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Don Quixote
Don Quixote. The name is universally known for the idealistic, possibly insane, wannabe knight as much as a masterpiece of literature. Don Quixote, the book, is widely regarded as the first modern novel while Don Quixote, the character, is
among the most recognizable and beloved ever created.
The author, Miguel de Cervantes, once said of Don Quixote that he was created 'that children may handle him, youths may read him, men may understand him and old men may celebrate him.' Indeed, the misadventures of Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, are comical and entertaining to readers of all ages. At the same time, they speak deeply of man's place in the world and his aspirations.
This Campfire graphic novel adaptation is the ideal introduction to a story that readers will return to again and again throughout their lifetime.
among the most recognizable and beloved ever created.
The author, Miguel de Cervantes, once said of Don Quixote that he was created 'that children may handle him, youths may read him, men may understand him and old men may celebrate him.' Indeed, the misadventures of Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, are comical and entertaining to readers of all ages. At the same time, they speak deeply of man's place in the world and his aspirations.
This Campfire graphic novel adaptation is the ideal introduction to a story that readers will return to again and again throughout their lifetime.
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
72 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
October 14, 2023
Wrote a longer review but my app crashed, so quickly:
-This was my first exposure to Don Quixote.
-The art is appropriately whispy and fantastical.
-A lot of women falling in love with men but the love is forbidden or there is a misunderstanding, but perhaps that’s the point of satirizing Arthurian chivalry.
-The book made me want to pick up a full translation, as the stories do tend to fly by pretty quickly in this edition, and I’ve read it doesn’t capture enough of the sadness of the story, and if there’s one thing I love in my books, it’s sadness.
Check it out for the art. �
-This was my first exposure to Don Quixote.
-The art is appropriately whispy and fantastical.
-A lot of women falling in love with men but the love is forbidden or there is a misunderstanding, but perhaps that’s the point of satirizing Arthurian chivalry.
-The book made me want to pick up a full translation, as the stories do tend to fly by pretty quickly in this edition, and I’ve read it doesn’t capture enough of the sadness of the story, and if there’s one thing I love in my books, it’s sadness.
Check it out for the art. �
February 4, 2024
This retelling is hilarious! One of the stories had me laughing so hard I thought I would wake up the whole house. Sancho is now my favorite sidekick of all time.
February 26, 2013
Thank God, I FINALLY finished this book. It's supposed to be one of the great classics of European literature. I found it to be silly beyond reason. I suppose because Don Quixote was mad, it should be silly beyond reason.
I found the second part of the book easier to read than the first part. The two were written 10 years apart by Cervantes. Perhaps his writing style matured in that decade.
I found the second part of the book easier to read than the first part. The two were written 10 years apart by Cervantes. Perhaps his writing style matured in that decade.
May 17, 2008
Some parts were great, some dragged.
It really is the epitome of Romantic Literature, but if I could compare it to any contemporary work, it'd be The Life of Pi. (I won't say how though, you'll have to figure it out yourself.)
It really is the epitome of Romantic Literature, but if I could compare it to any contemporary work, it'd be The Life of Pi. (I won't say how though, you'll have to figure it out yourself.)
November 29, 2009
Author Martin Jenkins turns this classic novel into a rollicking road trip with plenty of rowdy humor, supported by the comical illustrations of Chris Riddell. Set in 16th century Spain, an aging country gentleman becomes so obsessed while reading novels of chivalric knights that he believes he is actually a knight errant. Convincing the local peasant Sancho Panza to accompany him as a squire, Don Quixote wanders throughout the country, imagining every person and situation he encounters to be part of his personal quest. Some fight him, while others indulge his insane ways, resulting in a series of wacky adventures including lost ones reunited, love being kindled, and Sancho earning a number of beatings. With the bathroom humor, the author’s skillful handling of bawdier scenes, and the overall feel of a buddy movie, this book seems perfect for older elementary and middle school students, particularly boys. But there are situations and references in the text that need historical context to be fully enjoyed and unfortunately no explanatory notes have been included. In contrast, the book’s physical size and illustrations may keep away teen readers who would find it enjoyable. Even with the detractions, this is a recommended purchase for schools, where it might make a good read aloud, and public libraries, for those young patrons assigned to read a classic.
October 5, 2019
I have not read the original Don Quixote in completion. In college I read portions of it (that I could vaguely recall as I read this one), but that is it. I still would like to read the complete original, but I wanted to clarify this before getting into my review of this retelling.
This genre of tongue-in-cheek teasing of just about everyone with absurd situations and people will always find a fan in me. No one is left unscathed even though the heart of all the jokes and satire is Don Quixote. And like any good writing in this genre, within the jokes and callings-out there are nuggets of wisdom and truth.
