Don Kişot

Miguel de Cervantes

3.71 AVERAGE

anchorite's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 21%

Decided to read Grossman's translation first instead, but this is not a bad one and I've enjoyed it so far.

booksandbread_'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted sad slow-paced

I did it.
I read Don Quixote.
The whole damn thing!

I turned the final page of Edith Grossman’s translation, her elegant, faithful, and at times torturous work, and closed the book with something between a sigh and a bow.
1,000+ pages of madness, illusion, satire, repetition, genius, and heartbreak.

Let’s be honest: I didn’t love it.
But I deeply respect it.

This is the book that changed the shape of literature. The first modern novel.
And you can feel it in the scaffolding, the structure, the way Cervantes plays not just with characters, but with you.
There were times I felt like a character in the book myself, watching Quixote tilt at windmills while wondering whether I, too, had lost the plot.

If you like Monty Python humor, you might love it.
(I don’t, and I didn’t.)
But beneath the absurdity lies a tender, devastating core.

The thing is Don Quixote is all of us.

He believes in something the world no longer honors. He holds on, long past reason.
And when the world laughs, mocks, humiliates, and finally breaks him, what remains is something quiet and tragic and achingly human.
And Sancho?
The sidekick who becomes the soul of the novel?
He’s the one who reminds us how to stay grounded even as the dream collapses.

It’s long.
It’s uneven.
It’s brilliant.
It’s a slog.
It’s a mirror.
And I’ll never forget it.

beyond_the_book's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Truly a masterpiece, but in my opinion, it wouldn't appeal to many readers....

ratingwithears's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous 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

kaje's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective 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: Yes

samble's review against another edition

2.75

The Bad:

every other character somehow has a more interesting story than the titular character
its roughly the same joke for 1000 pages, with some minor exceptions
don quixote as a character is honestly kinda pitiable and not my sense of humour
it didn’t need to go on that long. i know its two books in one, but two 500 page books nonetheless!

HOWEVER

the premise is actually quite amusing
the prologue to the second part was quite amusing
some of these characters will probably stick with me for a long time (possibly due to stockholm syndrome)
it is a really valuable piece of history and an insight to a mindset and genre no longer present today

all in all, probably would probably not read again in a hurry. but I am somewhat glad to have done so, even if just that i have managed to.

postscriptum
so i’m still undecided on a rating for this. didn’t enjoy reading it much but feel an odd fondness for the time i spent with it. if it were a rating based purely on experience, i’d probably go ~2.5. but considering other factors, i cant decide between anything between a 2.75-3.25