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abookishjungle 's review for:
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
Technically a 3.75 - that is an average of the ratings given to the two books that make up the modern edition of Don Quixote. I've decided to rate them as separate books because 1) that is how they were written - the first in 1605 and the second 10 years later - and 2) because they felt like two very different books to me.
Book 1 was 4.5, with a half star deducted because of the weirdly abrupt ending and Book 2 was 3 starts.
Clearly I liked Book 1 so much better and if it hadn't been for the ending it would have rec'd a full 5 stars. It was charming and entertaining and funny and thoughtful and hopeful, even with the fart jokes. But I found myself enjoying Book 2 a lot less for a few different reasons.
One reason I think I liked Book 2 less was because it felt more mean, which is probably a weird thing to say but there you go. In Book 1 DQ had his madness and he was often attacked or made fun of because of it because of it but he still retained a charm and whimsy that seemed to put him above all of his detractors. In Book 2 most of the characters actually indulged his DQs madness but they didn't do it for him...they did it for themselves. They did it in order to be entertained or to mock him or to make fun of him or to play jokes on him. For all that he would get beat up in Book 1 there was never the sort of maliciousness that seemed to characterize the actions of the characters in Book 2. The cruelty and maliciousness that motivated the actions of characters like the Duke and Duchess gave Book 2 a darker feel and it was lacking the whimsical nature of Book 1.
I like the bullheaded idealism in the face of doubters that DQ has in Book 1 and it felt like the machinations of the characters in Book 2 diminished Don Quixote in a way that his madness alone never could.
Another big difference was the prominence of Sancho...he takes a much more active and central role in Book 2, especially towards the end of the book. Maybe the feeling of a diminished DQ in Book 2 was exacerbated by the focus on Sancho but I think I would have liked it better if the treatment of the two main characters had felt a bit more balanced.
Finally...no spoilers but again...Cervantes seems to have an issue crafting satisfactory endings. The ending of Book 2 was even worse, for me, than the ending of Book 1.
All of that makes it sound like I didn't like the book which isn't at all true...I did very much enjoy finally reading Don Quixote but, I have to admit, there will probably always be a part of me that wishes it had ended for good after the first book, thereby forever preserving the innocent charm of Don Quixote of La Mancha.
Book 1 was 4.5, with a half star deducted because of the weirdly abrupt ending and Book 2 was 3 starts.
Clearly I liked Book 1 so much better and if it hadn't been for the ending it would have rec'd a full 5 stars. It was charming and entertaining and funny and thoughtful and hopeful, even with the fart jokes. But I found myself enjoying Book 2 a lot less for a few different reasons.
One reason I think I liked Book 2 less was because it felt more mean, which is probably a weird thing to say but there you go. In Book 1 DQ had his madness and he was often attacked or made fun of because of it because of it but he still retained a charm and whimsy that seemed to put him above all of his detractors. In Book 2 most of the characters actually indulged his DQs madness but they didn't do it for him...they did it for themselves. They did it in order to be entertained or to mock him or to make fun of him or to play jokes on him. For all that he would get beat up in Book 1 there was never the sort of maliciousness that seemed to characterize the actions of the characters in Book 2. The cruelty and maliciousness that motivated the actions of characters like the Duke and Duchess gave Book 2 a darker feel and it was lacking the whimsical nature of Book 1.
I like the bullheaded idealism in the face of doubters that DQ has in Book 1 and it felt like the machinations of the characters in Book 2 diminished Don Quixote in a way that his madness alone never could.
Another big difference was the prominence of Sancho...he takes a much more active and central role in Book 2, especially towards the end of the book. Maybe the feeling of a diminished DQ in Book 2 was exacerbated by the focus on Sancho but I think I would have liked it better if the treatment of the two main characters had felt a bit more balanced.
Finally...no spoilers but again...Cervantes seems to have an issue crafting satisfactory endings. The ending of Book 2 was even worse, for me, than the ending of Book 1.
All of that makes it sound like I didn't like the book which isn't at all true...I did very much enjoy finally reading Don Quixote but, I have to admit, there will probably always be a part of me that wishes it had ended for good after the first book, thereby forever preserving the innocent charm of Don Quixote of La Mancha.