I read the majority of this while on a vacation in Virginia in which I had a lot of travel time--trains, buses, waiting for trains and buses--and although the weight of the tome was not well-suited for traveling, the story was just what I needed when my bus was delayed for four hours or I was trying to stay awake on a late night train.
This genre of tongue-in-cheek teasing of just about everyone with absurd situations and people will always find a fan in me. No one is left unscathed even though the heart of all the jokes and satire is Don Quixote. And like any good writing in this genre, within the jokes and callings-out there are nuggets of wisdom and truth.
I read the majority of this while on a vacation in Virginia in which I had a lot of travel time--trains, buses, waiting for trains and buses--and although the weight of the tome was not well-suited for traveling, the story was just what I needed when my bus was delayed for four hours or I was trying to stay awake on a late night train.
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February 7, 2019 Don Quixote A Graphic Novel
Don Quixote is a classic and like most classics, it teaches things that are true today just like they were at the time it was written. The book Don Quixote appeals to the reader. From the humor to the the seriousness, the storyline is clear and the book doesn’t jump from point to point.
Don Quixote teaches you from the real to the ideal and to not hide behind an illusion like social media, Señor Quesada did the same thing in the book. When I started reading the book it was a little bland but as I went on it got better and the reader understands it more. That’s when you start to love the book for its storyline. You get sucked in to the adventure and cannot put it down.
I feel the book really inspires you to be compassionate and to not always hide who you are. It also teaches you to get out and to follow your dreams.
Don Quixote is a classic and like most classics, it teaches things that are true today just like they were at the time it was written. The book Don Quixote appeals to the reader. From the humor to the the seriousness, the storyline is clear and the book doesn’t jump from point to point.
Don Quixote teaches you from the real to the ideal and to not hide behind an illusion like social media, Señor Quesada did the same thing in the book. When I started reading the book it was a little bland but as I went on it got better and the reader understands it more. That’s when you start to love the book for its storyline. You get sucked in to the adventure and cannot put it down.
I feel the book really inspires you to be compassionate and to not always hide who you are. It also teaches you to get out and to follow your dreams.
July 29, 2022
Retelling of the classic. This book is exceptionally illustrated by Chris Riddell. Martin Jenkins gets the gist of the story but losses the beauty of the language in the retelling. It is aimed at middle school or casual high school readers I think. Definitely simplified.
Lots of translations and retellings to choose from. Plenty of commentary available as well. Art and knick knacks available. Written in the same era as Shakespeare but Miguel de Cervantes, the original author, was Spanish.
Lots of translations and retellings to choose from. Plenty of commentary available as well. Art and knick knacks available. Written in the same era as Shakespeare but Miguel de Cervantes, the original author, was Spanish.
September 3, 2019
This was a really beautiful edition; I love Chris Riddell's art, and it perfectly suited the story. I didn't realize quite how ridiculous the original story was. Martin Jenkins' translation and adaptation stays true to the original in plot and tone, while making the language much more accessible and understandable for the modern young reader. I certainly laughed out loud many times. Highly recommend this version if you just want to know the story without having to slog through the original.
March 19, 2012
Wonderful illustrations. We are reading this aloud for bedtime reading and it is broken into nice-sized chapters. The titles of the chapters are as humorous as the story. I have not read Don Quixote before, so I cannot make a comparison, but this is a great book for a young reader to get a taste of the story and characters.
September 10, 2009
I have tried to read Don Quixote a million different times and have never been able to get through it. With this edition, however, I was able to get the gist of this classic story of Don Quixote. Beautifully illustrated would be good for older elementary school kids up to adults.
January 9, 2015
On my list to read one graphic book in 2015. Started and finished today. Quite silly. That's 45 minutes I'll never get back! Sorry, but I feel graphic novels are a complete waste of time.
June 6, 2017
What a great version of a classic tome. Jenkins' narrative is so engaging complemented by Riddell's delightful drawings. I think Riddell should illustrate all the classic works
December 28, 2019
This book was so silly. Who doesn't love an old man who has read so many stories of chivilary he begins to imagine himself a knight? I did feel a bit sorry for Sancho ...
August 6, 2020
The oversize, illustrated edition I found in the library is a very entertaining way to approach this classic. The illustrations are by the wonderful Chris Riddell.
May 6, 2023
What a read! No wonder it's the best selling book. The squire should've been on the title. Underrated side characters. Masterpiece. 10/10 hands down. Might reread very soon. lols
December 1, 2017
The particular book I read was a Xist classic, but I can't find that exact one on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I did find, after some research, that Ormsby was a good translator.
