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Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,

John Rutherford (Translator),

Roberto González Echevarría (Introduction)

3.88 · Rating details · 204,823 ratings · 7,901 reviews

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading chivalric romances that he determines to become a knight-errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, his exploits blossom in all sorts of wonderful ways. While Quixote's fancy often leads him astray—he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants—Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane ...more

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Paperback, Penguin Classics, 1023 pages

Published February 25th 2003 by Penguin Books (first published 1605)

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Mar 14, 2019 Emily May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: clothbound-own, classics, 2019

“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”

Why did no one tell me this book is hilarious? I can't believe it took me so long to finally pick it up.

Don Quixote is densest in the early chapters, which are packed full of footnotes that should be read for full context. I highly recommend using two bookmarks-- one for your place in the story and one for in the notes. If this seems too much like hard work, I want to reassure yo ...more

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Jun 24, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, unforgettable, so-good-it-hurts, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die

“Don Quixote”, I answered, and looked into almost shocked facial expressions, followed by quiet, uncomfortable giggling.

What was the question? If my friends at the coffee table had asked: “What is your favourite book, Lisa?”, and received that answer, they would have nodded knowingly, sympathetically, adding some random fact about the 1000+-page-classic I claimed to love more than the countless other books I have read. But that was not the question. It was:

“With which literary character do you ...more

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Mar 10, 2014 Renato Magalhães Rocha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-stars, 1001, kindle-ebooks, read-more-than-once, the-novel-100, 2014, reviewed, 100-best-books-world-library, absolute-favorites

A book of parallels, Don Quixote by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, through two of the most emblematic characters ever conceived, discusses what's imagined and what's seen, the ideal vs. the real, the conflicts between illusion and actuality and how these solid lines start to blur by the influences Don Quixote and Sancho Panza inflict on each other through the course of this comic (yet sad sometimes...) tale.

A second-hand account translated from Arab historian Cide Hamete Benengeli ...more

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May 14, 2008 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 1001-book, 17th-century, spanish, classics, literature

992. Don Quixote = Don Quijote de La mancha (Don Quijote de la Mancha #1-2), Miguel de Cervantes
The Ingenious Nobleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha, or just Don Quixote, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears hig 992. Don Quixote = Don Quijote de La mancha (Don Quijote de la Mancha #1-2), Miguel de Cervantes
The Ingenious Nobleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha, or just Don Quixote, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published.

عنوانها: دن کیشوت؛ دون کیخوته؛ نویسنده: سر وانتس؛ انتشاراتیها: (روایت، نیل، وستا، روزگار و ...) ادبیات اسپانیا؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش در یکی از روزهای سال 1972 میلادی

عنوان: دون کیشوت؛ نویسنده: سروانتس؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ تهران، انتشارات نیل، 1349 ؛ دو جلد جمعا در 1286 صفحه؛ یکی از کتابهای مجموعه ی ده رمان بزرگ جهان
عنوان: دون کیشوت؛ نویسنده: سروانتس؛ مترجم: ذبیح الله منصوری؛ ...، چاپ دیگر: تهران، کتاب وستا، 1389؛ در 564 ص؛ شابک 9786009104475؛

عنوان: دون کیخوته (دن کیشوت)؛ نویسنده: سروانتس؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، روزگار، 1390 ؛ دو جلد حدود 1300 ص؛ شابک دوره 9789643741259؛

این اثر از کهنترین رمانها در زبان‌های نوین اروپایی ست. بسیاری آن را بهترین کتاب نوشته شده، به زبان اسپانیایی، می‌دانند. «سروانتس» بخش نخست «دن کیشوت» را در زندان نوشتند، و نخستین بار در سال 1605 میلادی، در «مادرید» منتشر کردند، و بخش دوم آن، ده سال بعد در سال 1615 میلادی، به چاپ رسید. «دن کیشوت» زندگی فردی را به خوانشگر نشان می‌دهد، که دچار توهم است، و اوقات خود را با خواندن آثار ممنوعه می‌گذراند. در زمان روایت داستان، نوشتن و خواندن آثاری که به شوالیه ها می‌پرداخت، قدغن بود؛ و شخصیت اصلی داستان، خود را جای یکی از همین شوالیه‌ ها میشمارد، و دشمنانی فرضی را، در برابر خویش می‌بیند، که االبته کوه‌ها و درخت‌ها هستند. «دن کیشوت» پهلوانی خیالی، و بی‌دست‌ و پاست که خود را شکست‌ ناپذیر می‌پندارد. او به سفرهایی طولانی می‌رود، و در میانه ی همین سفرهاست، که اعمالی عجیب و غریب، از وی سر می‌زند. وی که هدفی جز نجات مردمان، از ظلم و استبداد حاکمان ظالم، ندارد، نگاهی تخیلی به اطراف خویش دارد، و همه چیز را، در قالب ابزار جنگی می‌بیند. تاکنون هیچ کتابی، به اندازه ی «دن کیشوت»، این‌همه مورد عشق و علاقه ی ملل گوناگون نبوده‌ است. بسیاری از کتاب‌ها هستند، که تنها به یک قوم و ملت اختصاص دارند؛ و از حدود مرز یک کشور فراتر نمی‌روند، بسیاری دیگر نیز هستند، که در میان ملل دیگر هم خوانشگر دارند، اما تنها مورد پسند طبقه ی روشنفکر، یا مردمان عادی، یا طبقات ممتاز جامعه هستند؛ اما «دن کیشوت» تمام حصارهای جغرافیایی، نژادی، اجتماعی، و طبقاتی را، در هم شکسته، و عنوان خود را با دنیا و بشریت، گره زده است ا. شربیانی ...more

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Mar 13, 2016 Fionnuala added it · review of another edition

Shelves: don-quixote-related, metamorphosis, translated-from-spanish, review-may-contain-comic-content, treasured-reading-experience

Can I tell you a story - only it may take a little time because sometimes a thousand trifles have to be recounted, as irrelevant as they are necessary, for the true understanding of a tale.

