El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 7

Por Miguel de Cervantes

El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha por Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, séptimo tomo. Este libro contiene los capítulos XXXIII al XXXV de la primera parte y un prólogo de José Balza.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Fondo de Cultura Económica
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 23 ene 2018
• ISBN: 9786071652959

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantès, né le 29 septembre 1547 et enterré le 23 avril 1616. Il est un romancier, poète et dramaturge espagnol, célèbre pour son roman L'ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, publié en 1605 et reconnu comme le premier roman moderne.

Vista previa del libro

portada

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA

El ingenioso hidalgo

Don Quijote de la Mancha

7

Fondo de Cultura Económica

FONDO DE CULTURA ECONÓMICA

Primera edición FONDO 2000, 1999

Primera edición electrónica, 2017

Contiene los capítulos XXXIII al XXXV de la primera parte de El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Prólogo de José Balza, tomado de Este mar narrativo, FCE, México, 1987, pp. 39-41.

D. R. © 1999, Fondo de Cultura Económica

Carretera Picacho-Ajusco, 227; 14738 Ciudad de México

www.fondodeculturaeconomica.com

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ISBN 978-607-16-5295-9 (ePub)

ISBN 978-607-16-5288-1 (ePub, Obra completa)

Hecho en México - Made in Mexico

Espíritu amable del más fragante humor que haya inspirado nunca la fácil pluma de mi idolatrado Cervantes. Tú que te has deslizado cada día a través de su reja convirtiéndolo con tu presencia en sol radiante la luz crepuscular de su prisión. Tú que has teñido el agua de su jarra con el néctar celestial y que durante todo el tiempo en que escribió sobre Sancho y su amo desplegaste sobre él, sobre su mustio muñón y sobre todos los males de su vida tu manto místico. ¡Vuelve hacia mí tus ojos, te lo imploro! ¡Contempla mis calzones! Son todo lo que tengo en este mundo. Ese lastimoso rasgón me lo hicieron en Lyon.

LAURENCE STERNE

ÍNDICE

PRÓLOGO. José Balza.

CAP. XXXIII.—Donde se cuenta la novela del Curioso impertinente..

CAP. XXXIV.—Donde se prosigue la novela del Curioso impertinente..

CAP. XXXV.—Que trata de la brava y descomunal batalla que Don Quijote tuvo con unos cueros de vino tinto y se da fin a la novela del Curioso impertinente..

Plan de la obra.

PRÓLOGO

JOSÉ BALZA

Ahora estamos en la venta espanto y asombro de Sancho, donde se iniciara su infortunio en manos de aquellos bárbaros que lo lanzaron mil veces desde una manta al aire, como una pelota. Pero esta vez Don Quijote regresa, bajo la palabra de la falsa reina Micomicona, con su escudero, y con el barbero, el cura, Cardenio y Dorotea. Los personajes que narraron su fábula personal en ausencia del caballero y de Sancho, ingresan ahora a la historia particular del Quijote durante este viaje. El capítulo se centra, inesperadamente, sobre libros. Ya habíamos visto la quema de la biblioteca del Quijote, suerte de selección —alabanza y condena— para muchas obras famosas de la época; y ahora el ventero discute con el cura la verosimilitud tanto de libros caballerescos como de publicaciones con otros temas. Él y sus inestables huéspedes gustan de las ficciones; les han contentado mucho. Así, para sosegar el espíritu, antes de dormir, los viajeros y la gente de la venta escuchan al cura leer la Novela del curioso impertinente.

Anselmo posee un amigo del alma, Lotario; y se casa con Camila. La perfección de su amor le despierta un extraño sentimiento, que sólo puede confiar a su amigo: necesita que Camila sea tentada por Anselmo, aunque todo en ella obedece a profunda honestidad y lealtad. Nada más alejado de la ideal encarnación que Don Quijote ha cumplido en sí mismo —hacer justicia, no mentir, elevarse sobre los conflictos— que la retorcida pretensión de Anselmo. Freud o Lacan hubiesen hallado un extraordinario material de análisis en ese temperamento oblicuo y ansioso, realista y fantasioso; en esa extraña sexualidad que abarca a la esposa fiel y al amigo honrado, hasta destruir en ellos la sinceridad, hasta conducirse a sí mismo a un paroxismo de ansioso placer, y de muerte.

