A review by sednonsatiata
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

5.0

All the subject is in that division. That is, the division of Don Quixote in two volumes, published ten years apart by author Miguel de Cervantes. After the release of the first (and at the time of its creation – only) volume of the novel in 1605, the book had such a huge success that a spurious second part was published by someone under the name of Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, most likely an unidentified Aragonese who was an admirer of Lope de Vega, rival of Cervantes. Perceived as an insult by the original author, this publication had the merit of pushing Cervantes into publishing his own, original, second volume. If the first part is a marvelous work of art, the second is enriched by an abundance of stylistic devices that are incredibly modern for their time.
The troubled story of the work itself is reflected into the intricacies of the authentic second volume: I can only imagine how outraged, offended and vindictive Miguel de Cervantes must have felt, having been robbed of what can be defined not only as his artistic creature, but also a vital source of income. And revenge he did take: in one of the book’s most meta scenes, Don Quixote winds up in a shop where the Avellaneda edition is being printed. He grows angry and annoyed and proceeds to pull the story apart, demonstrating that Don Quixote is none other than himself, while the other is nothing but a scandalous fraud. He also manages to give a detailed speech about the issues of publishing autonomously rather than with a publisher, an insight that would belong in a present-day discussion regarding the way Amazon is changing the market rather than a 1600s book print shop. Speaking of being ahead of his time!

This review is an excerpt, you can find the full version at http://mariapetrescu.com/2017/06/14/readme-don-quixote-or-the-ingenious-nobleman-mister-quixote-of-la-mancha/