Chapter I : Regarding what befell the narrator on visiting a theatre

The comic operetta Don Quixote was being performed at my local theatre and I was amongst the audience at the first performance. It was a lively and entertaining re-enactment featuring the knight errant Don Quixote and his erring squire Sancho ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

This book wore my @ss out! It's funny and good and I love tomes but I don't think I was totally ready this time. Whew ......

The narrator was great on audio but I couldn't keep up in my book for reasons so I just listened.

Happy Reading!

Mel ❤️ ...more

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Jan 25, 2011 karen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-a-polyglot, meowch-bad-kitty, littry-fiction

done quixote!!!
pun quixote!!
fun quixote??
none quixote...

and that's not entirely true; there are some rollicking good times in here, but the first part is so much endlessly episodic violence, and while the second half becomes calmer and more focused, it never got my imagination engaged nor my blood flowing.

in fact, although i know he really does love it, i can't help but feel that brian's recommending this to me is similar to the duke and duchess having their fun with don q. i feel like brian is ...more

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May 30, 2008 Cecily rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, humour, favourites

Whatever else Don Quixote may be, I never found it boring. Parts of it were very funny, others had wonderful similarities with Shakespeare, some bits were more serious: it's like a mini library in a single volume. Wonderful.

Overall, it has quite a Shakespearean feel - more in the plotting and tales within tales (eg The Man Who was Recklessly Curious, stolen by Mozart for Cosi fan Tutte) than the language. In fact, the story of Cardenio is thought to be the basis for Shakespeare's lost play of t ...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Riku Sayuj rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, translated, classics

The Double-Edged Sword

It is a double-edged sword isn't it, reading great books too early in life?

If we read a book too early in life, we may not grasp it fully but the book becomes part of us and forms a part of our thinking itself, maybe even of our writing. But on the other hand, the reading is never complete and we may never come back to it, in a world too full of books.

And if we wait to read till we are mature, we will never become good readers and writers who can do justice to good books. ...more

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Aug 13, 2019 Always Pouting rated it liked it · review of another edition

My god this was a long book and when I told my boyfriend I was reading this he tried to tell me I should read Das Kapital with him as well which is almost twice this long like no thank you. It was an okay book, I definitely enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed other classics I've picked up. It kind of reminded me of reading Candide because it had that same sort of satirical tone. Sancho was pretty amusing through out the book and Don Quixote's adherence to his belief that he was a knight was someth ...more

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Jul 16, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, spanish-17th-c, spanish-classic, favorites

Cervantes, Don Quixote. "In a certain corner of la Mancha, the name of which I do not choose to remember, there lately lived one of those country gentleman, who adorn their halls with rusty lace and worm-eaten target, and ride forth on the skeleton of a horse, to course with a sort of a starved greyhound."

Don Quixote is one of my favorite comedies of all time. This opening phrase is steeped with irony and sarcasm. We are introduced to the loser town which the author is obviously embarrassed to h ...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Jason rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, 2014, for-kindle, groupthink, thrill-me-chill-me-fulfill-me

When I read excerpts of Don Quixote in high school, which I think must be a requisite for any Spanish language class taken by anybody ever, I was astounded that something so seemingly banal could be as wildly popular and possess such longevity as this book is and does. At the time, I did not find Don Quixote to be anything more than a bumbling fool chasing imaginary villains and falling into easily avoidable situations, and the forced hilarity that would ensue seemed to be of the same kind I rec When I read excerpts of Don Quixote in high school, which I think must be a requisite for any Spanish language class taken by anybody ever, I was astounded that something so seemingly banal could be as wildly popular and possess such longevity as this book is and does. At the time, I did not find Don Quixote to be anything more than a bumbling fool chasing imaginary villains and falling into easily avoidable situations, and the forced hilarity that would ensue seemed to be of the same kind I recognized in farcical skits performed by eegits like The Three Stooges.

But I suspected there was something more to Don Quixote than what my 14 year-old impressions were telling me, and I’m glad I finally read this book in its entirety. Having done so, I’ve discovered that Don Quixote is not a bumbling idiot—far from it, in fact. He is highly intelligent, highly perceptive and observant, and most surprisingly, and in spite of his delusions of being a knight errant, he is actually also highly self-aware. The combination of these traits makes him one of the most interesting characters in literature, and if it weren’t for his fallibility in misinterpreting reality (to put it nicely), the brilliance of Don Quixote would be elevated to unapproachable levels.

Putting the characters aside, though, I have to say that the storytelling here is simply superb. When reading an English translation, I never know whether credit for this ought to be awarded to the author or to the translator (or to both!), but nonetheless this is the kind of writing that just pulls a reader along effortlessly. Each episodic adventure rolls seamlessly into the next and even while the subject of many of these adventures covers similar ground—a maiden who has been dishonored by her man is one such theme, for example—it never seems recycled.

