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    Don Quixote
    Don Quixote
    Don Quixote
    Ebook1,559 pages44 hours

    Don Quixote

    By Miguel de Cervantes

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    Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616), often known as Cervantes, was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios ("The Prince of Wits"). (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOtbebookpublishing
    Release dateJan 31, 2016
    ISBN9783958644267
    Author

    Miguel de Cervantes

    Miguel de Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547, in Alcala de Henares, Spain. At twenty-three he enlisted in the Spanish militia and in 1571 fought against the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto, where a gunshot wound permanently crippled his left hand. He spent four more years at sea and then another five as a slave after being captured by Barbary pirates. Ransomed by his family, he returned to Madrid but his disability hampered him; it was in debtor's prison that he began to write Don Quixote. Cervantes wrote many other works, including poems and plays, but he remains best known as the author of Don Quixote. He died on April 23, 1616.

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    • 4/5
      I really liked this. And now I feel smarter. But I have nothing smart to say about it.
    • 3/5
      "The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it surfaces above lies, as oil on water."Don Quixote is a middle-aged man from the region of La Mancha in Spain obsessed with reading books about chivalrous knights errant. One day he decides to set out, taking with him an honest but simple farm labourer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, armed with a lance and a sword to right wrongs and rescue damsels. On his horse, Rozinante, who like his master is well past his prime, Don Quixote rides the roads of Spain in search of adventure and glory.None of Don Quixote's adventures never really turn out as he would have hoped and his triumphs are more imaginary than real. He abandons a boy tied to a tree and being whipped by a farmer, simply because the farmer swears an oath that he will not harm the boy. He steals a barber’s basin believing it to be a mythical helmet, frees a wicked and devious man who has been sentenced to become a galley slave, absconds from an inn where he has spent the night without paying because he believes that he was a guest in a castle and therefore shouldn't have to pay. However, not everything that Don Quixote does turns out bad. He does manage, if unwittingly, to reunite two couples who had become estranged.Despite often bearing the brunt of the physical punishments that result from Don Quixote’s erratic behaviour, Sancho nonetheless remains loyal to his master as he endeavours to limit Don Quixote's outlandish fantasies. The first part of the novel ends when two of Don Quixote’s friends, tricks him into returning home. Once back in his home all of Don Quixote's books on knights errantry are burnt in an attempt to cure him of his madness but unfortunately it is far too deeply rooted to be cured so simply and it is only a matter of time before he sets out on his travels once again, accompanied by his faithful squire.During the intervening period of time whilst they were back at home a book has been written relating the pair's earlier escapades making them infamous. Don Quixote and Sancho meet a Duke and Duchess who have read the book about their exploits and conspire to play tricks on them for their own amusement. Whilst staying with them Sancho becomes the governor of a fictitious island which he rules for ten days before resigning reasoning that it is better to be a happy farm labourer than a miserable governor.On leaving the Duke and Duchess the pair travel on to Barcelona where Don Quixote is beaten and battered in a joust. They return to their respective homes where Don Quixote comes to recognise his folly whilst suffering from a fever which ultimately kills him.Now I must admit that I was not expecting too much before starting this but was very pleasantly surprised as I found myself on more than one occasion in tears of laughter. Likewise I enjoyed many of the conversations between Don Quixote and Sancho. I ended up almost feeling rather sorry for Don Quixote in his madness as he strived to recreate a world that never really existed. In particular I felt sorry by how he was treated by the Duke and Duchess and was uncertain whether they were merely cruel or as barmy as our two heroes. However, I also found the novel overly long and at times fairly repetitive, equally as one of my fellow reviewers have stated I hated the fact that some of the paragraphs were several pages long. Although I did enjoy it, it was a plod rather than a sprint through it. I am glad that I've read it but it is highly unlikely that I will bother to revisit it.
    • 4/5
