Sarai’s Comments (group member since Feb 09, 2017)

Sarai’s comments from the Don Quixote Read-A-Long March 2017 group.

I'm more than half-way through Book Two at this point and I have to say, I'm disappointed in the role the Duke and the Duchess have played so far.

Having fun and being 'amused' at Don Quixote's expense kind of cheapens things for me. It's not as funny or charming to see Don Quixote being manipulated and made fun of. Especially when Sancho is also involved, and it happens more than once. Several times in fact. It doesn't sit well with me, probably because at this point in the book I feel like I know Don Quixote and Sancho and care about them as human beings, and having them be the laughingstock isn't so great.

I wonder why Cervantes went in this direction. I've read that Book Two was not as well received, and I'm starting to wonder if it's because Book Two is so different.

Yes Miriam, I agree, the conversations are all very long-winded and drawn out, and so much happens... I think reading 30 pages a day has really helped me in that sense, they don't feel quite as long for me, but I can see how they could for others who read more chunks at a time.

Read the scene about Don Quixote and the lions yesterday and was smiling the entire time.

Poor Sancho! Love how he was all, "My poor master! !!! ... I'm still leaving on my donkey tho." I swear he will have to get treated for PTSD when this is all over. (Does it have to be over?)

Haha, I can see how that would happen!

I started Book Two a few days ago and I'm already noticing a bit of a difference in the writing style... it's almost like there are longer conversations and monologues in this section? We'll see.

How is everyone liking the short novels within the story?

I'm enjoying them for the most part, I think they switch things up a bit and give us a new fresh "adventure" although I have to smile at how they all end with convenient happy endings lol.

I'm also loving how Cervantes keeps introducing a more beautiful woman every time, almost like a parody of stories where every woman is beautiful so in Don Quixote he wants to elevate that to the point where you can't help but roll your eyes.

I agree about Dolotea's story. I also thought Cardenio's was really tragic, especially because he doesn't find out until much later what truly happened after he left.

Reading about all of the common phrases of the day and popular literary works published around that time makes me wish I could have read this soon after it was published so I could truly understand all of the double meanings and inside jokes. I think having that point of reference would make the book even better, and a lot funnier I imagine.

I'm happy with the footnotes in my edition, they help a lot, but they also show how much I'm "missing", if that makes any sense!

Hi everyone! Below are some more resources I found:

Literary Charts - Don Quixote
The World of Don Quixote - Great resource with photos

I decided to just have two topics, Book One and Book Two and we can update them as we go, to make it a little easier.

I am almost done with Part 3 of Book One, and I'm having a blast, particularly in these last two parts. The conversations between Don Quixote and Sancho make me snort and laugh out loud often, and it's making for a very fun reading experience.

When Cardenio and Don Quixote disagree about the knights and Cardenio beats them up, even Sancho who is just an innocent bystander made me smile. And when Sancho finally realizes who Dulcinea is and basically describes a loud, crass woman with zero grace and class and he tells Don Quixote this made laugh. Having Don Quixote explain that it's all about perception pretty much sums up the entire book for me.

Oh! And the scene where Don Quixote wanted Sancho to watch him strip down and do some crazy stuff so that Sancho could talk about it had me dying. I love how Sancho just turns around and nopes out of there LOL.

There are so many gems in this book in terms of characters, conversations, and "adventures". Even if the rest of the 700 pages I read are just more of the same it would still make for some good reading! I can't say that about every book I read.

What does everyone think of the first eight chapters so far?

I'm enjoying the writing, I find it easy to read for such an old classic, and I'm loving the character of Don Quixote. He reminds me a bit of Michael Scott from The Office in that he seems to live in his own little world with his own view of reality. It makes for some really amusing antics.



Sancho Panza is also a great addition to the story, because I feel he resembles us as the reader and has actual sense. The scene with the windmills (or "giants") was a great example of this--Sancho is clearly seeing that they are windmills and trying to warn Don Quixote of what will happen if he's not careful, but of course Don Quixote doesn't listen (or care?) and he ends up losing to the giants because of some ~sorcerer~ named Friston.

These scenes make me smile, because Don Quixote is such a clueless character and that makes for some crazy interactions with people and... things. I'm looking forward to Part Two.

Miriam wrote: "I have been meaning to get to this book and the size intimidated me. 30 pages a day is do-able and thank you Sarai for the invite.
I'm excited to read this with everyone else."

Welcome to the group Miriam!

Good morning everyone! We have just one day left before the read-a-long starts and I am so excited! I am so really looking forward to reading this with you all and discussing it in the group.

I have added the different topics for the four sections in book one, and will add the rest in a little while. I will be reading 30 pages a day starting tomorrow, but you can read at your own pace and join us for the discussions when you are ready.

I will be tweeting using the hashtag #readquixote on Twitter (@saraitalksbooks). I will be tweeting as I read so if you'd like to do the same use the hashtag so we can find each other. :)

Talk to you all soon!

Share your thoughts below on Book Two.

Share your thoughts on Book One.

I will be reading 30 pages a day, but feel free to read at your own pace and share your thoughts once you've completed this section.

Becky wrote: "Thanks for the invite, Sarai. This is just what I needed to get inspired to read this book. Can't wait to get started."

Glad you're joining us Becky!

Bree wrote: "Thank you for the resources Sarai. Waiting for my copy to come in the mail, should be here Tuesday. Very excited to read this with the group!"

We're going to have a good time, Bree :)

Armando wrote: "Hey Sarai. I hope you are well. This is my first Month-readalong. Are we just going at our own pace (in terms of pages) or is there a daily goal that you will suggest for the group? Sorry if the qu..."

Hi Armando! I myself will be reading 30 pages a day, but you can read it at your own pace :)

Hi everyone!

Below I have a list of resources that I compiled for my personal use. My goal is to use these resources to help me engage with the novel and learn more about its history and impact. I wanted to share them with you in case anyone else wanted to use these while we read together.

I myself will be combing through some of these before I complete the book and some of these after I'm done.

Resources

400 Years of Don Quixote - Many resources available to aid your journey through La Mancha
Literary Summaries: Don Quixote - A podcast about Don Quixote
Free E-Book - Courtesy of Gutenberg.org
List of works influenced by Don Quixote


Feel free to add any of your own resources down in the comments below. :)