Don Quixote is actually comprised of two volumes written about a decade apart. Historically speaking, there was an erroneous book published in between Cervantes’s own two works under the pretense of being the “real” volume two of the tale of Don Quixote, but was attributed to an unidentified author with the pseudonym Avellaneda. It is likely that this fake version lit a match under Cervantes, and what I love about this little piece of history is that when Cervantes actually completes his authentic second volume, it is riddled with allusions to Avellaneda’s deceptive book, and these allusions become so ingrained in the text that it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction. At one point Don Quixote meets someone who claims to know him, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the claimant has actually met Avellaneda’s Don Quixote, and the real Don Quixote is horrified that someone should have the audacity, not just to impersonate him, but to do such a horrible job impersonating him, that he goes to great lengths (and yes, we’re talking about the character here) to prove to anyone and everyone that he is the real Don Quixote. He even changes his itinerary to avoid a city that the fake Don Quixote purportedly goes to, just to make it clear that Avellaneda is a lying whore and cannot be trusted. Metafictional stuff like that can be pretty entertaining in its own right, but the fact that it was implemented in a book written over four hundred years ago just makes it all the more mind blowing, or at least it does to me.

All in all, I had a hard time letting go of DQ when I finished this book. It turns out I really fell for the guy. ...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: metafiction, 2018-written-world, rth-lifetime, too-many-books, 2010, reading-through-history, top-100

I guess the goal of reviewing something like Don Quixote is to make you less frightened of it. It's intimidating, right? It's 940 pages long and it's from 500 years ago. But Grossman's translation is modern and easy to read, and the work itself is so much fun that it ends up not being difficult at all.

Much of Book I is concerned with the story of Cardenio, which Shakespeare apparently liked so much that he wrote a now-lost play about the guy. I loved that part, but for me, the pace slowed down a I guess the goal of reviewing something like Don Quixote is to make you less frightened of it. It's intimidating, right? It's 940 pages long and it's from 500 years ago. But Grossman's translation is modern and easy to read, and the work itself is so much fun that it ends up not being difficult at all.

Much of Book I is concerned with the story of Cardenio, which Shakespeare apparently liked so much that he wrote a now-lost play about the guy. I loved that part, but for me, the pace slowed down a bit in the latter third of Book I. There are two more "novellas" inserted that have little or nothing to do with the plot; feel free to skip them. (They're discussed in the comments section below this review, if you're interested.)

Book II was published ten years after Book I, in 1615, and with it Cervantes pulls a typically Cervantes-esque trick: he imagines that Don Quixote is now a celebrity due to Book I's success. This changes the perspective considerably; whereas folks used to be mystified by Don Quixote, now they often recognize him, which generally results in them fucking with him. It invigorates the story; since Book II feels so different, I didn't get the feeling I often get with wicked long books where I kinda get bogged down around the 2/3 mark. In fact, I ended up liking Book II even better than Book I.

Quixote messes with your head. Cervantes pulls so many tricks out of his bag that you're never sure what's coming next. For a while I suspected that the footnotes had been written by Cervantes as well, and were all made up. I had to Wikipedia Martin de Riquer to make sure he was a real guy. That's how sneaky Cervantes is: he makes you think anything is possible.

I thought Don Quixote was tremendous. It's like nothing else in the world. I'm glad I read it. And I'll end with what might be the best quote of all time, and a brilliant thing to say to your wife:

"I want you to see me naked and performing one or two dozen mad acts, which will take me less than half an hour, because if you have seen them with your own eyes, you can safely swear to any others you might wish to add."

Right? Don Quixote kicks ass.

By the way, for another take on the story, here's Kafka:

Without making any boast of it Sancho Panza succeeded in the course of years, by devouring a great number of romances of chivalry and adventure in the evening and night hours, in so diverting from him his demon, whom he later called Don Quixote, that his demon thereupon set out in perfect freedom on the maddest exploits, which, however, for the lack of a preordained object, which should have been Sancho Panza himself, harmed nobody. A free man, Sancho Panza philosophically followed Don Quixote on his crusades, perhaps out of a sense of responsibility, and had of them a great and edifying entertainment to the end of his days.

(This is the entire text of his parable "The Truth about Sancho Panza"; it and others can be found here.) ...more

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Nov 04, 2016 MJ Nicholls rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: worshipped, southern-europe, penguin-classics, nonreviews, pre-1900s, voluminous, novels, picaresque

To compensate for an unliterary childhood (no furtive torch readings of Alice under the duvet until the wee hours for me), I hit the universities to read English Literature, which I failed to study, focusing instead on the local record shop and depression. To compensate for an unliterary literature degree, I ramped up the reading to more sensible levels, and began an ongoing passionate marriage with the written word: a marriage of comfortable convenience spiced up from time to time with trips in ...more

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Feb 28, 2020 Adina added it

Shelves: 1001, spain, classics, the-literature-book-pre1900s

It was fun for a while and then I got bored. I probably did not start this novel with the right mindset either. Until I started to read the Literature Book and commit to reading more classics I haven't even thought of reading Don Quixote. However, after I read that it was the first modern novel and other interesting trivia about it, I decided to give it a go. If I like it great, if not, I can always abandon it and read something else. My ancient copy of the novel (1969) has 4 volumes and I finis ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Kenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: european, classics, desert-island-books, long-haul-reads

The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.
Don Quixote ~~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Don Quixote is as good as, if not better than, everything you have ever heard about it. I've not felt such a sense of accomplishment in finishing a book since I closed the cover on Ulysses 15 months ago. Yes, it’s that good.