      The first true novel, Don Quixote, has impacted not only the literary world but culture and society the globe over for over 500 years. The masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes blends fantasy, romance, sarcasm, and parody in such an amazing way that it has captured the imagination of generations over and over again no matter where they lived. The adventures, or misadventures, of Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza have made them icons for beyond anything Cervantes might have thought possible.The narrative of the events of the knight-errant Don Quixote’s three sallies is widely known, though more so those in Part I than those of Part II. However, while the adventures of the windmills and the battle of the wineskins and Sancho’s blanketing are the best known it the events in Part II that truly show the modern narrative arc that Cervantes was only beginning to display in Part I. While Quixote and Sancho’s hilarious misadventures are just as funny in Part II as in Part I, through the challenges for Bachelor Carrasco to snap Quixote out of his madness and the machinations of the Duke and Duchess for their entertainment at their expense a narrative arc is plainly seen and can be compared to novels of today very easily.Although the central narrative of Don Quixote is without question a wonderful read, the overall book—mainly Part I—does have some issues that way enjoyment. Large sections of Part I contain stories within the story that do no concern either central character but secondary or tertiary characters that only briefly interact with Quixote and Sancho. Throughout Part II, Cervantes’ rage at another author who published a fake sequel is brought up again and again throughout the narrative arc that just lessened the reading experience.The cultural footprint of Don Quixote today is so wide spread that everyone knows particular scenes that occur in the book, mainly the charge towards the windmills. Yet Cervantes’ masterpiece is so much more than one scene as it parodies the literary culture of Spain at the time in various entertaining ways that still hold up half a millennium later. Although reading this novel does take time, it is time well spent follow the famous knight-errant Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza.
    • 4/5
      An early masterpiece in the evolution of the Novel in Literature: Very entertaining, if at times somewhat long-winded, with an array of lively characters delving into the psychology, philosophy... the 'humors & humours' of the human existence, and a legendary 'hero' - Don Quixote - who tilts at much more of humanity's foibles than just windmills.
    • 5/5
      The idea of the novel starts here. This is the source of the modern novel for many. While it remains the epitome of story-telling its fame has also led to the coinage of such terms as "quixotic" and others. Influential beyond almost any other single work of fiction, the characters through their charm and uniqueness remain indelible in the memory of readers.Don Quixote is one of those books whose influence is so far-reaching as to be almost ubiquitous, like The Odyssey, or the Bible. And like the Bible or Homer’s epic, it is more often talked about than read. But my conclusion upon reading it is to recommend to all: read it and enjoy the stories.
    • 5/5
      Can innocence only exist in a past long forgotten? What are the dangers of reading books? What is madness? In his renowned book, Miguel de Cervantes deals with these questions and more as he takes us along on the journey of Don Quixote de La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza.
    • 1/5
      I tried, I really did. Just could not finish it. There were some funny moments, but after struggling to get 1/3 of the way through, I gave up.
    • 5/5
      I finally finished Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE. It was a rewarding experience. It is a hilarious book. To travel along with Quixote, the knight errant and his squire, Sancho Panza is quite a voyage full of adventures. I could call this an adventure story if it weren't so ridiculous. Quixote decides to act out the story of the chivalrous knight that was prevalent in the literature of the time. We accompany him on all sorts of adventures which seem preposterous but he seemed to believe them. It is a fun read and i recommend it.
    • 3/5
      The introduction educates the reader of this translation of Don Qixote, that it has been abridged for the modern reader. I enjoyed it, knowing I would never have tried a book like this if were not adapted for readers today. I wanted to have a taste, or feel of this classic just for the experience of it. It is well done for interest, the narrator easy to listen to and edited carefully to give you the meat of the book without unnecessary details that the original writing style included. I would recommend it if you are not a classic purist.
    • 5/5
      The number of references to this individual who is really very well described y deadwhiteguys is truly admazing to anyone outside Spain. Yet they must truly love him and admire him and have done so through the centuries. Spain is truly a misunderstood country, far more complex than most of us understand. No, Ihave not finished it yet, but I must. I was reading this on a city bus and a girl came up and told me it was her favorite book. Never had this happen before.The pasts I can best identify with are the comment that Don Quixote would stay up all night reading, and then the chapter when the neighbors throw out his library. My daughter would really like to do this.
    • 5/5
      I've gone back to this book every few years since I first read it in junior high, and there's always something new to discover about it. I think everybody should read it at least three times in different stages of life in order to appreciate it completely.
    • 4/5
