Adventures of Don Quixote (Dover Children's Thrift Classics)

-----------------------------------------------------------

When you approach reading (or rereading) a "classic" work you really, mostly, don't have to think about whether to read it -- that decision was either made by someone assigning it to you or, more wonderfully, by you, yourself deciding to swim contra-current against the cultural waters... following Neil Young's advice to "turn off that MTV."

So. You are going to read it. And, if you are paddling the Amazon.com, here, you are going to buy and OWN it. The question really becomes which edition you should own.

This is the one.

Its a fine translation - surprising in its avoidance of archaic language. It has a nice structure - the inevitable notes are available but not obtrusive.

This edition, the Modern Library hardback edition, translated by Putnam, is also a nice book to own. It isn't one of those pretty faux-leather "shelf-candy" copies that'll break your wallet first. This is a hardworking book - the essence of the Modern Library idea. But it is a wonderful packaging of the whole 1000+ pages that is both readable and shelvable. No thousand-page paperback will survive an actual reading as anything you would want excepting as backup next to the latrine.

Did I mention that it is a great book, great story? Well, others over the years have managed that :-). But I will loudly agree. I'm rereading it only now after a 35 year hiatus (yes, indeed, classics can be lost on the young - thats why you want books that last. In 35 more years, when you turn your lance back toward targets you thought you left behind, a copy will cost you [a lot of money]). It is just plain startling in its innovations and story. I always thought Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard were the first to break down that "third wall" and talk to the audience - yet here is Cervantes doing so five centuries back ! Wow.

Even if you've been made to buy it and to read it, buy a nice copy. Read the "Cliff notes" if you must, but someday you'll be a crazy old coot like Don Q. (or me) and want to toss something more meaningful than Palahniuk (or even Rushdie) at the cobwebs that cling.


Much Madness is Divinest Sense   June 7, 2000
Melvin Pena (Evanston, IL United States)
41 out of 50 found this review helpful

O, Don Quixote de la Mancha, cream and flower of knight errantry! Your adventures and exploits are endlessly entertaining and edifying!

This is a novel which can be taken at its own pace, sprawling, epic - but which most likely you will take much faster. I began reading the novel following the most recent film adaptation with John Lithgow and Bob Hoskins. I have been engrossed, enthralled, and enchanted since I picked up this antique tome. "Don Quixote" is not simply A novel - it is THE novel. In Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Cervantes gave, and continues to give two of the most beautifully rendered personalities, whom you come to know and treasure, and whose names will be "written in the book of fame for all future ages".

From the Duke and Duchess to the writer-convict Gines, to Sampson Carrasco and the priest, Cervantes portrays individuals, not just character-types, from all social backgrounds and contexts, enriching further the story of the Knight of the Sad Countenance and his faithful squire.

In terms of narrative, it is clear how "Don Quixote" influenced countless other works from Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" to Herman Melville's "The Confidence-Man". "Don Quixote" is very much a narrative concerned with its own existence as a text. From Cervantes continually reminding the reader of his own duty as the translator of Quixote's adventures from Benengeli, to the Don's own preoccupation in the novel's second half with an "unauthorized biography" of himself written by a hack, to the various interpolated stories throughout the novel - narrative awareness and attention to the ways in which narrative and language functions are fascinating components of this work.

Perhaps the most important lessons the novel has to teach come from the mouth of the proverb-spitting Sancho Panza, whose physical presence underlines the substance of his words. Truly, Sancho is the novel's most intriguing character. His distance from, and simultaneous involvement in, Don Quixote's adventures give the novel an internal critic and observer, who pairs nicely with the external point of view provided by Cervantes.

In sum, "Don Quixote" is well worth your time - with short chapters, you can read a lot at once, or take it one bit at a time. Either way, pick this novel up, and let it become part of you.


The Don   March 11, 2000
Sierra (Oklahoma)
38 out of 41 found this review helpful

I was assigned to read this book this year in my senior Humanities class. We were not expected to read every chapter, but once I started, I couldn't dream of skipping anything. Don Quixote, Book 1, tells the story of a man more optimistic and idealistic than any other in literature. He sets out as a "righter of wrongs and injustices" and doesn't let anything stand in his way. Book one is also incredibly funny in many parts, both physically and intellectually. Book 2, although a somewhat difficult read and much less humorous, is by far the better work of art. At first, I was apalled at the ending of the book, but I now feel that Cervantes was justified in his ending because he wanted us to mourn the absence of chivalry and hope in our world. I cannot express how much perspective this book will add to your life. Tip: If you are reading Don Quixote in English, I reccommend the Putnam translation.


The Man of La Mancha   March 23, 2000
25 out of 31 found this review helpful

Don Quixote

Written by the author Miguel de Cervantes, during a time known as the enlightenment, this novel tells a classic tale of chivalry. But it wasn't really classic, because this book was set in a time when chivalry, and knight errantry had all but disappeared. Knight errantry is the practice of being a knight errant, or someone who wanders and aids others, following a strict code of chivalry or in this case, someone who interferes in other's affairs, as it would seem from Don Quixote's portrayal.