If you’ve never read Don Quixote you are more than likely to be familiar with the story of Don Quixote, but there is so m ...more

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Aug 14, 2018 Manuel Antão rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1995

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Addled Knight Goes Looking for Trouble and Finds It: "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

“El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho.”

In "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote is one of my favourite novels, exasperating though it is at times with all those stories within stories, knockabout humour and cruel practical jokes. Simply because it’s so complex, we both admire and laugh at Don Quixote. When he speaks we are ...more

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Oct 29, 2019 J.L. Sutton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Renowned the world over for its portrayal of a delusional knight-errant, Don Quixote, and his squire, Sancho Panza, Cervantes’ masterpiece is funny, tragic and way too relatable.

Image result for don quixote windmill

The line between wisdom and madness is flipped on its head over and over. Published in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote still amazes! I’d read the first part of Don Quixote several times, but never read the complete novel before now. While reading the first part gets the reader most of the iconic scenes from this work (most w ...more

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Sep 27, 2013 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, fave-classics, favorites

I “audio-read” this book for about two months on my one hour daily commutes to work. It made the journeys very pleasant and I barely notice the dull sceneries as they go by. The journey of Don Quixote and his trusty squire Sancho Panza is much more vivid and enjoyable.

I had my doubts about the basic premise of this book. A crazy old guy with a Buzz Lightyear-like delusion travels through Spain with a peasant sidekick. How did the author manage to fill a thousand or so pages with that? Would the I “audio-read” this book for about two months on my one hour daily commutes to work. It made the journeys very pleasant and I barely notice the dull sceneries as they go by. The journey of Don Quixote and his trusty squire Sancho Panza is much more vivid and enjoyable.

I had my doubts about the basic premise of this book. A crazy old guy with a Buzz Lightyear-like delusion travels through Spain with a peasant sidekick. How did the author manage to fill a thousand or so pages with that? Would the joke not have worn thin to the point of implosion by the end of the book? Ironically these doubts attract me toward the book rather than repel me. Not being a cat I quite like indulging my curiosity.

The book got off to a rocky start for me with a bunch of sonnets in the first chapter which nearly unmanned me and send me running, but once I am done with them it was pretty much plain sailing all the way. A two months voyage if you will. While reading the first five or so chapters, I did get the feeling that the story is rather repetitious, basically just one misadventure after another. Don Q traveling across the land, making a public nuisance of himself, and Sancho going along in the hope of financial gains. However, as I read on these characters do come alive and begin to seem like old friends, to the extent that I was quite happy just to tag along and see what nonsense they get up to. The basic routine seems to be that the duo travel along with no set destination, come across some people minding their own business, and half the time mistaking them for enemies, giants or wizards, start messing with them and consequently get their asses kicked. I expected to be tired of such shenanigan well before the end of the book but the author seems well aware of this possibility and switches gear with the narrative as the story progress. Most chapters tend to be episodic with several “side stories” interspersed into the main adventure of our heroes. There is even a fairly lengthy novella entitled: “The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious” which is kind of silly yet thought provoking. Various colorful characters enter and leave the novel providing needed variation from just Don Q and his antics.

Don Quixote mistaking a windmill for a Japanese mecha. Art by Realityendshere

The novel’s greatest strength for me is the character development. Don Quixote is not like any lunatic I have ever seen or heard about. While his insanity is relentless it also seems to be oddly systematic or deliberate. He can speak eloquently and sensibly about all kinds of things until he or somebody else shoehorns in the subject of knight errantry then his dementia comes into full display. Sancho Panza, the Robin to his Batty Man, is no less anomalous. His IQ seems to fluctuate with no discernible pattern, plus he is a proverbs machine, with none of the proverbs ever suited to the occasion.

This novel is divided into two parts and I find “Part II” (originally published ten years after Part I) even funnier and more entertaining than Part I. In this second volume Don Quixote and Sancho have become legends in their own lunchtime as “Volume I” is published and become something of a best-seller. Consequently, many of the new characters that are introduced in this part of the book know immediately who they are and often help to facilitate their madness just for kicks. Much hilarity ensues.

Toward the end, I did feel that the book is rather overwritten and I imagined that the job of abridging this book probably is not all that hard as it seems fairly obvious which chapters could easy be jettisoned. However, once I arrived at the poignant final chapter felt a feeling of regret that I have to leave these two crazy buggers now. Looks like a reread in printed format is in order. Maybe I will read it in the Batcave.
___________________________
Note: This audiobook version is translated by Edith Grossman and read amazingly well by George Guidall.

...more

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Jan 27, 2008 Belarius rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: The Literati And Pseudoliterati

Shelves: literature, fiction-finished

I'll be the first to admit it: I'm a fan of popular fiction. I desire enjoyment from certain factors of pacing and style that the literary elite consider "common" and I, in turn, generally find "literature" to be incredibly pretentious. This has led me to hold what some might consider "uncultured" opinions about various great works.

Which brings us to Don Quixote, which many in the literary elite consider to be the greatest novel ever written.

Did I love Don Quixote? I wouldn't go that far. Does i I'll be the first to admit it: I'm a fan of popular fiction. I desire enjoyment from certain factors of pacing and style that the literary elite consider "common" and I, in turn, generally find "literature" to be incredibly pretentious. This has led me to hold what some might consider "uncultured" opinions about various great works.