Don Quixote starts out as nobleman Alonso Quixano in Spain. He loves reading about tales of chivalry to the point that he loses his senses, believes the stories to be true, and decides to bring back knighthood by becoming a knight errant himself, much to the dismay of his niece and housekeeper. He chooses the name Don Quixote for himself (or Don Quixote de La Mancha in full) and finds an old suit of armor and cleans it up. When he discovers the helmet has pieces missing, he constructs them out of pasteboard. He renames his old horse Rocinante. Every knight has to have a lady love, so he chooses a farm girl from a neighboring village, unbeknownst to her, and renames her Dulcinea del Toboso (at the beginning it is said that he was once in love with her, but later he confesses that he has never even seen her).
Thus he sets off to seek adventure. But most of his encounters meet with little success. People think he is crazy, so some of them fight against him. Other times he mistakes what’s going on, like thinking windmills are giants or sheep are an army of invaders. Once he got so caught up in a puppet show that he began to think the action was real and slaughtered the villainous puppets. When confronted with reality, he concludes that some enemy enchanter changed things, like making the giants into windmills at the last moment.
Along the way he also encounters other people and hears their stories. My favorite one of these involved a well-to-do woman renowned for her beauty. All sorts of men fell in love with her, but she wouldn’t have them and went off to live alone as a shepherdess. She’s thought to be cruel since she won’t return anyone’s affection. Don Quixote comes upon a funeral of a shepherd who died over his love for this woman and her lack of love for him. While the other shepherds are telling the story, the beautiful shepherdess comes upon the scene and delivers what I have dubbed The Lament of Beautiful Girls Everywhere, saying, in the modern vernacular, “Look, I can’t help it if I am beautiful. God made me that way: it’s through no effort of mine. I can’t fall in love with someone just because he falls in love with me, so give me a break already!� One of the more famous of these is the tale of Lothario, who was unwillingly drafted by his friend to woo his wife, thinking that if she passed this test, he would be sure of her love. Lothario resists at first, then lies saying he has made attempts when he has not, and finally the inevitable happens and he falls in love with his friend’s wife, leading to a “lothario� in our day meaning a man who seduces women.
The book we have today contains two parts. Cervantes wrote the first and was in no particular hurry to write the second, until someone else wrote a book about Quixote. Then he wrote the second part in which he makes many digs at this interloper and his work and ends it in such a way that no one can credibly write any more about his character. Nowadays both parts are published in one book.
Quixote takes three journeys, or sallies, two in the first part and one in the second. He goes alone the first time, but for the second two he takes a farmer as a squire, Sancho Panza. Sancho goes back and forth between admiring Quixote in some ways, particularly his bravery, to wondering about his sanity. He stays with him, though, mainly because Quixote has promised his an island to govern at some point.
The story is told by a narrator as if studying the works of a Cide Hamete Benengalie and his research on Quixote, lending a supposed air of authenticity to the story.
My thoughts:
It’s obvious that the story is meant as a farce. Just the mental picture of what translator Ormsby calls the “unsmiling gravity� of Quixote in old banged up armor with a pasteboard helmet (and later a barber’s bowl for a helmet) on an old horse talking in lofty language like a knight of old is comical, as are Sancho’s lamentations over what Quixote is doing or wants him to do and Sancho’s constant stringing together of proverbs.Cervantes even pokes fun at himself: in one scene, Quixote’s friends are going through his books and getting rid of the books of chivalry most likely to cause the Don the most problems and come across one by Cervantes and comment on it. Then in the second part, he addresses some mistakes in the first part tongue in cheek (like Sancho’s mule, Dapple, being stolen and then appearing in Dapple with no explanation) by saying it was a mistake of the printer, and so on. I enjoyed this kind of humor.
I particularly liked some of the phrasing. Cervantes, in the scene above describing his book that Quixote supposedly read, is said to have “more experience in reverses than verses.� Quixote is often described as lean, even gaunt, and one line speaks of “cheeks that seemed to be kissing each other on the inside.� One girl “did not measure seven palms from head to foot, and her shoulders, which overweighted her somewhat, made her contemplate the ground more than she liked.� My absolute favorite line is: “With a blunt wit thou art always striving at sharpness.�
But a lot of the humor is not to my taste. For instance, in one chapter, Quixote and Sancho and another man are sleeping in something like a stable of an inn. The other man is waiting for a woman to join him. Quixote sees her come in and thinks she is there to test his virtue, so he sets her down beside him to tell her why he must remain true to Dulcinea. The other man sees the Don holding the woman there apparently against her will and starts fighting him. Quixote thinks it is an enemy and fights back. The woman is thrown onto Sancho’s bed, and he, being startled, starts punching her, not realizing she’s a woman. It ends up a free-for-all, Three Stooges style. In fact, there is quite a lot of beating up in the first part.