La historia de estos tres personajes seduce por su ambigua exigencia: la lealtad y el engaño simultáneos. Pero recordemos que no se nos está contando algo (una experiencia, un recuerdo, una aventura): estamos leyendo algo que leen los personajes del Quijote.

Tan agible para el autor era diseñar la oscura pureza quijotesca como tocar otros fondos de la realidad. Aquello le permitía el movimiento de ascenso: un espíritu que tiene como modelo la caballería, las aspiraciones nobles (aunque a veces sea cruel, como los demás con él), y cuyo complemento, Sancho, le ayuda a introducir la ingenuidad, el humor, cierta frescura carnal al cuadro. Pero la coherencia interna de estos dos personajes no hubiese permitido al autor tocar otros oleajes. Y es ahora cuando la salida del Quijote por la puerta falsa del corral y cuando la intuitiva conducción del caballo adquieren plenitud total: en este mar narrativo a nada puede ser ajena la novela. Una corriente escondida en las formas de la fabulación, una corriente que venía desde la muerte de Grisóstomo, sacude las aguas: ahora estamos lejos de la obsesiva generosidad del Quijote y de la risa a lo Sancho: giramos dentro de abismos psíquicos, hemos sido lanzados por los celos imaginados a pasiones terminantes y sutiles, a conflictos que son, totalmente, literatura: en tanto narrar es una duda y un conocimiento. A las acciones e ironías naturales —que Cervantes maneja con la conducta de Sancho y del Quijote: el hambre, la sed, los gases intestinales, el orinar o defecar— el novelista añade los frutos sombríos del carácter humano, su morbidez y su esplendor. Todo esto deriva de las narraciones (antes amorosas, pastoriles) que lentamente se independizan de sus testigos mayores hasta imponerse como una modalidad de la ficción sobre la ficción. Y es que, al mismo tiempo, la novela esconde, al madurar, una profunda nostalgia por sus orígenes. Siendo ella perfecta en Don Quijote (o en Doktor Faustus, etc.), tiene el derecho a desprender algo de sí misma que evoque sus formas primarias. Toda novela, entonces, sería autónoma por su forma acabada y novedosa, pero también toda novela ansía, rememora sus contornos

Comentarios para El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 7

[comfypants · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

I've read the part one (of two) so far, and it doesn't seem likely that I'll bother with part two. It starts out very promising, with an unexpectedly modern sense of humor. But all the good bits (and all the famous bits) are in the first few hundred pages. Then the book just keeps going for no apparent reason, eventually devolving into a collection of novellas and short stories that have no connection to Don Quixote.

[keebrook · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

it’s interesting to see paradigms and tropes from almost 500 years ago revealed in this story. i am sure that i am missing the majority of the prejudices, jokes, and ridicule meant to be conveyed by the story but i’ve found that they really are wittily written.

i think the details of the story aren’t so important as the story arc itself. in fact, it’s not quite right to say this is just one “story” because it is truly made up of many little vignettes, side-stories, and even stories within stories. it falls into the same category of frame story like Canterbury Tales, the Decameron, or One Thousand and One Nights (aka Arabian Nights). frankly, it was difficult for me to read in full because i could not see the path of the story. it just seemed to ramble on without purpose.

Don Quixote has become so embedded in our modern culture as to be indistinguishable from mythology or psychological archetype. the commentary on the mind, class relations, knowledge of one’s own self and others, perceptions and prescriptions of madness and nonconformity, etc. are all explored in this book. of course, we get to see the prejudice of our historical past, especially with regard to women’s roles in society. the idea of someone being a “Lothario” comes from this book in the form of one of those stories within the story but this one is different in that it’s a fictional tale being told by one of the characters. it helps bring to the fore the attitudes of the book on morality surrounding marriage, how both men and women are seen to be somewhat at the mercy of a woman’s beauty, and how insecurity can be its own worst enemy. this is couched in the semantics and morality of the culture which blames the tragic outcome on the husband’s curiosity rather than his insecurity or jealousy.

the cultural artifacts in the book are fascinating and sometimes surprising but i didn’t expect the book to be so funny. i thought that it might be sadly comic in slapstick or mocking madmen but i found genuine wit and guile. some of the dialogue and situations described are simply on the level of some of the best Monty Python or social and political satire- at least in the first part. The second part isn’t so jovial and the tone leads to a deeper, tragic feeling beneath it all where Quixote himself becomes the norm and the vile, modern, “sane” civilization through which he walks begins to seem unbalanced and crazy. In some ways, he has a Cassandra complex but instead of no one believing his tales of the future, no one believes or respects his tales of purity, innocence, or voice of fair play, honor, and romance.