Which brings us to Don Quixote, which many in the literary elite consider to be the greatest novel ever written.

Did I love Don Quixote? I wouldn't go that far. Does it deserve to be called the greatest novel ever written? I'm willing to put it on the short list.

Here's the thing: Cervantes published Don Quixote in the early 17th century, while Shakespeare was still working through his "tragic" phase (Hamlet & whatnot). By rights, it should be like so much other "classic literature:" dense, slow, utterly irrelevant to modern life, and soporific. Instead, it's dense, slow, engaging, and surprisingly relevant. Cervantes manages, almost continuously, to be clever in ways that transcend the 400-year gap and resonate with us now. There's no question that adapting to the writing style of that era is a challenge, and Don Quixote will be slow going to readers accustomed to modern pop fiction. But most intelligent readers will consider this a price worth paying.

Why Don Quixote still works stems largely from its having taken the formulas of "heroic knighthood" (which we are still vaguely familiar with as legend today) and showing it to be cartoonish and absurd. Despite the cultural gap, modern readers will still get the gist of the parody, even if they haven't read the chivalric literature that it is an explicit parody of.

The other reason the story works is because, strangely, we find ourselves continuously at odds with the author over the character of Don Quixote himself. We are told, at every turn, that Quixote is a fool, a madman, and a sinner. Cervantes breaks from the traditional role of a passive narrator to make constant judgment on Quixote's failures and flaws. And because we see Quixote so maligned by both his own author and everyone in the book, we as the reader fall in love with him. By writing a book about a dreamer with unassailable ideals but using the narrative voice of a vitriolic cynic, Cervantes forces us to stand up for the nobility and purity that Quixote achieves. Cervantes has, in effect, martyred his own protagonist in such a dramatic way that it falls to the reader to elevate Quixote to the status of saint.

And any book that can pull that off is worth the difficult prose. ...more

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Sep 07, 2018 Roy Lotz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-novellas-short-stories, no-hablo-inglés, eurotrip, highly-recommended-favorites, hispanophilia

“I know who I am,” replied don Quijote, “and I know who I can be...”

I bought this book under the sway of a caprice which, if it were not too hackneyed to say so, I would call quixotic. This was two years ago. I was in the royal palace in La Granja de San Ildefonso, near Segovia. I had just toured the palace—one of the finest in Spain—and was about to explore the French gardens, modeled after those in Versailles, when I encountered the gift shop. Normally I do not buy anything in gift shops, ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 James rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-written-pre-20th-century, 1-fiction

Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to Don Quixote, written around 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. A few interesting facts: (1) The book was originally written in Spanish, (2) I read an English translation as when I attempted to read the Spanish, between the changes in language over 400 years and my own limitations of the language at the time I read it, (3) this is considered one of the first "modern" novels and (4) all the great writers in the 19th century looked to this novel and aut ...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Tony rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spanish

I was in the fifth grade, devouring The Hardy Boys and Chip Hilton, on the cusp of adolescence, when a nun put this in my hands. Holding the thickness, I wondered at the malicious minds that devised new tortures for parochial education. But soon, a few chapters in, the world turned for me, colors changed; things and people, I realized, were not what they seemed. So, when I smile softly, or bristle instead, at the passing panoply, the quotidian things in life, it's because long ago someone laid C ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Jr Bacdayan rated it really liked it

CHAPTER XOXO

IN WHICH THE FAMOUS DON QUIXOTE AND HIS SQUIRE SANCHO PANZA TIME-TRAVEL AND DISCOVER THE INTERNET

Now as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were on their way to Saragossa, they chanced upon a certain madman raving on the road, the said madman wearing a robe of tattered condition repeatedly bellowed shouts of “To kill an infidel is not murder; it is the path to heaven!” Sancho, hearing the madman was not a little amused. But Don Quixote was quite perplexed. He said to Sancho, “By God, the CHAPTER XOXO

