cardenio" on it.
The book is very silly, but it's also pretty sad in a way. Don Quixote is a gentle soul who just wants to do good in the world, and Sancho is simple but wise (and full of ridiculously inappropriate aphorisms and proverbs), but they constantly get beat up, teased, wounded, imprisoned, and otherwise maltreated for trying to make the world a better place. It's likely that was Cervantes view of the world, since he was a war hero who tried to do good but twice wound up in jail. An interloper wrote and published a part 2 of Don Quixote as well, and Cervantes, in response, finished Part 2 of his own book just a year or two before he died. There's a lot to like about the book, but it's very long, so it's a bit of a commitment.