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book_busy 's review for:
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First reading thoughts (17/7/2025)
As far as long novels I have read, this comes top of the pile. Grossman's translation in the Vintage publishing that I read was so full of life that even though this shared an episodic feel like that of Moby Dick with several tangents, I was always entertained. As Bloom outlines in the introduction, the tension between duty, death and bathetic treatment of Cervantes' surrounding literary canon is deftly constructed and I'm very excited to take a peek at the Yale course on this novel in order to better understand its allegorical significance as I feel like there is so much symbolism and parody that passed me by, including the actual MEANING of the novel itself to both the author and its contemporary audience of reception and the significance of the evolution of the eponymous protagonist and his companion.
I loved the slapstick to bits and honestly in terms of pure entertainment value and pacing felt that Part 1 had a bit more gusto to it compared with the more senior part 2 which felt more obsessed with philosophical quandury, episodic humour and dramatic irony as well as Cervantes' paranoid reclamation of Don Quijote as an intellectual property in the face of the release of the False Don Quijote.
Love the characterisation of Don Quijote and Sancho-> so vivid and believable (ironically) in their comedy that they feel almost like real peopel. The Duke and the Duchess were a laugh but honestly I found it hard to remember a great deal of the side characters excepting figures such as Sancho's family and the villagers as well as the converted muslim girl accompanying the Christian from the first part. There is an ever-rotating conveyor belt of beautiful women and extraordinary scenes, particularly in part 2, that I as a reader felt almost inundated with information that did not always strike as relevant. Despite part 1's pacing issues in Cervantes' diversions, I actually felt that its longer chapters made things feel more cohesive and lingering on singular characters and giving the universe and cast breathing room with an emphasis on recurrence made my reading more enjoyable.
Very glad/ proud to have finished this absolute tome. I hope one day my Spanish is strong enough to read it in Cervantes' original words as based on Grossman's footnotes there are many a pun and piece of wordplay that leaves a tier of humour unreachable for an English reader (as implied in the ironically accurate initial comments on translation's imperfection in the early chapters wherein the priest and Don Quijote's relatives scrutinise his collection of tales of Knight errantry).
So excite to understand this better and develop a better sense of Cervantes as an author and a man alongside his contemporaries such as the slated Lope de Vega (puppet scene wink wink).
As far as long novels I have read, this comes top of the pile. Grossman's translation in the Vintage publishing that I read was so full of life that even though this shared an episodic feel like that of Moby Dick with several tangents, I was always entertained. As Bloom outlines in the introduction, the tension between duty, death and bathetic treatment of Cervantes' surrounding literary canon is deftly constructed and I'm very excited to take a peek at the Yale course on this novel in order to better understand its allegorical significance as I feel like there is so much symbolism and parody that passed me by, including the actual MEANING of the novel itself to both the author and its contemporary audience of reception and the significance of the evolution of the eponymous protagonist and his companion.
I loved the slapstick to bits and honestly in terms of pure entertainment value and pacing felt that Part 1 had a bit more gusto to it compared with the more senior part 2 which felt more obsessed with philosophical quandury, episodic humour and dramatic irony as well as Cervantes' paranoid reclamation of Don Quijote as an intellectual property in the face of the release of the False Don Quijote.
Love the characterisation of Don Quijote and Sancho-> so vivid and believable (ironically) in their comedy that they feel almost like real peopel. The Duke and the Duchess were a laugh but honestly I found it hard to remember a great deal of the side characters excepting figures such as Sancho's family and the villagers as well as the converted muslim girl accompanying the Christian from the first part. There is an ever-rotating conveyor belt of beautiful women and extraordinary scenes, particularly in part 2, that I as a reader felt almost inundated with information that did not always strike as relevant. Despite part 1's pacing issues in Cervantes' diversions, I actually felt that its longer chapters made things feel more cohesive and lingering on singular characters and giving the universe and cast breathing room with an emphasis on recurrence made my reading more enjoyable.
Very glad/ proud to have finished this absolute tome. I hope one day my Spanish is strong enough to read it in Cervantes' original words as based on Grossman's footnotes there are many a pun and piece of wordplay that leaves a tier of humour unreachable for an English reader (as implied in the ironically accurate initial comments on translation's imperfection in the early chapters wherein the priest and Don Quijote's relatives scrutinise his collection of tales of Knight errantry).
So excite to understand this better and develop a better sense of Cervantes as an author and a man alongside his contemporaries such as the slated Lope de Vega (puppet scene wink wink).