IN WHICH THE FAMOUS DON QUIXOTE AND HIS SQUIRE SANCHO PANZA TIME-TRAVEL AND DISCOVER THE INTERNET

Now as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were on their way to Saragossa, they chanced upon a certain madman raving on the road, the said madman wearing a robe of tattered condition repeatedly bellowed shouts of “To kill an infidel is not murder; it is the path to heaven!” Sancho, hearing the madman was not a little amused. But Don Quixote was quite perplexed. He said to Sancho, “By God, the saints take me if what this prophet is saying is not the gospel.” which Sancho replied, “The Lord works in mysterious ways. This madman is providing mirth to weary travellers and rebuke to infidels.” Don Quixote was struck by the irreverence of Sancho’s words and the sacrilegious usage of his proverb. He gave a smack to Sancho’s cheek and said “Thou drolleries are of ill will, thy proverbs are of Satan, may God forgive this sinful servant!” For Don Quixote had fancied the madman to be a person of the cloth and beheld him a clergy spreading the Lord’s good work. Sancho was taken aback. “A thousand cudgelings I have taken but non hurt as much as that smack on my cheek. Thou knowest thy servant is not the most well-mannered squire in the world, but my drolleries and proverbs are what I consider my bread and butter as the proverb states tis better to eat bread than pretend to eat cake. And to think I have taken this smack all for a madman!” Don Quixote was not but a little furious. “Confound thee you rascally clown! Thou stringeth proverbs as a noose around thy neck. I shall be thy hangman if thou wilt not shut thy mouth. For a squire to speak ill will against the Almighty’s messenger is to speak against the Almighty himself. And the squire’s punishment from heaven shall be multiplied tenfold and given to thy master likewise. Thou should learn to put a lid on thy pot as tis better to be safe than sorry.” Sancho was enraged by this for he fancied to himself that if he had a taste for proverbs, then his master had an appetite for them. Now as the knight-errant and squire were arguing astride Rocinante and Dapple, the two had been arguing for quite some time that they didn’t notice that they had long passed the madman, they were stirred by a red light that blinded them both and were deafened by a loud noise that sounded much like a million cannons firing off at the same time. Sancho was scared out of his wits and immediately fell off of Dapple and hid behind a large boulder praying to the virgin and to all the saints, rosary in hand. Don Quixote however, being the valiant knight-errant, was delighted by such a spectacle and filled his head with thoughts of an adventure of grand proportions. When the smoke cleared, they chanced upon one of the rarest sights of this adventure. The author Cide Hamete likens the sight to that of the Archangel Gibreel’s fiery chariot, proclaiming not for another thousand years shall a spectacle be ever seen again. For what greeted Don Quixote and cowardly Sancho was a metal contraption that had four wheels, much like a cart, but no mule or oxen in front. Inside a hollow space covered in front by glass was a man in a queer-fashioned attire. The queer man came out of the contraption, approached Don Quixote and said “What year is it?” Don Quixote struck by the lack of respect of the queer man replied “Give me your name cart-master, and I shall give you mine.” The queer man replied “The name’s Marty McFly, how are ya doin sir?” “I am the Knight of Lions formerly the Knight of the Rueful Countenance, no other than the renowned Don Quixote of La Mancha, I am riding my horse and should like to inquire as to the nature of that marvelous contraption.” Said Don Quixote delighted that he had been recognized a knight due to the “sir” addressed to him. “Oh, that? That’s a car but it’s also a time-machine, used to get back to the future and whatnot…” But before the queer man could finish his speech, he was cudgeled in the back of his head by Sancho Panza. “Ahhh the devil, go back to the hell were thou hast come from!!” Don Quixote was surprised by everything that happened that he was immobile and stared at the prostate man for quite some time. After he recovered his senses he declared “By God, Sancho! I think you’ve killed him. He was no devil, you dimwit! Granted, he was no Christian either by his attire, so I should think it not a sin to kill him. But I would have fancied learning more about him and his contraption.” “Aye, said Sancho, as the messenger speechified ‘to kill an infidel is not murder, tis the path to heaven.’ I should fancy that heaven has rejoiced for my actions, and it bears me great relief that that if I fail to become a governor or a bishop in this life, I could become a saint in the everlasting realm for killing a devil or infidel or beast-child.” “Thou hast spoken truly, Sancho” said Don Quixote. But he was so charmed by the weird contraption that he unmounted Rocinante and went inside it. Sancho was moved by fear for his master and entered the contraption with him in order to plead that they burn it and ask forgiveness from the virgin for being so un-catholic. Don Quixote however would do no such thing and was delighted by the panels and colorful buttons on the dashboard. Being a knight-errant has its perks and one of them being fearless curiosity; he pressed the buttons and hit the gas. Before Sancho could say ten hail-marys, they were speeding on the road and the contraption making all sorts of sounds. “Look at it go, Sancho! Tis faster than Rocinante and Dapple combined!” said Don Quixote full of mirth. Then everything seemed to fade and they were blinded and deafened and out of sync. In a moment, they recovered from being disoriented and were given such a surprise as to what they saw. In front of them was glorious medieval battle being fought. Don Quixote’s heart was stirred and he came out of the car and joined the fighting whacking and delivering cudgels to all who came upon his path. He was heard uttering cries of “For the lady Dulcinea del Toboso the peerless!” Sancho, though, was paralyzed by the sight and remained praying hail-marys inside the car. Meanwhile, Don Quixote encountered a valiant opponent. A great man with long hair and blue paint on his face, the man was attired in a weird skirt and shouting “For Scotland! For Scotland!” He slashed everyone who opposed him and they fell. Before long, as great men tend to be drawn and aware of greatness, the two opponents squared together. The Scotland man gave a slash with his broadsword and Don Quixote parried, he gave a slash of his own and cut a shallow wound on the man’s elbow. The man shouted “What the fuck man, are you trying to kill me?!!” “Isn’t that the whole idea of war, villain!” replied Don Quixote. He gave another blow and hit the man in the head and the man fell. Everybody stopped moving. One of the soldiers bent down, checked then said “Dude, you just killed Mel Gibson.” Don Quixote was elated. He didn’t know who the person was. But if everybody stopped fighting then he must have been a knight of great reputation. He shouted, “Let it be known that this day the great Don Quixote of La Mancha, Knight of Lions formerly Knight of the Rueful Countenance, conquered Sir Mel Gibson of Scotland. I command you all to pay your respects to the Lady Dulcinea del Toboso and recount to her this great story of valor and conquest under the oath of knight-errantry. You are all compelled to do this under the pain of evoking heaven’s wrath. That is all.” But instead of admiration, which he was expecting. The faces of the men were filled with anger and they gave him smacks and cudgels and his state was such a sorry one that he would have gone to his Maker, had not Sancho intervened, hauled him into the car and started the contraption to escape the angry mob. It was just then, when they were speeding away that Sancho noticed the weird boxes with lenses that surrounded the scene and the chairs and tables filled with victuals that were spread out. He cursed himself for missing out on the victuals and uttered a cry of despair for forgetting his trusty Dapple when he read a big sign saying “The Set of Brave Heart 1998” He gave a shake of his head for he didn’t know what it meant and pressed the red button. Then it happened again. Everything seemed to fade and they were blinded and deafened and out of sync, then they crashed. Don Quixote and Sancho found themselves in a weird room. It was quite dark, they considered it might be night-time. When they could see more clearly, they were astounded by the things around them. Sancho exclaimed, “Tis might be hell we have stumbled upon, my master. Ohhh, that my wife and children are left bereaved and wanting. God bless them, God forgive me.” “Shut thy trap, Sancho!”, remarked Don Quixote “tis not hell yet, see the person in the corner scared such that his mother might have considered him a braying pig. There are no cowardly clowns in hell, which is a place filled with demons, left-handed sinners, and moors.” “Thou art quite right my master.” Sancho now being quite reassured, ventured towards the beautiful man fairly scared in the corner. “What are thou called, stranger?” The man replied, “Dude, why did you crash your car into my room? This is fucking weird, my room’s on the second floor.” Don Quixote took over and said, “Speak up my good man, for if thy handsome countenance is any indication of thy person, I should assume thee to be intelligent and fair. Do not fret, for I shall ask Sancho here to make reparations for the unwanted destruction of property we have caused you. What art thou called?” The beautiful man responded, “You can call me JR.. JR Bacdayan” “Well, Sir JR Bacdayan of the handsome countenance, what is that gleaming contraption there on your right side?” Don Quixote was pointing at a laptop and was staring at it quite fondly. It was showing a video of a cat playing the piano. Don Quixote and Sancho were both intrigued and delighted. “My good man, is this the container of your talented cat? I have never seen a species of the feline family with such gifted acumen for music.” JR was laughing now, “Oh, that’s just the internet; it’s filled with information and stuff.” JR felt downright ecstatic, having caught a scent as to the two men’s identities. He thought to himself that he must be in a dream or something better. He asked them, “Want to see something neat?” By which Sancho replied, “I like clean things, my good man. Let us see if thou can clean better than I, for it is said that cleanliness is next to godliness.” Don Quixote gave a nod of agreement and JR was not but a little amused. So JR went to the laptop and clicked another browser tab. It displayed an awesome website and there was an unfinished writing in a language neither Don Quixote nor Sancho Panza could understand. Don Quixote inquired, “My friend, can thou relate to us what this texts mean?” JR grinned and said it was a book review of a novel he just read. He cleared his throat and read aloud, “Don Quixote is essentially a satirical novel about knight-errantry but it also encompasses the medieval life and remains a relevant totem of nobility and gracefulness in our times. It’s a lasting testament left by our forefathers on how to properly conduct ourselves in this mad world we live in.” Both Don Quixote and Sancho exchanged astounded looks. They were confused. But suddenly, a smile crept upon their lips, and slowly, steadily, the three of them started laughing. Their loud laughter was heard throughout the night. ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Coffee&Quasars rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

