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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
If you’ve been avoiding this classic because you’re afraid it might be difficult or stodgy language, check out this translation (Grossman). I was surprised how straightforward and clear the language was for a book this old. The jokes land. It’s episodic enough that you can pick it up and set it down as you like, which helps since it is quite long. I’ve been meaning to read it/avoiding it for years… enjoyed finally getting to it and was pleasantly surprised!
This translation was easy to read and the footnotes were so helpful - not just for understanding context, but for cluing the reader in on the many puns that were lost in translation.
This was originally 2 books which are now combined into one. I enjoyed the first book much more than the second.
This was originally 2 books which are now combined into one. I enjoyed the first book much more than the second.
How is one supposed to review a book more than 400 years old? The first truly modern novel? The inspiration for hundreds of years of tropes in Western literature? And while reading an English translation, at that?
The contemporary reader really is at a disadvantage here. But what is remarkable is that enough of what made the book a classic when it was first released shines through that it remains a worthwhile endeavor, albeit a trying one.
Let's be clear: you will not have truly read Don Quixote if you read this in anything other than the original Spanish. There is a lot of wordplay, especially out of the mouth of squire Sancho Panza, and having that pointed out in a footnote is the palest of substitutes. There are also a myriad of references both to then-contemporary Spain as well as to the classics of Greek art that few but the most learned will ever really understand Cervantes' wit.
And yet, Don Quixote still made me laugh, probably more than any contemporary work of literature I can remember reading of late. It's just funny! A man reading too many works of fiction and then just deciding to live out his fantasies is just to solid a premise to be anything otherwise. His tilting at windmills is the image that seems to have stuck with the popular imagination, but there are countless others.
Those with a taste for postmodernism will especially enjoy the second part of the novel, where our eponymous hero has to reckon with the fame elicited by the publishing of the first half of the story as well as a knock-off sequel whose characterization are a poor counterfeit for Cervantes' own.
And Sancho! Sancho Panza may have been the inspiration for every wisecracking sidekick that came after him, but he still outshines them all. I considered adopting his personage as my own, but he wants a corpulent Spanish peasant as his Twitter theme?
What makes it more than a mere comedy, however, and what contributes to it standing the test of time are the sincere considerations it makes for the question of the value of the real and the imagined. Don Quixote is widely regarded as a fool and a clown, but his sincere intentions often have a greater effect than other characters approaching situations the "proper" way. As characters frequently remark -- Quixote is simultaneously a madman and a man of genius.
It's a rebuke of classical romanticism, but its subtle anticipation of modernism helps it hold up. I am smitten.
The contemporary reader really is at a disadvantage here. But what is remarkable is that enough of what made the book a classic when it was first released shines through that it remains a worthwhile endeavor, albeit a trying one.
Let's be clear: you will not have truly read Don Quixote if you read this in anything other than the original Spanish. There is a lot of wordplay, especially out of the mouth of squire Sancho Panza, and having that pointed out in a footnote is the palest of substitutes. There are also a myriad of references both to then-contemporary Spain as well as to the classics of Greek art that few but the most learned will ever really understand Cervantes' wit.
And yet, Don Quixote still made me laugh, probably more than any contemporary work of literature I can remember reading of late. It's just funny! A man reading too many works of fiction and then just deciding to live out his fantasies is just to solid a premise to be anything otherwise. His tilting at windmills is the image that seems to have stuck with the popular imagination, but there are countless others.
Those with a taste for postmodernism will especially enjoy the second part of the novel, where our eponymous hero has to reckon with the fame elicited by the publishing of the first half of the story as well as a knock-off sequel whose characterization are a poor counterfeit for Cervantes' own.
And Sancho! Sancho Panza may have been the inspiration for every wisecracking sidekick that came after him, but he still outshines them all. I considered adopting his personage as my own, but he wants a corpulent Spanish peasant as his Twitter theme?
What makes it more than a mere comedy, however, and what contributes to it standing the test of time are the sincere considerations it makes for the question of the value of the real and the imagined. Don Quixote is widely regarded as a fool and a clown, but his sincere intentions often have a greater effect than other characters approaching situations the "proper" way. As characters frequently remark -- Quixote is simultaneously a madman and a man of genius.
It's a rebuke of classical romanticism, but its subtle anticipation of modernism helps it hold up. I am smitten.
The first modern novel most definitely, but definitely not the greatest of all time. The first can never be the greatest. Frankly it makes me question when we developed the modern concept of "character development," because it certainly wasn't in here, though all of the flaws of novels that would follow for centuries after most certainly are (extended cutaways for no reason, somewhat unnecessary details that get massive diatribes, etc). Cervantes thought that you needed something for everyone in order to write a great book, and I heartily disagree. Cervantes also LOVED to comment directly on things like bad translations and other authors through the Priest, which was rather... intrusive?
That being said, the book is funny. I'll give it that. And Grossman's translation is brilliant, giving just enough footnotes and making it incredibly readable.
Still, the greatest novels of this particular type are probably something from Hugo or Dumas, even with the similar flaws they suffer from, simply because they have incredible, three-dimensions characters that DQ doesn't really have.
That being said, the book is funny. I'll give it that. And Grossman's translation is brilliant, giving just enough footnotes and making it incredibly readable.
Still, the greatest novels of this particular type are probably something from Hugo or Dumas, even with the similar flaws they suffer from, simply because they have incredible, three-dimensions characters that DQ doesn't really have.
Liked the first volume a lot more than the second.
slow-paced
I hadn't realized that what I had read of Don Quixote in high school was only about half the book. There are so many more stories here! I love how the book is stories within stories all focused around Don Quixote's belief that he's a chivalrous knight. He drags others through his adventures and they decide that his books of fiction, which obviously caused his dementia, are too dangerous. The stories serve to point out that great works of fiction add to our lives by providing escape and entertainment and are not dangerous at all.
Impossible to give any meaningful star rating to in all honesty. Its one of those books that feels important that you read.
I enjoyed this book in parts but between them I did get a bit tired of the antics as they were, at least in places, quite repetitive. Or, points were expressed for a long time. But the overall story was very satisfying and Sancho will always be a great character in my mind.
I would say it’s very readable for a 400 odd year old book, but translations seem to vary a lot. The Motteux translation that I read for the first 200 pages was very difficult and I finished up with the Grossman which was much better.
I enjoyed this book in parts but between them I did get a bit tired of the antics as they were, at least in places, quite repetitive. Or, points were expressed for a long time. But the overall story was very satisfying and Sancho will always be a great character in my mind.
I would say it’s very readable for a 400 odd year old book, but translations seem to vary a lot. The Motteux translation that I read for the first 200 pages was very difficult and I finished up with the Grossman which was much better.
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes