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nettecjl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed the exploration of idealism vs realism theme and the humour the characters brought to the story. The adventures can feel repetitive after a while though. Would recommend watching Michael Sugrue’s commentary on the book as well, it definitely makes a good closure.
awest505's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
carsonkrone's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jayseewhy's review against another edition
5.0
There is something noble in wanting to make the world into what you dream it could be. Through his madness Don Quixote seeks to return to the golden age of chivalry that he has read of, where knights errant roam the countryside, righting wrong and defending those in need.
This defiant optimism, mixed with great humour and some very poignant moments made Don Quixote quite an enjoyable read. It is with sorrow that I finally close the book; I hope to read it again someday.
I particularly enjoyed the self-referential nature of the writing, with characters in the first part speaking highly of Cervantes and others in the second part speaking critically of the first part.
Thus ends my half decade quest to read Don Quixote (which is the longest book that I’ve read). My previous attempts never made it past 25 pages but this third and final sally took just over two weeks. We need to have these global pandemics more often.
This defiant optimism, mixed with great humour and some very poignant moments made Don Quixote quite an enjoyable read. It is with sorrow that I finally close the book; I hope to read it again someday.
I particularly enjoyed the self-referential nature of the writing, with characters in the first part speaking highly of Cervantes and others in the second part speaking critically of the first part.
Thus ends my half decade quest to read Don Quixote (which is the longest book that I’ve read). My previous attempts never made it past 25 pages but this third and final sally took just over two weeks. We need to have these global pandemics more often.
qamelion's review against another edition
5.0
Many roads led me to read this book. On the one hand excerpts from Don Quixote played a part in my Spanish classes back in school. Our teacher and our exercise books recommended this novel various times in order to get us engaged in reading Spanish literature. But back then I wasn’t interested in fiction and books in general. So my first encounter with Don Quixote didn’t manage to ignite the spark that was needed for my diving into it.
Eventually my interest in literature increased quite a bit, for the first time in my life I didn’t look at reading as an obligation but rather as an opportunity to educate myself on topics I was curious about. And thus just a few months ago I stumbled across the book’s title once again during my linguistics studies at university. Just reading these two words made me reminiscent of my time in school and put a smile on my face. But even that incident didn’t suffice for my buying it or borrowing it from someone.
Instead it was a casual Sunday morning when I was watching a YouTube video which made me finally fall for it. A guy from Canada was talking about some of his favourite fiction books and Don Quixote was on top of his list. Just a few details about its plot that I wasn’t familiar with before were enough to make me finally buy it.
And let me just say this: I don’t regret one penny I spent on it.
The protagonist and his companion are maybe the best duo I ever encountered in literature, film and television. I’m talking superior to Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee here.
It combines so many traits that make a great fiction book great. Its sense of humour, the choice of words, change of perspectives and of course its characters. Cervantes makes me feel like I’m right there in rural, post-medieval Spain with Don Quixote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza. The scenery is so vividly described, the feelings and emotions are conveyed in such an authentic way, each and every dialogue is fantastically written.
What I probably liked most about Don Quixote is the way Cervantes didn’t impose limitations on himself while writing his undoubtable magnum opus. I picture him as an artist that has a clear vision of the product he wants to create and then just lets his ideas flow from his mind right into the ink of his quill onto the blank page in front of him.
That is what allowed the Spanish author to provide us with a cohesive, thrilling and timeless piece of work I will surely come back to in a few years - or which will serve as an excellent bedtime story for my future children.
My interest in Spanish literature has thus been evoked.
Eventually my interest in literature increased quite a bit, for the first time in my life I didn’t look at reading as an obligation but rather as an opportunity to educate myself on topics I was curious about. And thus just a few months ago I stumbled across the book’s title once again during my linguistics studies at university. Just reading these two words made me reminiscent of my time in school and put a smile on my face. But even that incident didn’t suffice for my buying it or borrowing it from someone.