6/5.

This is quite simply the greatest thing I’ve ever read.

RTC

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Aug 01, 2011 Lyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, may be the beginning of slapstick.

This is regarded as one of the greatest novels of all time, and in a universal group. It is very entertaining, and even at times laugh out loud funny, which is strange considering its age, written around 1600, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s works.

Written in two parts, the second written and published ten years after the first, the second part more serious, and is in a different style. Though perhaps more jocular, t ...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Fabian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

1050 pages. & not once was I like, "This ain't worth it." Because it is!

The novel about novels (my favorite motif of all lit is lit within lit... storytelling...you know...?) is actually a novel about love. The three voyages by Don Quixote are obvious metaphors for life and all the characters he meets along the road are romantically inclined, bored and in want of change. Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, provide ample entertainment for them and for us, the reader.

This relationship lasted 1050 pages. & not once was I like, "This ain't worth it." Because it is!

The novel about novels (my favorite motif of all lit is lit within lit... storytelling...you know...?) is actually a novel about love. The three voyages by Don Quixote are obvious metaphors for life and all the characters he meets along the road are romantically inclined, bored and in want of change. Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, provide ample entertainment for them and for us, the reader.

This relationship lasted a month and I cannot recall a single detriment. It is structured like The Arabian Nights and The Canterbury Tales---that is, much is told of the character telling the story, and of his or her potential madness or sanity. This dualism is explored to the fullest & characterized by moments of sheer happiness & almost-delirium. There is a world established here, and did it actually occur? The characters fall into apocrypha and then into stark reality. It is no mistake that Cervantes foretold what the two adventurers realize at about page 900: they will be famous for all time and their images shall be ingrained everywhere. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are immortal in Spain and can be seen pretty much in every town traversed. The self-sppointed prophecy lives to this VERY DAY!!!! That fiction merges with history, that the book is self consious and post modern... all these things and more are part of the Quixote legend.

