What is Cervantes saying about readers?: Don Quixote's madness is repeatedly attributed to excessive reading of novels of chivalry. What are the author's concerns with novels of chivalry and/or reading in general? Do you agree?

[Ebookwormy1]

1) Cervantes is concerned that reading is a waste of time that fills people's minds with all sorts of non-practical ideas.

I found a need to put Cervantes work into it's proper timeframe to adequately deal with this theme. Recognizing Don Quixote was written just over 150 years after the printing press (around 1440) and at the tale end of the Protestant Reformation (beginning with Luther in 1517 and continuing until around 1650), it became apparent to me that this was time in which the written word was exploding in accessibility for the first time. A little research into European literacy of Cervantes time also revealed that Protestant countries had far higher literacy rate than Catholic countries because Protestants wanted people to read the Bible for themselves. Meanwhile, Catholics discouraged literacy and saw it as a threat to the power of the Church. Recognizing Cervantes is Spanish, writing in a Catholic country and likely to be a 'good Spanish Catholic', made me question "Was Cervantes promoting the Catholic skepticism about equipping the masses to read by using novels of chivalry as decoy?" When I considered that it is the priest that articulates many of the diatribes against reading, the religious aspect of the argument came into better focus. But is Cervantes so obvious? Or is he using the priests' ideas to arouse in the reader a desire to defend his reading? ...and in so doing, actually attacking the Catholic position?

On another track, I wanted to consider what social upheaval of our time might correspond to reading in Cervantes time? I wonder if in the future, we'll consider computer programming a necessary skill for everyone even as many criticize computer programming for taking people away from reading? Additionally, it occurs to me that the engagement of the mind through reading is the first step to the neglect of physical activity which is coming to fruition in the internet age. As many Americans know, sedentary life (especially when combined with an abundance of pleasurable food) has it's problems. Are the intellectual benefits of reading/ education worth the physical damage? That thought certainly raises the bar on what reading is profitable.


2) Cervantes uses the character of the priest to assert that reading is a harmful escape. (This occurs when he is talking with the innkeeper, forgive me for failing to locate the page #)

Not all escapes are harmful. In fact, I think reading has many benefits (expands our understanding of people and places that are outside our everyday experience, saves us from more harmful indulgences, increases our knowledge base, teaches us the mistakes and triumphs of previous generations, etc). Yet Don Quixote, whose financial independence strips him of a need for either a profession or physical labor, has indulged far beyond the beneficial point. In this I agree that reading can be harmful, and that all good things can become harmful when engaged to the extreme (for example: food, sex, physical fitness, cleanliness). I don't however, find reading particularly poisonous, and think it's contributions outweigh it's harms (when practiced with moderation).

3) Cervantes is concerned that people are unable to discern fiction from non-fiction (again, this comes from the discussion between the priest and the innkeeper).

I have to say Cervantes is onto something here, and based on what I see on Goodreads, it's only gotten worse. In the internet age, while we have access to more information, this requires MORE work from the reader to determine what information is reliable. I find that often people are unable to distinguish between an accurate and an inaccurate historical setting. Even in a fictional work, I think the author needs to present a historical setting accurately; if they don't, they are clearly altering things to support an agenda of their own. But readers seem unable to recognize this.

I am troubled by the ignorance of the historical (and even current record) that leads to foolish thinking and/ or decisions. For example, if someone writes a book (or even worse, makes a movie) on the glories of government healthcare, I am amazed at how many people will accept such an idea and even make decisions based on these assertions without researching the successes and struggles of said government healthcare in other countries that have it.

In a fictional work, people will claim to understand history or culture based on an author's presentation that is skewed at best and pure deception at worst.

Finally, people often misquote the historical record, usually to support their position on a certain matter. This practice not only propagates errant understandings of the past, but makes it more difficult for those less informed that seek to honestly learn or engage in a discussion.
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In conclusion, I think Cervantes showed great foresight in predicting the dangers of reading. Though I don't think his warnings should eliminate reading, i think they do provide some wise cautions on what is valuable.

I cannot help but find it ironic that in writing a story in which reading is vilified, he created an entirely new form of written word - the novel - that engaged more people than ever before and was far more pervasive and popular than any written form of his time. Even with his cautions, Cervantes was unable to retrieve the reading cat let out of the bag. It is increasingly ironic that his book continues to be read some 400 years after it's publication - mostly by people who are avid readers!