Instead it was a casual Sunday morning when I was watching a YouTube video which made me finally fall for it. A guy from Canada was talking about some of his favourite fiction books and Don Quixote was on top of his list. Just a few details about its plot that I wasn’t familiar with before were enough to make me finally buy it.
And let me just say this: I don’t regret one penny I spent on it.
The protagonist and his companion are maybe the best duo I ever encountered in literature, film and television. I’m talking superior to Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee here.
It combines so many traits that make a great fiction book great. Its sense of humour, the choice of words, change of perspectives and of course its characters. Cervantes makes me feel like I’m right there in rural, post-medieval Spain with Don Quixote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza. The scenery is so vividly described, the feelings and emotions are conveyed in such an authentic way, each and every dialogue is fantastically written.
What I probably liked most about Don Quixote is the way Cervantes didn’t impose limitations on himself while writing his undoubtable magnum opus. I picture him as an artist that has a clear vision of the product he wants to create and then just lets his ideas flow from his mind right into the ink of his quill onto the blank page in front of him.
That is what allowed the Spanish author to provide us with a cohesive, thrilling and timeless piece of work I will surely come back to in a few years - or which will serve as an excellent bedtime story for my future children.
My interest in Spanish literature has thus been evoked.
raymanesque's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
slow-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
3.0
I'm a reader of classics, but didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as I had thought I would.
I love to laugh, but while described by some as a comedy the book has very little. The premise is of course silly and ridiculous, but the execution is anything but. It is an unserious book, but has no real humor.
The prose is incredibly dry and the pace is very slow. For every sentence of interest, you encounter 3 paragraphs of incoherent (to a modern reader) waxing about the morals of knight errantry and forty injerections by sir squire complains-a-lot. These unnecessary parts are the overwhelming bulk of the text, never become interesting, don't even distinguish themselves from one another and make the book a brutal slog to get through, with very middling reward to cash in when finally past a section of them.
It does not have the adventure of the Three Musketeers; the prose is like a legal textbook compared to the Count of Monte Cristo; it lacks the characters and stakes of Dracula. So many classics age gracefully, but Don Quixote does not and is largely absent of redeeming qualities. It is a noticeably bad read compared to its peers.
The novel commands respect for its place and history and knowing about Don Quixote is important, but it is 950 pages of mediocre book to actually read. This is the first time i would recommend an abridged version of a classic. I struggle to recall any point of this story that didnt feel unnecessary, because there is extremely little actual story. Instead there is a ton of repetitive dialogue about the same topics, which remains consistent the whole way through.
I would only recommend reading for the purposes of being able to say that youve read it. I made it to the end but don't feel I'm leaving any more widely read than I began and with little to talk about to others because it is ultimately just an extremely long, extremely empty book.
I love to laugh, but while described by some as a comedy the book has very little. The premise is of course silly and ridiculous, but the execution is anything but. It is an unserious book, but has no real humor.
The prose is incredibly dry and the pace is very slow. For every sentence of interest, you encounter 3 paragraphs of incoherent (to a modern reader) waxing about the morals of knight errantry and forty injerections by sir squire complains-a-lot. These unnecessary parts are the overwhelming bulk of the text, never become interesting, don't even distinguish themselves from one another and make the book a brutal slog to get through, with very middling reward to cash in when finally past a section of them.
It does not have the adventure of the Three Musketeers; the prose is like a legal textbook compared to the Count of Monte Cristo; it lacks the characters and stakes of Dracula. So many classics age gracefully, but Don Quixote does not and is largely absent of redeeming qualities. It is a noticeably bad read compared to its peers.
The novel commands respect for its place and history and knowing about Don Quixote is important, but it is 950 pages of mediocre book to actually read. This is the first time i would recommend an abridged version of a classic. I struggle to recall any point of this story that didnt feel unnecessary, because there is extremely little actual story. Instead there is a ton of repetitive dialogue about the same topics, which remains consistent the whole way through.
I would only recommend reading for the purposes of being able to say that youve read it. I made it to the end but don't feel I'm leaving any more widely read than I began and with little to talk about to others because it is ultimately just an extremely long, extremely empty book.
raghav_kannan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5