[kalliegrace · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

4.5 rounded up, this is ridiculous in all the right ways, though maybe a bit overshot in length. How absurd and endearing is this knight errant, and how cruel the world is to one out of his mind.

[gmillar_8 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

The tomfoolery of the stories got through to me pretty quickly. I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them either. There is an interesting little bio of Cervantes included behind the selected stories and a list of questions for the English teachers to stretch their students.

[laphenix · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

When is it ever a good idea to write a book belaboring how much you dislike books of a similar genre. 900 plus sometimes interesting, occasionally funny pages for an ending which laments it was hardly worthwhile.

[alanwpowers · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I have taught Don Quixote in a sophomore Norton Anthology survey of “World”/Western Literature many times, aided by this Spanish edition I got at Princeton in ’78. Larry Lipking led a post-doctoral NEH seminar on comparative Lit, on Poetry and Criticism, and my own Ph.D. had studied 17C criticism written in verse, before Dryden made prose the main form of poetic criticism.
Fortuitously, the main chapter I read in Spanish was one omitted from Norton. After Señor Quijana is knighted by his landlord, swearing on “the book”—farmer’s accounts of grain purchases and sales—he falls from his horse. His injury results now in Don Quixote’s reciting whole memorized chapters from books of chivalry in his library. The priest and a barber, his friends, blame their friends’ accident on his reading such books, and planning to star in one. The niece urges them to burn those damnable books as though they were heretics’.
After the Knight is carried in to his bed, and before he recruits a neighbor farmer, Sancho Panza, to abandon his wife and children to be his squire as he attacks the windmills, Cervantes lists the accused books in Ch. 6, which makes it a chapter of Literary Criticism. Dozens are cited. Amusingly, one of these books was written by Cervantes himself, “La Galatea de Miguel de Cervantes—dijo el Barbero” (41). The priest claims he knows most of the authors, as he does here: “Muchos años ha que es grande amigo mio ese Cervantes.” He holds Cervantes writes with great “creativity” (“invention” the Renaissance word for it), but he wishes Cervantes would finish the second half of the book he promised (41).
The priest got on to defend the poet who translated Ovid, and wrote the best heroic verse in Spanish, in Castillian. “I would cry if such a book were burned,” lloraralas yo si tal libro hubiera mandado quemar."

[bookconcierge · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Audible audio performed by George Guidall


Who hasn’t heard of Don Quixote fighting windmills, or wearing a barber’s basin as a helmet? Who doesn’t know about his faithful squire, Sancho Panza? Or the beautiful Dulcinea, for whom the Knight is ready to lay down his life?

I’d read snippets from this work over the years but never experienced the whole thing. I’m sorry I waited so long to do so. It is a marvelous piece of fiction and is widely acknowledged as the first modern-day novel.

Cervantes gives us a main character who has lofty ideals and a noble purpose, but who is fatally flawed (possibly insane). His attempts to replicate the feats of chivalry he has long read about and admired are met with scorn and ridicule, yet he remains faithful to his ideal. Certain that he will save the imprisoned Dulcinea and win her heart and everlasting gratitude.

Sancho is the faithful servant, commenting frequently in pithy sayings and proverbs, trying, in vain to steer his master away from disaster, but gamely following and taking his punishment. My favorite section is toward the end when Sancho is “appointed governor” and asked to hand out judgment on a variety of disputes. His solutions are surprisingly wise, despite his convoluted explanations.

This edition is translated by Edith Grossman, and was published in 2003. While I have not read other translations, nor the original Spanish, I thought it flowed smoothly and gave me a sense of Cervantes’ style.

The audiobook of this translation is performed by George Guidall, and he does a fantastic job of it. I was fully engaged and recalled those long-ago days when my grandparents, aunts or uncles would tell stories on the porch on summer evenings, all us children listening in rapt attention. I particularly liked the voices he used for both Don Quixote and for Sancho Panza.