I say the book is about love because everyone suffers from the disease: Don Quixote loves his tales of knight errantry, and his own views of chivalry clash with those of the folks he meets. He is progressively antiquarian. Sancho is in love with his master, has a very stable view on life (he attains the title of governor and insists, ten days later, to quit and continue his life with his knight) and talking in proverbs he displays, until Book II of course, a wisdom that has obviously evolved, like the story, like the character, like the reader. There are plenty of characters in love with damsels, there are peasants in love with a good laugh (even the ass and Rozinante, the "Knight of the Rueful Figure"'s steed, find eternal companionship) and then there is the reader, an IMPORTANT FIGURE IN THIS ADVENTURE (also) who is sure to fall under the enchantment of this classic that defies conventional storytelling and has absolutely no rival. ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Michael Perkins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A note on translation....

"Though there have been many valuable English translations of Don Quixote, I would commend Edith Grossman's new version for the extraordinarily high quality of her prose. The spiritual atmosphere of a Spain already in steep decline can be felt throughout, thanks to the heightened quality of her diction. Grossman might be called the Glenn Gould of translators, because she, too, articulates every note. Reading her amazing mode of finding equivalents in English for Cervante ...more

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Jan 26, 2020 Edward rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, favorites, literary-fiction

Don Quixote is a massive, complex work. At its centre is the familiar comical farce of a delusional hidalgo and his squire, from which foundation Cervantes finds room for a multitude of philosophical and psychological digressions, uncovering themes and implications so wide-ranging as to defy concise encapsulation.

Foremost is the likable character of Don Quixote himself, whose blend of intellect and delusion is something familiar to us. Don Quixote speaks to the power of fantasy, and we are symp Don Quixote is a massive, complex work. At its centre is the familiar comical farce of a delusional hidalgo and his squire, from which foundation Cervantes finds room for a multitude of philosophical and psychological digressions, uncovering themes and implications so wide-ranging as to defy concise encapsulation.

Foremost is the likable character of Don Quixote himself, whose blend of intellect and delusion is something familiar to us. Don Quixote speaks to the power of fantasy, and we are sympathetic towards his desire to do good and to strive for something greater than himself. But his character also hints at the potentially damaging capacity of self-deception as an isolating container for ideology, and an engine for misguided action. There is something of David Foster Wallace in Cervantes' conflicted esteem and criticism of this double-edged potential of entertainment (the analogy of chivalry romances being the TV of their time being hopefully not too much of a stretch).

I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn into Don Quixote, though after the first few episodes I was skeptical that the simple premise would be able to sustain such a lengthy work without becoming tiresome or repetitive. But I believe maintaining the engagement of the reader was at the forefront of Cervantes's mind, as he is constantly playful and inventive, moving first in the direction of more complex and involved plots, then to deeper explorations of his characters, and to wider societal and philosophical considerations. Surprisingly, through much of the latter half of the First Part, Don Quixote himself is largely absent from or tangential to the plot.

But perhaps the most striking and unexpectedly progressive element of the novel is its meta-fictional aspect: the way it plays with perspective and authorship, and blends and contrasts fact and fiction. Don Quixote, which depicts a fictional world, is acknowledged also as an artifact of the real world, which is then inserted back into the fictional world - all of which has strange implications for those living in both. As described within the novel, authorship is split between the narrator (presumably Cervantes) and at least three other authors, in addition to a fifth author of an alternative, "unauthorised" version of the Second Part of Don Quixote. Though the first three are understood as fictional, the last is in fact real, and the alternative Second Part was actually published in Cervantes' lifetime, and is likely to have motivated him to write the "official" version. The implications of "true" and "false" versions of fictional narratives is brilliantly and humourously explored throughout the Second Part. The novel itself never relinquishes its own veracity.

However in my opinion, the Second Part's preoccupation with meta-fiction detracted from its storytelling. While the plot of the First Part had moved progressively towards a "novelistic" structure containing an overarching narrative with subplots, the Second Part regressed to a more traditional, episodic format. Additionally, the plot of the Second Part relied heavily on deceptions created by other characters who were, like the reader, "in on the joke", in order to provoke amusing responses from Quixote and Sancho. I felt something was lost of the purity and authenticity of their adventures through these contrived manipulations. The consistency and realism also suffered in the Second Part, as certain actions of characters became noticeably incongruous to their personalities. Sancho's wisdom in governance, for example, is amusing in its irony when contrasted with his ordinary foolishness, but it is out of place with his character and undermines any serious analysis of his development.

Though Don Quixote is generally recognised as the first "great novel", I'm not convinced it is correct to call it a novel (the precise definition of which I am finding difficult to pin down). It certainly does not feel like a modern novel. Character development is not its driving force so much as humour and satire, and despite some moves towards a narrative arc, it retains a meandering, episodic structure which does not seek resolution. These elements seem to align Don Quixote more with literature's past than its future, though it is clearly a work which strives to free itself from tradition, and succeeds in breaking a lot of new ground. ...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Lyndz rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed

So the reason I read this book I think is actually kind of fun. About 8 years ago I was at a 2nd hand store. See, I like to go to those sometimes to pick up glass flower vases to do etchings on and misc other cheap items that I can be artsy-fartsy with. Anyway, So I am at this 2nd hand store and I see this dark wooden (seemingly) hand-carved character. He is about 10-12 inches tall and he has the look of a Spanish knight of some sort. His stature is tall and lanky, with a big chip in his helmet. ...more

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About Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His novel Don Quixote is often considered his magnum opus, as well as the first modern novel.
It is assumed that Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares. His father was Rodrigo de Cervantes, a surgeon of cordoban descent. Little is known of his mother Leonor de Cortinas, except that she was a native of Arganda del ...more