Don Quixote was not always of this manner of people. He was originally a regular man, who lived in a village, in the region of La Mancha, Spain, with his niece and a housekeeper. His actual name was not Quixote, but Quixada, or Quesada. He loved reading books of chivalry, and of knights, that he became obsessive. He eventually got to the point where he decided that he was going to be a knight errant. He got some armor belonging to one of his ancestors, a sword, a lance, and a helmet with a fake visor if his own creation. Having done this, he mounted his horse Rocinante, and left to wander the countryside in search of those in need. Later he gained what he called a squire, a simple peasant named Sancho Panza, who came with due to the promise of wealth

Had this been several hundred years prior to this time, it may have been more acceptable, but for someone to do this even in the late 1600's was hardly commonplace. The most interesting aspect of his quest was not this being out of place, so much as his vivid imagination.

Don Quixote's imagination, which at times was borderline insanity, was really what made this book what it is. He imagined everything from prostitutes being maidens, to windmills being giants. This imagination of his got him in to trouble numerous times, but all the time made the book more enjoyable. While those who observed him thought him to be mad, he was quite convinced of the truth of what he saw. This was especially true of Sancho Panza. Sancho was constantly trying to show Don Quixote his error. Despite Don Quixote believed himself right, and even started to convince Sancho at times.

The truth was revealed about his delusions later on, that he did most likely understand that they were false, but didn't care all the same. He wanted to escape reality, and live in a time when people were courtly and followed strict moral codes. He accomplished this by convincing himself that things were not as they appeared. And though others try to convince him of his errors, he still convinces himself of the validity of his ideas.

While a tale of chivalry may seem boring to some, this is clearly not a traditional tale. Imagine if a story of King Arthur had been set in present times, this story accomplishes this. Because Don Quixote is so out of his place in time, it seems positively ludicrous. To counter act this, Cervantes Makes the book seem more credible, by making it seem as though historians, and sages were telling it.

From the start, the book keeps the attention of the reader by telling the reader of Don Quixote's incredible encounter at an inn. This sets the reader up for what is to come. Also, while Don Quixote's apparent stupidity may aggravate the reader, it is worth reading it all the same, because it is justified, and makes more sense as the story progresses.

Despite these grievances the book is indeed truly outstanding. The description, and humor of this novel are exceptionally well done. Cervantes makes the book seem so credible that it is not hard to believe that it really happened. Cervantes uses language that while being especially formal it still gives vivid descriptions of the surroundings, down to the last detail. The characters didn't simply gather near trees, they gathered near cork trees. Along with the vivid descriptions, came humor, portrayed as being serious. When Don Quixote attacked a barber and stole his brass basin, he was so convinced that it was the Golden Helmet of Mambrino that the reader couldn't help but be amused by how seriously Cervantes told of Don Quixote wearing it on his head.

It is also good to note that there is much to gain by reading this book. Not only an intimate knowledge of the laws of chivalry is gained, but also many deeper insights. From reading Don Quixote the reader can understand what it was like at the time the novel was written, and can gain insight into what drives a person to do crazy things. The overall message seemed to be, that times have not changed for the better, and that sometimes people live in a fantasy world because of this prevailed, and should be considered a valuable lesson.

Overall this is a very meritorious book. It shows insight by telling a tale of chivalry, but not in a traditional sense. The tale it tells is of a man so convinced that he is a knight errant, that he can no longer accept reality. Others, such as Sancho, try to convince him of this, but are unsuccessful, but despite all this, he still maintains his ideas of chivalry and knight errantry.


Marvelous book - much better than the movies and play   January 8, 2000
Leonard M. Feder (USA)
18 out of 23 found this review helpful

The play Man of La Mancha was uplifting in its way, but was also very depressing. The movie versions of Don Quixote were also downers. But the book ... this is a winner! It's beautiful. It's also really funny.

There are no major villains in the book. The rich and powerful people who mock the old man do it gently, in fun, almost lovingly. Even the man who defeats Don Quixote isn't evil - he's just trying to help. In the end, his supposed enemies are by his side, encouraging him to continue his quest.

Don Quixote is a man who actually lives out his dreams. That's one thing I'll never do. He's very brave, although that starts to slip in Part Two. He's a dear man. His squire Sancho Panza is a riot. Sometimes it's hard to tell which of the two is the star.

This book is a love story, not between Don Quixote and Dulcinea, but between him and his friend Sancho, between him and most of the characters he meets, and between Sancho and his donkey. It can also be a love story between the reader and the characters.

There are some faults. Every book is a product of its time and place, and this book was written in an offensively authoritarian and antisemitic place and time. Somehow even though Cervantes soaked up the faults of his society he still wrote a wonderful book.