[browner56 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Some time ago, I sat through a series of art history lectures offered at our church. The minister giving the talks was the perfect person to discuss Renaissance-era paintings, having received a MFA in addition to a divinity degree. He was also someone I knew well enough to ask what I had always feared was a really dumb question: When you go into a museum and see two seemingly comparable paintings displayed side by side, why does one usually get a lot more attention (e.g. written descriptions on the wall, guidebook space) than the other? There can be many reasons, he said, but the simple answer is that the artwork getting all the love is usually the one that came first.

I thought about that observation frequently as I was reading Don Quixote, which is widely hailed in critical circles as the first modern novel. (And, at just shy of 1,000 pages, I had plenty of time to think about a lot of things during the several weeks it took me to finish the book.) I have to confess that I was not even sure what being labeled the first modern novel even meant. However, the more time I spent immersed in the volume, the more sense that designation made. For as much as I enjoyed the inventiveness of the story, I think I enjoyed considering the historical importance of the work and the influence it has had on literature over the subsequent centuries even more.

As I learned, the present-day version of Don Quixote actually consists of two separate novels that Cervantes wrote about ten years apart. Both parts of the book tell the same well-known tale. An aging Spanish gentleman becomes so obsessed with reading novels on chivalry that he goes “mad” and fancies himself a knight errant, whose duty it is to right wrongs wherever he finds them in the world. Pledging his chaste love and obedience to the lady Dulcinea—who, in reality, is a relatively ordinary peasant woman he barely knows—he sets out across the country on several sallies, eventually accompanied by Sancho Panza, a poor local farmer who serves as his squire.

The myriad adventures the two men have tend to take on a similar form: in his delusional state, Don Quixote confuses an ordinary situation as a threat or a challenge that needs to be addressed (e.g., windmills confused for giant villains to be vanquished), which the simple but sensible Sancho tries to talk him out of. When the encounter goes badly for the heroes, Quixote is quick to blame the work of evil enchanters who are out to get him, rather than accept failure or the possibility that he simply misread the circumstances. This basic plot device is repeated over and over again—accompanied by a considerable amount of philosophical discourse between the knight and the squire—much of which is amusing and, occasionally, memorable.

For me, the second half of the novel was considerably more interesting and rewarding than the first. It is also the part of the book where the “modern” label becomes more apparent. Indeed, the author himself (often in the guise of his Arabic alter-ego Cide Hamete Benengeli) becomes a third central character in the story in a very clever way. While on their adventures in this section, Quixote and Panza often meet people who already know them from having read the first half of the book and are only too happy to encourage their delusional behavior. Also, the author has the Don’s character berate another real-life writer who had produced an unauthorized plagiarism of the Quixote saga in the years between the two volumes that Cervantes himself wrote. That is not only modern, it is down-right post-modern!

In summary, Don Quixote is an altogether remarkable and entertaining book that was also, at times, absolutely exhausting to read. I do not imagine that I will ever find the time or the energy to read it again, but I am so happy to have made it all the way through this once. There are some who rank it among the best novels ever written and I cannot argue too strenuously with that position.

[bookworm12_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Don Quixote has always intimidated me. The novel is a literary giant, my own windmill to conquer. This year, over the course of a couple months, I finally read it. I was surprised by the gentle nature and sincerity of the famous knight. I’d always thought of him as a bit clownish, but in reality he is the most human of men, if that makes sense. He’s deeply flawed and so he’s deeply relatable.

I didn’t realize when I started the book that it consists of two separate volumes published 10 years apart. The first volume includes most of the well-known elements of the story, including Don Quixote’s famous attack on the windmills. In the second volume everyone knows who Don Quixote is because they've read the first volume. It adds an interesting element to the book, because he is now trying to live up to his own legend. He's become a celebrity and his cause and condition have become well known throughout the land.
Alonso Quixano is Don Quixote’s true name. He reads book after book dealing with stories of chivalry throughout the ages. He then becomes convinced that he is in fact a knight errant and he must go on a crusade to help the people who are suffering in Spain.

“It is not the responsibility of knights errant to discover whether the afflicted, the enchained and the oppressed whom they encounter on the road are reduced to these circumstances and suffer this distress for their vices, or for their virtues: the knight's sole responsibility is to succour them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds.”

He saddles up his horse, Rocinante, and recruits a local farmer named Sancho Panza to embark on his travels with him. Sancho becomes his faithful squire. The two set off and along the way they “help” those who cross their path. The problem is that Don Quixote is delusional about who actually needs his help. The famous windmill scene comes about because he thinks he is fighting giants. He fights for the honor of a woman who barely knows him, Dulcinea del Toboso. The first volume contains a strange mix of stories. Everyone is able to see the Don’s madness except himself and his proverb-spouting squire. Though this is tragic in some ways, it’s also beautiful. There’s something about having complete faith in another person that gives you strength in your own life.

The first volume is entertaining, but lacks the depth I was expecting. It wasn’t until I got into the second volume that I really fell in love with the book. There’s such a wonderful exploration of motivation, delusion, loyalty, and more. Who is Don Quixote hurting with his quest? Is it wrong to allow him to remain convinced of his knighthood? The second volume also pokes playful fun at the first volume, joking that the author exaggerated stories, etc.

“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”

Don Quixote’s naïveté and earnestness about his field of knight errantry make him an easy target. People who want to play tricks on him or friendly jokes or even rob him are easily able to because they know exactly what his weaknesses are. He believes, without a doubt, in the code of knight errantry that he holds himself to. He's also wise about so many things while remaining blind to his own absurdity.

At times he reminded me of Polonius from “Hamlet” spouting off wisdom to anyone who will listen. Sometimes it's good advice, sometimes not but he believes it wholeheartedly. There's a purity in living a life so full of earnestness that you believe in your dreams without faltering and you hold yourself to a higher standard.

BOTTOM LINE: This isn’t a novel I’ll re-read every year or anything, but it was a richly rewarding experience for me. It made me want to believe in some of the magic in life and to not always question the motives of others. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza will be with me for years to come.

"Then the very same thing, said the knight, happens in the comedy and commerce of this world, where one meets with some people playing the parts of emperors, others in the characters of popes, and finally, all the different personages that can be introduced in a comedy; but, when the play is done, that is, when life is at an end, death strips them of the robes that distinguished their stations, and they become all equal in the grave.”

“Time ripens all things. No man is born wise.”

[brakketh-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Just amazing, I can see why it is often described as a foundation of the modern novel. In many ways it reads like it was written last week rather than more than 400 years ago.

[joligula · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

One of the most widely read stories in human history. Pretty cut and dry. He is a lunatic.

[pilgrimjess · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

"The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it surfaces above lies, as oil on water."

Don Quixote is a middle-aged man from the region of La Mancha in Spain obsessed with reading books about chivalrous knights errant. One day he decides to set out, taking with him an honest but simple farm labourer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, armed with a lance and a sword to right wrongs and rescue damsels. On his horse, Rozinante, who like his master is well past his prime, Don Quixote rides the roads of Spain in search of adventure and glory.

None of Don Quixote's adventures never really turn out as he would have hoped and his triumphs are more imaginary than real. He abandons a boy tied to a tree and being whipped by a farmer, simply because the farmer swears an oath that he will not harm the boy. He steals a barber’s basin believing it to be a mythical helmet, frees a wicked and devious man who has been sentenced to become a galley slave, absconds from an inn where he has spent the night without paying because he believes that he was a guest in a castle and therefore shouldn't have to pay. However, not everything that Don Quixote does turns out bad. He does manage, if unwittingly, to reunite two couples who had become estranged.

Despite often bearing the brunt of the physical punishments that result from Don Quixote’s erratic behaviour, Sancho nonetheless remains loyal to his master as he endeavours to limit Don Quixote's outlandish fantasies. The first part of the novel ends when two of Don Quixote’s friends, tricks him into returning home.

Once back in his home all of Don Quixote's books on knights errantry are burnt in an attempt to cure him of his madness but unfortunately it is far too deeply rooted to be cured so simply and it is only a matter of time before he sets out on his travels once again, accompanied by his faithful squire.

During the intervening period of time whilst they were back at home a book has been written relating the pair's earlier escapades making them infamous. Don Quixote and Sancho meet a Duke and Duchess who have read the book about their exploits and conspire to play tricks on them for their own amusement. Whilst staying with them Sancho becomes the governor of a fictitious island which he rules for ten days before resigning reasoning that it is better to be a happy farm labourer than a miserable governor.

On leaving the Duke and Duchess the pair travel on to Barcelona where Don Quixote is beaten and battered in a joust. They return to their respective homes where Don Quixote comes to recognise his folly whilst suffering from a fever which ultimately kills him.