      I've owned this copy of Don Quixote for about 30 years, and have begun reading it on several occasions, but could never get much beyond the first 100 pages. This summer, bed-ridden from an accident, I decided I would finally, finally read it to the end. This time it was the last 100 pages that had me bogged down, not because they were boring, but because it felt like this book would never end. I had always assumed (based on "The Man of La Mancha" and other references) that Don Quixote's behavior, though delusional, affects those around him positively by making others see themselves in a better light, i.e. Dulcinea when treated as a lady, begins to behave like a lady. But this is not the case at all. In fact, no one changes their behavior because of Quixote. Except for his squire, Sancho Panza, people treat him even more abysmally than if he had been in his right mind. There is a lot of slapstick humor in this book, but most of the tricks played on him are not really very funny, in fact, they are mostly cruel beatings and tortures. I think the real essence of this book is not in its hero, Don Quixote, but in the displaying of the reality of living in 16th century Spain: the random cruelty, the abuse of power (the duke and duchess), the treatment of prisoners, the Moors, the false politesse of the upper classes. There is also the metaliterary aspect of the novel and its parody of romances of knighthood. I'm glad I read it, but it was not at all what I thought it would be.
    • 4/5
      I cried at the end of this one. A lot, actually. Didn't see that one coming.
    • 4/5
      This book can be read and interpreted from so many perspectives, it's almost difficult to categorize. To call it a classic seems accurate, if unimaginative. I found myself torn when it comes to Don Quixote himself, between feeling pity for someone with such a skewed vision of the world, and being envious of that self same vision. Freedom of thought isn't a trait as much as it is a skill. As for Pancho, such unquestioned loyalty is enviable. To have such blind faith in someone, that you will always be ok if you remain with them, to fight for a cause, side by side with a friend, is indeed a noble calling, and requires a selflessness few possess. I think "insanity" is an oversimplification, and the only box these two could possibly fit within, are the covers of a book.
    • 5/5
      I read it in translation, so I don't know what a difference that might make. Many parts of this are still hilarious after centuries, some scenes are moving, some magnificent. Talk about iconic? Tilting at windmills, Sancho Panza, Dulcinea del Toboso, a man made mad by reading too many books of chivalry... Its second part even pokes fun at itself--17th century metafiction! If it doesn't get the full five stars, it's because it does have stretches I found dull and pointless and meandering. Just felt at times the joke was extended far too long, with one incident after another repeating itself: Quixote goes on a rampage due to his delusions of chivalry. Victim of his outrage beats him up. Rinse. Repeat... But this is one of the earliest novels, at least in the Western tradition, and still one of the greatest and influential in the Western canon--and for good reason.
    • 2/5
       -I really tried to like this one -it's too deep or too old (younger than the Oddyesy) or too Spanish (Lorca is Spanish) or just boring -maybe later, maybe I need to take a class
    • 4/5
      Reading Volume I of Don Quixote has been a bit of a challenge. Not because it's hard to understand, but because there are so many stories within the main story that it bogs it down for me. I kept putting it down for days or weeks at a time, and didn't really look forward to picking it back up. It's funny and entertaing, just long. I think I'm going to try to listen to Volume II on audio.
    • 5/5
      One of the 5 greatest (or most important) novels ever written... however, the old "crazy-old-man-attacks-someone-he-thinks-is-someone-else-and-gets-his-butt-kicked-and recovers-for-a-week-then-repeat, got a bit old after 940 pages.Sancho's govenorship was probably my favorite in the whole shebang.This bad boy was read in the following places: home, work, Starbucks, Spain, France, Italy, Newark Airport (twice), my car, and probably a couple other places I'm forgetting.
    • 4/5
      Don Quixote starts out as a man that is obsessed with the knights of the middle ages, and reads all of the stories about them. He snaps, and thinks that he himself is a great knight. Rides out, takes a squire, and has adventures.There were many funny parts, and I did enjoy reading it. However, it does get to be a bit tedious towards the end. I have no fear of reading a 1,000 page book. But those 1,000 pages should hold my interest throughout. The last 150-200 pages had me impatiently waiting to get to the end. I would recommend it, and it is worth reading. But I did struggle a bit at the end, unlike some other long works (e.g. War and Peace) that hold my interest throughout.
    • 5/5
      My wife asked me how this was, and I told her it was really, really great and that I really looked forward to reading it and so on. She said "Well, it's a 'classic,' right?" Well, yes. But there are many, many classics that I've read and have no intention of reading again, or that I couldn't pick up and read a chapter or two in bed. There are very few classics that make me laugh and cry at the same time.

      There are very, very few classics which can stand with both Chaucer and Sterne.

      That fun stuff aside, Quixote must also be one of the great litmus tests in literary history. Once you can answer the question "what do you think about the Don?" you can probably also answer the question "what do you think about literature?" Gabriel Josipovici argued that DQ is a disenchantment of *all* idealism, and thus a founding moment in (his understanding of) modernism. You could easily read the book as an attack on any fictional work at all: it misleads you, it lies to you, it turns you into a lunatic.

      But if, like me, you're a soft touch, you can equally well say that, although the narrator of DQ is always talking about how the one thing s/he wanted to do in this book is to convince you not to read chivalric romances, because the more 'truth' there is in a book the better, the point of the book is in fact that the narrator is wrong. If s/he wasn't wrong, DQ wouldn't have the cry/laugh effect I noted above. And it turns out that the characters have a much better grasp of the way we use fiction than the narrator does. The Don might be a little bit nuts, but even his craziness is preferable to a world in which telling stories is thought to be 'wrong,' the position he ends up taking just before he dies. We readers might be as mad as Quixote, and as mad as the Duke and Duchess who play such tricks on him (p 956). But as Don Antonio says, "Don't you see, sir, that the benefits of Don Quixote's recovery can't be compared with the pleasure that his antics provide?" (930) Or as Don Quixote has it, "to tell jokes and write wittily is the work of geniuses; the most intelligent characters in a play is the fool, because the actor playing the part of the simpleton must not be one." (507)

      Frankly, I'd much rather build or read a good book than explain why all building and reading are for the birds. My pomo professors would be appalled.
    • 4/5
      I had some mixed feelings about Don Quixote. At times, I was very wrapped up in the story and found it excellent. At other times, I found it too ridiculous or slow paced and would then put the book down for months without any urge to go back to it. Cervantes, nonetheless, has moments of pure genius and my overall feeling is positive.
    • 4/5
      This is a monster of a book. It is just shy of 1000 pages and it definitely felt that long.

      Long classics are incredibly intimidating which is probably why I had such troubles actually sitting down and picking this book up because it intimidated me so much. Although the length is scary, the content isn't.

      I found this novel to be fully entertaining and almost always hilarious. Honestly, I caught myself laughing out loud in some bits, it was that ridiculous.

      Don Quixote is a guy, who after reading a heap of novels about knights, decides to become one himself and practically deludes himself into this strange scenario where he is a gallant knight. Everyone in the book thinks he is a madman, but the fact that they acknowledge this and then continue to go along with his nonsense is what makes this book so hilarious.

      (Also the fact that 'Don Quixote' was supposed to ridicule the novels that Don Quixote reads [and what was popular during Cervantes time] but in fact, made them more popular and became one itself. I swear in the second half it was the story of a true knight, if not a very strange one.)

      The relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is funny in itself and definitely matures throughout the novel. The intelligence of Sancho, even though he is portrayed as simple-minded, is superb and matures with the novel. Sancho really becomes a part of Don Quixote's madness in the second part and it's also quite funny to see him react in all the crazy situations.

      The plot wasn't that of a regular novel; it was simply the string of events that happened to Don Quixote after he decided that he was a knight and as a knight, he should do knightly things.

      The only thing I didn't quite like about this book was the length. I caught myself wishing it was shorter countless times throughout reading this book. In my opinion, it really didn't need to be this long.

      Overall, I would definitely recommend this book as a first (big) classic to anyone who is interested because I feel that the writing and story are quite easy to follow.
    • 4/5
      who knew that this book is so funny. it is pure slapstick comedy. several times i was laughing out loud. brilliant book cinsudering that is thr first novel ever written. lots of insight in the live of the peolpe of the time. this translation is very readable and has a nice flow.
    • 4/5
      It's been 20 years since I've read Don Quixote, so I was due for a refresher. This was the perfect format. The art wasn't ground-breaking, but it was fun, and the story fits the episodic nature of comics perfectly. This is worth the read if you need a Don Quixote refresher, or if you just don't want to tackle it in large novel form.
    • 5/5
      This is quite the amazing tome, and always a pleasure to read whenever I take the time to do so. The world's true first modern novel, the (mis)adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza will delight, instruct and make you laugh even after 600 years (and yes, you will chuckle at a few of the naughtier bits!) But there is something that is so endearing about our hero and his quest to become a knight that always will resonate with me every time I read. I think it is because Don Quixote is a reader like us, and as all of us wish we could imitate the heroes that we see in literature (as well as other forms of entertainment well after Cervantes' time such as film, drama and television,) we have no choice but to empathize with our wayward knight as he travels across the Spanish countryside in his quest to become like his idols. We readers all too well know how the power of the written word enchants us, and so we can't help but understand when Don Quixote, the fellow reader, wants to live out the stories of his own books...or perhaps, create his own tale!Comedy, adventure, romance, and sadly, a little realism at the end for a dose of tragedy - - Don Quixote really has it all, and is the perfect introduction for those who not only want to read, but to read well. If this book can't receive 5 stars, what will?
    • 3/5
      I have a feeling I would have liked Don Quixote a lot more in some other translation. I've wanted to read it for a while, but this translation (Wordsworth edition, P. A. Motteux) just didn't work for me. I didn't actually finish the whole thing, because I really, really didn't like the translation. One day, I will find a translation I prefer and have another attempt at it.

      I don't really feel like I get to write a proper review about the book now, but I'll jot down the impressions I got. I did get about halfway through, at least. The translation was a problem for me because it was very dry and dated. I feel like when you're translating books, the point is to make them readable to a new audience. Obviously, Cervantes shouldn't read like Stephen King, but to make the book accessible, it shouldn't read like a textbook. I feel like maybe the translation is too literal. It doesn't help that in this edition the writing is tiny and cramped together. I had a look at the Penguin edition at one point, and I seem to remember it being easier to look at, and the translation a little easier -- although of course I only read a couple of pages.

      In terms of the story, I love it. It's become so much a part of cultural background that it's a little ridiculous not to ever try it. I mean... "tilting at windmills", anyone? It is funny how early in the book that most famous part happens. I found the book rather tedious to begin with, but it was actually somewhat easier when I got to the story of Cardenio -- partly because I've read a book just recently that focused on the Cardenio story and Shakespeare, and that had been what prompted me to actually buy Don Quixote. At that point, I feel, the story does get easier, but I really couldn't cope with the translation anymore.

      I love some of the scenes and ideas, and Quixote's delusions, but it's kind of difficult for me because I get so embarrassed for delusional characters. It makes me rather uncomfortable. I also have a bit of difficulty with books that meander about and have so many stories-within-the-story, without much of a driving plot themselves, but my main problem was that I couldn't get into it and reading it felt like an awful drag.

      Please note that my rating is not for the book as a whole, nor the book in general, but for this specific edition.
    • 5/5
      Go on, you know you've always said that you mean to read this. And this translation confirms that this is really very brilliant and very funny at the same time.
    • 5/5
      Quite long, but the variety of Don Quixote exploits kept my attention. My only complaint is that most of the "interpolated" stories were love stories. I would have liked more variety. Similar to serial novels such as Tom Jones which keep the reader in suspense until the end.
    • 5/5
      It's not a comic novel, or a romantic tragedy, or a journey into the self, or of course it's all those things, but mostly it's an incredible metanovel, dude. Think about how much thinner this book would be without all the stories people tell in it. Thnk about how many of those stories are false or apocryphal or ludicrously confused, the story equivalent of DQ's many many platfalls that somehow never get old, and then think about how the stories drive the action. How the author gamely steps up for his share of blows. How half the book only exists to show up that Tordesillas dude who wrote a fake sequel, and how that's the same as Don going out and adventuring in the first place - literature is the driving force, and Orlando and all of that is real literature too, of course. This book interacts with the real world in maybe the closest and subtlest way ever, and as the characters get oh-so-close to realizing their fictitious, constructed nature, you stop and go OH SHIT. Here I am with my reading, wasting my life away too. Why? And then you go on doing it, a slave to books just like Quixote, and that is insanity too. but what else can you do? You don't have control; you are fictional. Your books are writing you.
    • 2/5
      Although I tried to like Don Quixote, it reminded me too much of the slap-stick humor of Gilbert & Sullivan or the 3 Stooges. Worth reading once to understand references found in other material, but definitely not one of my favorites.

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    Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

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