|
As long as it is, the translation while "unabridged" does not translate all of the original Spanish. 944-page two-part near-classic is undone by its weak ending, but still stands as a masterpiece of literature. Considered a "first novel", DQ plays on themes of meaning, faith, and madness with great humor.Cervantes wrote the book in two parts separated by a five-year hiatus (1605 and 1610) during which another author wrote a poorly-received second part, which Cervantes attacks repeatedly in his own followup. Part of the Oxford World's Classics" series, this translation is the famous Jarvis translation from 1742, which was long considered the classic translation. While modern language scholarship has revealed its inexactness, the Oxford version uses it because it best captures the feel if not the word-for-word meaning of the translation, and end notes identify where Jarvis has veered from the original to maintain rhymes, jokes, and puns.
This knight is duped by his convictions into waging war on windmills, galley slaves, funeral processions, pilgrims, shepherds, herds of bulls and countless chimeras invoked in the name of love for his Dona el Toboso. In Quixote and Sancho I caught a glimpse of Vladimir and Estragon in "Waiting for Godot." One man's truth is another's falsehood. Lucid, indeed inspired, when the subject is anything but knight errantry, Quixote's commitment to his ideals brings him insult, injury, poverty and ridicule. Don Quixote is a comedy, which could only have been written by the hitherto obscure genius later in life after he had suffered injury on the battlefield and was subject to periods of harsh confinement in prison. For his nobility Don Quixote becomes not only famous and truly beloved but also earns immortality. What Crusader fails to risk madness in the wake of the futility of human action in a vast, overpowering and hostile universe.
By the end of the novel I saw that Don Quixote was no less than an everyman whose noblest instincts were doomed to bring suffering upon him as he was driven to confront the baser powers of existence.
This most chaste of knights cannot see the realities of human nature and worse cannot accept them.
One man's ideal is another's folly.
The comedy is bittersweet about this everyman who lives strictly by a code of ancient ethical ideals that inspire him to fits of lunacy, folly and madness.
One man's reality is another's illusion.
His endless brutal punishments for his idealistic blindspots plague him and his squire, Pancho Panza, wherever they aspire in the personal quest to right an injury, assist a noble cause, protect the weak and innocent, and slay evil demons of every imaginable stripe.
When I first read this novel, I thought Quixote a fool who was duly punished for being so out of touch with reality.
Yet Quixote rides out in his quests across Spain, nevertheless, without fear for the chaos he engenders nor the futility of his cause nor the danger to himself or his best friend.
Read this "father of the modern novel" for its wit and genius and classical construction to understand the Quixotic ideals that stir within you and the possibilities for real victory of the human spirit.
I adored this book. The length should not intimidate or put one off as it is a quick-paced narrative filled with adventures and excitement and all told with a cool-headed satirical view. His truth, filled with wizards and monsters and dreams coming true, is more like a place we all wish we could be than the sad and head-wagging tragedy it might be in our own realities.
Don Quixote himself (as so many other reviewers either trumpet and proclaim or allow themselves to admit) is a flat out wonderful creation; a man so clearly out of his mind and yet one we cannot help but root for and hope to be never disuaded from his insanity, that he becomes something of an aspiration for all of us dreamers and imaginative souls. The lesson to be learned is that once we give up on our dreams, all that is left is death. Very long, at times very slow, Don Quixote basically tells us that the noble delusions of a madman can create a far more satisfying example of life than the bleak, grounded and urgently seriously expectations of scholars, the religious and politically minded as well as the everyday drone who keeps a tight reign on what they will allow themselves to believe.
This book is a thing of beauty, a hope screaming in a bottomless well of scorned dreams that make up all of our lives and to condemn such flights of fancy and such obvious ranting lunacy makes one resemble the sad, defeated figure at the end of this book. Here is a man who believes on in good, in what is noble and decent (let us ignore the occasional lapses into seeming intolerance, taking the early 17th century into account and contrast that with both Don Quixote's treatment of the so-called scourge as well as the identity of the fictitious author of this work within the work) and in an essential love for all of humanity. None of us--and that includes no one--can ever hope to even reflect the nobility of this grand character.
Recommended very highly. Give it a chance and do not take anything like logistical errors and clear and obvious mistakes to heart as Cervantes was wise enough to catch himself later on and comment on all the misunderstandings that any academic and humorless mind might see fit to whine about and then tell that person they are a fool because they cannot relate to the Don's point of view.
Devotion. I didn't read it straight; it was interspersed with many other books on my stack.Oh my. duplicity, madness vs. Storytelling. The Quest. What I was not prepared for, and was totally delighted by, were the many and varied side stories, the topsy turvy relationship between madness and sanity (and who is which, anyway)., the wisdom of Sancho Panza as Governor (at long last). Of course you are familiar with the basic premise of this book, the mad Don Quixote tilting after windmills, his faithful squire Sancho Panza at his side and always on the lookout for a good meal.
of his very own island, and the surreal relationship between the narrator, the author, and the narrated.This is a complex work, and could be discussed with many different themes in mind--idealism vs. pragmatism, honesty vs. I took the time to read both volumes of Don Quixote, starting at the end of this past summer, and just finishing up in mid-November, and even better, in the New Century Library version, lovely old leather bound books with gold ribbons for markers. Chivalry. Romantic love. Renunciation. But if you're trying to decide whether or not to take the time, the answer is yes, yes and yes. The only thing that bothered me about this book was that everybody was endlessly enchanted and ready to give the benefit of the doubt to beautiful young men and women, that beauty in this book equaled virtue and a kind heart, a small complaint indeed regarding this masterpiece.If you've already read this book, this is just preaching to the choir.
What a satisfying read. Class structure. sanity, the follies of the rich vs. the follies of the poor. Religious persecution. You won't regret it, and your heart and soul will thank you.
Yes. Possibly the greatest novel of all time.Every human soul should be required to read this at least once in his/her lifetime.What blew me away is how 'modern' it is. Lots of divergent/side stories. Written in the early 1600's, Cervantes (via Don and Sancho) pontificates without end on how "today's" society has lost its will, its moral fiber, its work ethic, its lack of respect for things like.chivalry.The Ingenious Man of LaMancha, the Knight of the Sorrowful Figure, is a man for all times. His 'madness' is, quite truly, a 'madness' of which we could all benefit.Long. Yes. What great work doesn't answer 'yes' to both.And, yeah, it's funny too.
|