Now I must admit that I was not expecting too much before starting this but was very pleasantly surprised as I found myself on more than one occasion in tears of laughter. Likewise I enjoyed many of the conversations between Don Quixote and Sancho. I ended up almost feeling rather sorry for Don Quixote in his madness as he strived to recreate a world that never really existed. In particular I felt sorry by how he was treated by the Duke and Duchess and was uncertain whether they were merely cruel or as barmy as our two heroes. However, I also found the novel overly long and at times fairly repetitive, equally as one of my fellow reviewers have stated I hated the fact that some of the paragraphs were several pages long. Although I did enjoy it, it was a plod rather than a sprint through it. I am glad that I've read it but it is highly unlikely that I will bother to revisit it.

[encephalical · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Really enjoyed the bantering between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, unfortunately, they often get separated for multiple chapters at a time. Had trouble caring about the other side stories and digressions.

[antao-3 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

“El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho.”


In "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote is one of my favourite novels, exasperating though it is at times with all those stories within stories knockabout humour and cruel practical jokes. Simply because it’s so complex, we both admire and laugh at Don Quixote. When he speaks we are inclined to share his world view. And then Cervantes reminds us of what a ridiculous figure he is and undermines the effect. Until Quixote opens his mouth again. This happens again and again - until we end up seeing the novel - and the world - in two incompatible ways at once. And the relationship between Quixote and Sancho is one of the most beautiful friendships in literature. And then there are all the meta-fictional or postmodern tricks. There’s just so much to talk about.

Violent slapstick isn’t to everyone’s taste and four hundred-year-old Spanish satire, where you have to read the footnotes to get the punch line, is … tricky. There is not in all the world’s literature, and that of the universe, as far as we know, and if you follow positivist logic, being as no other life has as of yet been detected, two palsy and yet hierarchised figures whose genial, sharp, philosophical and jocoserious dialogue, and whose philosophical adventures, bring them so endearing and humanly close to each other as the “Distinguidos” Señores Alonso Quijano and Sancho Panza. It is worth it to learn Spanish and travel the entire peninsula, which Alberti said looks like the hide of a bull, just to appreciate the impressive genius with which a writer can glean and reproduce in words the soul of his land.

Cervantes also proves being a misogynist does not preclude great literature. Nor does being a violent, macho hypocrite. Hemingway sends his regards.

[amerynth · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I feel like I should throw myself a party having finally finished Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote," which took me about two months to read. It was overall a worthwhile read, even though it sometimes became a bit tedious, it was mostly an interesting book.

As most people are probably aware, Don Quixote goes a bit off his rocker, becomes a knight errant and crisscrosses the countryside with his trusty squire Sancho Panza. They get into heaps of trouble while he tilts at windmills, which he believes are dragons, and pining for the love of the Dulcinea de Toboso, whom he believes is enchanted and trapped in a cave. As Don Quixote's reputation spread, people take advantage of his madness for their own amusement.

While I felt first portion of the book got a bit repetitive, Cervantes seemed to get better as he went along about putting Don Quixote in new amusing situations. This is definitely one of those classic books I'm happy to have finally read, but that I probably would never read again.

[helenliz_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

 This is a difficult one to review. Partly that is as it just took me too long to get through it. 4 months reading the same book just means that all I felt on finishing it was relief that I'd made it to the end. However, after having let it stew for a bit, I have come to the conclusion that I'm glad I have read this, and that I enjoyed it, even if that was dulled by the sheer length of the book.
Don Quixote is one of those books that is the source of a number of phrases and sayings that are in use, and yet, until now, I'd never read the source from which they spring. Tilting at windmills is a pointless, slightly absurd, exercise, and so is Don Quixote when he attacks the windmills, thinking them to be giants. That is one of a very great number of instances when he appears to disadvantage, not seeing the world as it is, but insisting on seeing it as he imagines it should be. In the first part of the book, the tone is very much that he is mad and that he is to be laughed at. However, as the book progresses and the other characters in the books start to have fun at Don Quixote's expense (the Duke & Duchess being the most obvious examples) then I felt that he was maybe not to be laughed at. He has a sort of nobility of purpose, even if that purpose is the result of something apparently deranged. That purity of heart, if misguided, makes him seem an innocent and the way he is put through make believe trials shifts the reader's sympathies towards him. This shift is also reflected in Sancho Panca's attitude to his master. He seems to start in the same position as us, Don Quixote is mad and a figure of fun, yet by the second book, he is no longer entirely sure what is truth and what is made up. He becomes a faithful squire, supporting his master (for the most part) in all his strange adventures.
At times I felt that I was maybe missing out on some background, or could have done with a more heavily annotated edition, in order to understand the background to Spain at this time and the literature of the knight errant that has influenced Don Quixote to set out on his quest. While I was relieved to reach the end, I felt it didn't really do the Don justice.
I'm glad I have read this, I just wish I could have got through it a little bit more quickly, such that it felt less like a chore.

[nsenger-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

"Master, sadness was made for men, not for beasts, but if men let themselves give way too much to it, they turn into beasts."

It has been said that a person should read Don Quixote at least three times in one's life: in youth, in middle age, and in old age. I whole-heartedly agree, but I would hope that it could be read more often than that. This is my all-time favorite book, the one book I would want with me if I was stuck on a deserted island (besides the Bible, of course). To me, the best reason for a person to learn how to read literature is to be able to read this one book.

What makes it so great? The first thing to mention is the characters. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are the kind of people I would love to have to dinner, just to listen to them talk. They are the kinds of characters that when you finish the book you breath a big sigh and say to yourself, "I wish they were real people, so that I could meet them." And then you smile and think, "Wait, it's a book--I can meet them again anytime I want to!"

In addition to the characters, another great quality of Don Quixote is its humor. At some parts you will laugh out loud, at others you will simply smile. But whether you roll on the floor or just grin, Don Quixote is just about the most pleasant book you will ever read. And by that I mean that it's just plain fun, from cover to cover.

That's not to say that it's not serious. Don Quixote deals with the most important issues of life: love, friendship, duty, honor. It is also quite sad and moving in a few places. In fact, it may contain the saddest scene I have ever read.

But what is it about? you may be asking. I haven't said anything yet about the plot, and for two reasons. One, many people are familiar with the story of the old man who has read so many books about knights that he decides to become one. And two, Don Quixote isn't really about the plot. It's really the story of one man's attempt to make a real difference in the world, no matter how foolish he seems to others.

I would like to conclude with a few words about how to approach this book. First, know that it is extremely long, so it requires patience and perseverance. Second, understand that the book is divided into two parts, which were written 15 years apart. That's important to know to get some of the humor of the second part, which is actually the best half. Try to read a complete, unabridged version if you can, even if you have to skim a few chapters.

Finally, Don Quixote needs to be read at a leisurely pace. It is not like a blockbuster action movie, or a suspenseful thriller. Reading it should be more like sinking into a hot tub at the end of the day, or like sitting around a campfire talking with friends late at night. It is something to be savored, because it is over far too soon.

[gaillamontagne · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

The introduction educates the reader of this translation of Don Qixote, that it has been abridged for the modern reader. I enjoyed it, knowing I would never have tried a book like this if were not adapted for readers today. I wanted to have a taste, or feel of this classic just for the experience of it. It is well done for interest, the narrator easy to listen to and edited carefully to give you the meat of the book without unnecessary details that the original writing style included. I would recommend it if you are not a classic purist.

[sigmundfraud · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I finally finished Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE. It was a rewarding experience. It is a hilarious book. To travel along with Quixote, the knight errant and his squire, Sancho Panza is quite a voyage full of adventures. I could call this an adventure story if it weren't so ridiculous. Quixote decides to act out the story of the chivalrous knight that was prevalent in the literature of the time. We accompany him on all sorts of adventures which seem preposterous but he seemed to believe them. It is a fun read and i recommend it.

[chgstrom · Calificación: 1 de 5 estrellas]

I tried, I really did. Just could not finish it. There were some funny moments, but after struggling to get 1/3 of the way through, I gave up.

[serogers02-1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Can innocence only exist in a past long forgotten? What are the dangers of reading books? What is madness? In his renowned book, Miguel de Cervantes deals with these questions and more as he takes us along on the journey of Don Quixote de La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza.

[jess_reads_books · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Oh Don Quixote! How I loved you and hated you and loved you some more! I struggled to become engaged with this book, but at some point I fell in hard and found myself laughing through Don Quixote and Sancho Panza's ridiculous adventures! This is a story of madness, friendship, and everything in between. While some parts are down right hard to believe, they are balanced with times of such genuine human interaction, that the reader cannot help but identify with the main characters.

[jwhenderson_1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

The idea of the novel starts here. This is the source of the modern novel for many. While it remains the epitome of story-telling its fame has also led to the coinage of such terms as "quixotic" and others. Influential beyond almost any other single work of fiction, the characters through their charm and uniqueness remain indelible in the memory of readers.
Don Quixote is one of those books whose influence is so far-reaching as to be almost ubiquitous, like The Odyssey, or the Bible. And like the Bible or Homer’s epic, it is more often talked about than read. But my conclusion upon reading it is to recommend to all: read it and enjoy the stories.

[tommi180744 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

An early masterpiece in the evolution of the Novel in Literature: Very entertaining, if at times somewhat long-winded, with an array of lively characters delving into the psychology, philosophy... the 'humors & humours' of the human existence, and a legendary 'hero' - Don Quixote - who tilts at much more of humanity's foibles than just windmills.

[mattries37315 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

The first true novel, Don Quixote, has impacted not only the literary world but culture and society the globe over for over 500 years. The masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes blends fantasy, romance, sarcasm, and parody in such an amazing way that it has captured the imagination of generations over and over again no matter where they lived. The adventures, or misadventures, of Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza have made them icons for beyond anything Cervantes might have thought possible.

The narrative of the events of the knight-errant Don Quixote’s three sallies is widely known, though more so those in Part I than those of Part II. However, while the adventures of the windmills and the battle of the wineskins and Sancho’s blanketing are the best known it the events in Part II that truly show the modern narrative arc that Cervantes was only beginning to display in Part I. While Quixote and Sancho’s hilarious misadventures are just as funny in Part II as in Part I, through the challenges for Bachelor Carrasco to snap Quixote out of his madness and the machinations of the Duke and Duchess for their entertainment at their expense a narrative arc is plainly seen and can be compared to novels of today very easily.

Although the central narrative of Don Quixote is without question a wonderful read, the overall book—mainly Part I—does have some issues that way enjoyment. Large sections of Part I contain stories within the story that do no concern either central character but secondary or tertiary characters that only briefly interact with Quixote and Sancho. Throughout Part II, Cervantes’ rage at another author who published a fake sequel is brought up again and again throughout the narrative arc that just lessened the reading experience.

The cultural footprint of Don Quixote today is so wide spread that everyone knows particular scenes that occur in the book, mainly the charge towards the windmills. Yet Cervantes’ masterpiece is so much more than one scene as it parodies the literary culture of Spain at the time in various entertaining ways that still hold up half a millennium later. Although reading this novel does take time, it is time well spent follow the famous knight-errant Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza.

[maggieflo_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I know this is a classic of great literature but I cannot finish it. I have read one quarter of the book and I just don't like Don Quixote. I find him to be foolish, stubborn and dangerous. Is this supposed to be a comedy???not sure but I'm giving up.

[m_k_m_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

When it's good, it's really good. Clever and postmodern in a way that is a masterclass even today, when self-reflexivity can sometimes seem the default of popular culture.

Cervantes parodies the tiresome arguments against sequels and franchises centuries before superheroes and star warriors were dominating the big screen; he's every bit as aware of his reputation and imitators as his readers would have been, and makes them a part of the story rather than denying or railing against them. He is extraordinarily clever, and rejects the temptation to make his hero a grand one; Quixote is likeable and admirable in some ways, but in others still a fool and a fantasist.

But when the books drags... boy it drags. There are longueurs and then there are entire novellas – a great deal of time is spent parodying the sort of chivalric tales nobody reads anymore.

It's ultimately worth it, but you'll have to work for the pay off. It's book in some ways better remembered than read.

And I still preferred it when he was throwing barrels at plumbers.

[kamgeb · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

I enjoyed the first book. It was entertaining and funny. But it is VERY long and couldn't keep my attention. So by the second book I was just trying to finish it.

[karin7-11 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

There was only one part I found funny. I'm not sure why I couldn't like this book, but I slogged through the entire thing. My kid brother loved it so much he gave a copy to my dad, though.

[lynsey2-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Cervantes was in need of an editor. There is much to appreciate about this book. It is down right, laugh out loud funny at times. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are both great characters it's just that each adventure starts sounding the same after awhile.