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Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,

Edward C. Riley (Editor)

Start date: July 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Discussion: The Hefty Classics

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What Members Thought

Feb 14, 2014 Chrissie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible-us, 2014-read, donkeys, dnf, hf, classics, not-for-me, humor, spain, disliked

One star means, here at GR, that the reader did not like the book. No, I do not like this book. IF I cannot bear to listen to it to the very end how can I even say it was OK? I have listened to seven of thirty-six hours of the unabridged audiobook version translated by Tobias Smollett and narrated by the talented Robert Whitfield/Simon Vance. I cannot continue. I have given this enough of my time. My good friends know that I often will struggle through a book that is displeasing me. Why? To give
One star means, here at GR, that the reader did not like the book. No, I do not like this book. IF I cannot bear to listen to it to the very end how can I even say it was OK? I have listened to seven of thirty-six hours of the unabridged audiobook version translated by Tobias Smollett and narrated by the talented Robert Whitfield/Simon Vance. I cannot continue. I have given this enough of my time. My good friends know that I often will struggle through a book that is displeasing me. Why? To give it a fair chance; some books do turn around. My patience is tested to the limit with this book. In addition, let it be noted that even a superb narrator cannot save a book if you don't like how it is written. Robert Whitfield does a fantastic job.

I found the book tedious, extremely wordy and repetitive. It is a composite of many stories relating the escapades of the knight errant, Don Quixote, and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. Don Quixote is always, in every story depicted, the idealist, a worthy knight bent on fighting for good and honor, fighting for women and men who are unfairly treated. He is fighting against all injustice, in whatever form it may be. That is all fine and dandy; but he is delusional and sees injustice, inequity and dishonor where it does not exist. He is an honorable man fighting against problems that in fact do not exist. In contrast, Sancho Panza offers us the realist's interpretation of events. (That they see the world differently does make their friendship all the more wonderful!) Each story/episode introduces the reader to new characters, new events, but there is a huge similarity in what is to be drawn from the separate stories.

I do not enjoy short stories so I am not the ideal reader for this book! If you do enjoy short stories it may be enjoyable to listen to one, laugh at the humor depicted in the events and the naivety of Don Quixote and smile at the wonderful friendship one sees between the knight errant and his squire. Then put the book aside for a later time when you feel like listening to another story. However do keep in mind that the message imparted is to all extent and purposes the same in all the related stories.

The stories are cute, the lines are humorous and the book well depicts Spanish society and ways of thinking in the early 17th Century. It was published in two volumes, the first in 1605 and the second in 1615. To quote from Wiki: "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."

But I personally have had enough. This is in fact the second time I have tried to read the book. My grandmother had a wonderful hardback with great illustrations. It attracted me, I tried to like it, but failed that time too. That was a good fifty years ago.

I am NOT judging the book. I am telling you merely how I personally react to this book. Yes, it can be seen as amazing, as a break-through piece of writing, but it is not with this criterion I rate books.
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Jan 23, 2019 Karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001, 2019-chunky-book-challenge

I thoroughly enjoyed Don Quixote. I had to make sure I wasn't reading it while my husband was sleeping, because I couldn't help laughing. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fantasy, fiction-17th-century, spanish-literature, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you

The Adventures of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de Ie Mancha by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra.

Don Quixote dons his rusty armour, mounts his broken down horse and sets off with Sancho Panza, his faithful squire, to put the world to rights.

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Dec 31, 2018 Douglas Beagley rated it liked it · review of another edition

Don Quixote was written around the same time as Shakespeare was writing his plays--just as Shakespeare invented (or rather improved and solidified?) so much of what we think of when we talk about story, character, and so forth, Cervantes did the same... he just gets less credit. Probably because his magnus opus consists of only a few, simple ideas/jokes, repeated in a variety of clever ways.

Don Quixote is an interesting, boring book. The main character's central concept, along with his squire an ...more

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