Don Quixote (Penguin Classics)

I wish I'd read this sooner. I laughed more than I ever imagined I would . I was sad to come to the end.

Don Quixote is both an easy read and an incredibly subtle work. It’s an easy read if one focuses on the adventures, or misadventures, of its protagonist. On the surface the author intends to simply describe the unnecessary chaos and suffering caused a man who has been driven mad by over-reading the works of chivalry.But then you realize that the author is quite consciously giving birth to a new art form. Since the days of chivalry have passed, secular literature needs the novel to depict the disenchanted modern world.And then you further realize that many of the stories and characters still seem drawn from works of chivalry. And Don Quixote the character encounters people who’ve read about Don Quixote. And then, odd parallels appear that seem to question the surface meaning of the text: there is the heroic daughter of a Moor who steals her father’s riches and flees to Christendom right next to the foolish Christian who steals her father’s riches to run off with a solider. Did Cervantes really intend to say the one is foolish and the other brave?It’s no wonder Don Quixote has been a favorite of authors from Dostoevsky to Faulkner. The meta themes of the nature of literature and the nature of modernity must have inspired an author like Faulkner. He too invented a new form of fiction and reflected on the changes in culture between the antebellum and modern American South.I don’t claim to have solved all these questions, if they can even be solved, but they have left me with a profound respect for Cervantes as one of the great lights of humanity. The cliche rendering of Don Quixote as simply about a chivalrous madman out in search of bygone days couldn’t be further from the truth. Perhaps I will, like Faulkner, reread it year after year to come to a greater understanding not only of this text but of our shared human condition.

The classic satire. Characters talk for entire pages as the narrator accepts and expresses their insanity and oddity, only to be met with quick, simple replies as to why they're simply silly.It is a tough read, but I find myself delighted as I get into the flow.Great for when you're about to go to bed, since characters will weave you into mental exhaustion by painting you intricate webs of thoughts and ideas, leaving you with no brain space.

Don Quixote has the humor of Nacho Libre and a weird blend of fantasy and reality that I can only compare to Galaxy Quest. I. Loved. This. Book. I was surprised how funny it was. Like laugh-out-loud funny with crude potty humor (my favorite) and violence that the Three Stooges would love. For example, Don Quixote does something absolutely crazy until I can’t stand him but then he gets the crap beaten out of him so I felt sorry for him and kind of liked him again until, of course, he does something crazy again. It actually takes a while to get tired of that cycle because it manages to be funny every time. By the time I was tired of it, Don Quixote started to change and develop more. The story is tragic, too, so it has some depth (but even the tragedy manages to be kind of funny).If you read this novel in high school and feel like you didn’t read the same book as me, YOU DIDN’T. You need to read the Edith Grossman translation. It’s amazing. It flows well. It’s modern enough to understand yet she worked hard to keep as much of the context of the time period and language as possible. The style feels similar to reading Jane Austen. It’s not totally modern but not old enough that it’s hard to understand. Edith’s footnotes in this novel were great. They gave context when needed. They pointed out plot holes that I didn’t even notice like someone in the room talking even though the author never mentioned them coming in. She also did her best to explain the word play humor that sadly didn’t translate to English. If you’re still not convinced to read it because it’s long, I can tell you that the reason it’s so long is because there are chivalric novellas inserted into the narrative. They’re good stories but if you are intimidated by how long it is, you could skip these novellas.

Good

I went on a spree of sorts to actually start reading all the classic books that I always intended to read but never got around to (job, kids, house, wife, etc.). This is one of the very rare books that made me laugh out loud at some scenes. Beautifully written and just an engrossing tale. Very, very highly recommended.

This novel much like literature of that age. It was difficult to read but there were enough bright (humorous) points to hold my attention.The story was repetitive and predictable but poor Don Quixote was clearly, humorously out of his mind through out most if not all of his travels and conquests.I recommend this novel with serious reservations.

A