2.71k reviews for:

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

3.71 AVERAGE


¡Por fin lo terminé! Me puso muy contento haberlo terminado después de meses y meses de lectura. Me dijo mi mamá que cuando ella lo terminó también se puso muy feliz, y me sentí bien de que a ella le hubiera pasado lo mismo.

¿Qué puedo escribir de reseña del libro más estudiado del habla hispana? Muy pocos conocidos lo han leído, y de estos, a la mayoría no les gustó. Alguno de ellos me dijo que era muy jocoso y que en algunas partes incluso se carcajeaba en voz alta, esto último lo puedo confirmar ya que a mí me pasó igual. En ocasiones los personajes me daban mucha lástima y sufría con ellos y en ocasiones lo contrario, me festejaba con sus victorias.

Contiene ideas que creo que hace 400 años no eran muy usuales, en algunos casos hasta podría ver trazas de feminismo en el caso de personajes mujeres con mucha iniciativa, fuerza y liderazgo.

La razón por la que la mayoría de la gente no lo ha leído es porque cree que no le va a entender. De aquí puedo decirles dos cosas:
1.- Si el miedo es a que contendrá ideas muy elevadas o filosóficas, no tienen de qué preocuparse, fue escrito hace más de 400 años y no contiene ninguna teoría difícil, más bien es jocoso y en ocasiones solemne.
2.- Si el problema es por las palabras antiguas en desuso, aquí si se debe considerar el leer una versión con notas al pie de página. De hecho este fue el mayor problema que tuve, por cada capítulo había hasta más de 60 notas de pie, y era muy tedioso interrumpir la lectura para leer la nota y volver al texto. De cualquier forma, creo que si hubiera leído una versión con español más contemporáneo, hubiera sentido que no lo leí como debía ser.

En cuanto a la literatura, ahí se encuentra todo, ahí están las bases de toda la literatura moderna, el enfoque en los personajes y sus sentimientos en lugar de sucesos o acción. Cada personaje con una voz y personalidad definidas y que incluso evolucionan con el tiempo. Y en la 2a parte incluso se encuentra con que los personajes ya leyeron la 1a parte y que conocen al personaje (algo muy moderno para la literatura de ese tiempo).

En cuanto a las críticas a los libros de caballerías no podría decir mucho ya que nunca leí ninguno. Pero no es necesario, ya que se explica claramente en el texto.

Puedo concluir con que valió mucho la pena leerlo y que posiblemente nunca lo vaya a olvidar.
adventurous dark funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

As you can probably tell by the 4-stars I gave this book, I like it quite a lot. However, there were times when it grew somewhat tedious reading page upon page of pointless rhetoric, or the pointless views of self-important characters (the Curate discussing the books of Knight Errantry to be burnt comes to mind!).

However, the good points in this classic novel outweigh the bad, and I found myself actually laughing at some of the more humorous situations - something that I never expected!

The book is quite good and the protagonist's madness is really what kept me interested. I thought it slowed down drastically in the 2nd half which is why it took me so long to complete, I was reading other books instead because of the change of pace presented in the latter half but this novel is well worth the read.

An essential of literature. I was apprehensive about reading this because of its length, but when I did, I didn’t want it to end. On a basic level it was entertaining, silly and funny, but on a philosophical level it plumbs the depths of the absurdity of life and shows that living out one’s imagination is less ridiculous and more rewarding than the mundane existence we all submit ourselves to. Sancho Panza’s proverbs were a constant source of both drollery and erudition, and through them he demonstrates that one can put one’s ideas into action, or one can talk about it: a good hope is better than a bad holding. The first part was good, but the second part was great, and Cervantes’s regular jibes against the false second part (which was published by another author between the interval of the two parts, 1605 and 1615) typified the super-literary theme of the book and justifies why it is sometimes called the first modern novel. Don Quixote, ironically, is a true hero.

One of the best books I've read. Part 1 definitely exceeds Part 2. It seems like Part 2 was written solely to roast the author of the fake Part 2.

All of my reviews are just for my own benefit in remembering the books. Apologies for anyone reading the base level review.

O illustrious Manchegan! and loquacious squire! May thy valiant deeds, penned by the reliable historian Cid Hamete Benengeli, never fade from the written page; thereby allowing readers like myself to distil a few drops of Quixotic spirit from this Kafkaesque and Orwellian world.

I've had this book in my "to be read," stack for many years, and I'm glad that I've finally read it. It is considered the first modern novel, and for that reason alone is worth reading, however, it is also, simply put, a great book. It is full of high adventure, farce, comedy, friendship, love, fidelity and courage. It is one of the funniest novels that I've read, while still also offering up a portrait of what it is to be human. Cervantes was also artful in his use of stories within the story, so that when the character and plot of Don Quixote was just beginning to get repetitive and predictable in his challenging every windmill, sheep and wanderer to a duel, the novel would leave him to his sleep or hillside wandering, and tell us a different story, most often of wayward lovers. The character of Sancho Panza is likewise a rich and wonderful character, as were all the side characters. Above all, I'd characterize this novel as a book about friendship, and about the greatness of imagination, because through his "demented" imagination, Don Quixote lived a life rich in adventure, and in doing so, enriched the lives off all those around him. He was a man that cared little for what others thought, but rather stuck to the principles of his code. A really lovely read, and a universe I has happy to be living in for the last few weeks.

What a delight. Lighthearted, fun and whimsical. I will miss THE FAMOUS KNIGHT DON QUIXOTE AND HIS LOYAL SQUIRE, SANCHO PANZA.

Haha the beast is slain. It's taken me a fair while to reach the end of this tome. I must admit that i preferred the first book to the second but all in all it was very good. It made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.