In both parts there is a lot of setting Quixote up for situations and then laughing at him behind his back, but it’s more concentrated in the second part. Just about all the major characters in the book, even Sancho and the Don’s closest friends, have no trouble deceiving him and laughing at him. In fact, when a friend comes to deceive Quixote into coming home for a year in the hopes that his “madness� might thereby be cured, he is told by someone else, “May God forgive you the wrong you have done the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman in it back to his senses. Do you not see, senor, that the gain by Don Quixote’s sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give? � if it were not uncharitable, I would say may Don Quixote never be cured, for by his recovery we lose not only his own drolleries, but his squire Sancho Panza’s too, any one of which is enough to turn melancholy itself into merriment.� And this laughing at someone who is impaired plus setting him up for further laughs is not my kind of humor, either.
It’s a little crude in a couple of places.
Don Quixote seems pretty foolish at first, but by the end of the book I had grown quite fond of him. More than anyone else in the book, he maintains his integrity. He has his flaws, but he operates under the laws and ideals of chivalry unwaveringly, even when it costs him. As is said of him near the end of the book, he “was always of a gentle disposition and kindly in all his ways, and hence he was beloved, not only by those of his own house, but by all who knew him.�
So while the book will probably never go down as one of my all-time favorites, I am glad to have read it. I enjoyed much of the writing. It’s nice to know the full story now, especially as cultural references to Quixote abound.
Don Quixote starts out as nobleman Alonso Quixano in Spain. He loves reading about tales of chivalry to the point that he loses his senses, believes the stories to be true, and decides to bring back knighthood by becoming a knight errant himself, much to the dismay of his niece and housekeeper. He chooses the name Don Quixote for himself (or Don Quixote de La Mancha in full) and finds an old suit of armor and cleans it up. When he discovers the helmet has pieces missing, he constructs them out of pasteboard. He renames his old horse Rocinante. Every knight has to have a lady love, so he chooses a farm girl from a neighboring village, unbeknownst to her, and renames her Dulcinea del Toboso (at the beginning it is said that he was once in love with her, but later he confesses that he has never even seen her).
Thus he sets off to seek adventure. But most of his encounters meet with little success. People think he is crazy, so some of them fight against him. Other times he mistakes what’s going on, like thinking windmills are giants or sheep are an army of invaders. Once he got so caught up in a puppet show that he began to think the action was real and slaughtered the villainous puppets. When confronted with reality, he concludes that some enemy enchanter changed things, like making the giants into windmills at the last moment.
Along the way he also encounters other people and hears their stories. My favorite one of these involved a well-to-do woman renowned for her beauty. All sorts of men fell in love with her, but she wouldn’t have them and went off to live alone as a shepherdess. She’s thought to be cruel since she won’t return anyone’s affection. Don Quixote comes upon a funeral of a shepherd who died over his love for this woman and her lack of love for him. While the other shepherds are telling the story, the beautiful shepherdess comes upon the scene and delivers what I have dubbed The Lament of Beautiful Girls Everywhere, saying, in the modern vernacular, “Look, I can’t help it if I am beautiful. God made me that way: it’s through no effort of mine. I can’t fall in love with someone just because he falls in love with me, so give me a break already!� One of the more famous of these is the tale of Lothario, who was unwillingly drafted by his friend to woo his wife, thinking that if she passed this test, he would be sure of her love. Lothario resists at first, then lies saying he has made attempts when he has not, and finally the inevitable happens and he falls in love with his friend’s wife, leading to a “lothario� in our day meaning a man who seduces women.
The book we have today contains two parts. Cervantes wrote the first and was in no particular hurry to write the second, until someone else wrote a book about Quixote. Then he wrote the second part in which he makes many digs at this interloper and his work and ends it in such a way that no one can credibly write any more about his character. Nowadays both parts are published in one book.
Quixote takes three journeys, or sallies, two in the first part and one in the second. He goes alone the first time, but for the second two he takes a farmer as a squire, Sancho Panza. Sancho goes back and forth between admiring Quixote in some ways, particularly his bravery, to wondering about his sanity. He stays with him, though, mainly because Quixote has promised his an island to govern at some point.
The story is told by a narrator as if studying the works of a Cide Hamete Benengalie and his research on Quixote, lending a supposed air of authenticity to the story.
My thoughts:
It’s obvious that the story is meant as a farce. Just the mental picture of what translator Ormsby calls the “unsmiling gravity� of Quixote in old banged up armor with a pasteboard helmet (and later a barber’s bowl for a helmet) on an old horse talking in lofty language like a knight of old is comical, as are Sancho’s lamentations over what Quixote is doing or wants him to do and Sancho’s constant stringing together of proverbs.Cervantes even pokes fun at himself: in one scene, Quixote’s friends are going through his books and getting rid of the books of chivalry most likely to cause the Don the most problems and come across one by Cervantes and comment on it. Then in the second part, he addresses some mistakes in the first part tongue in cheek (like Sancho’s mule, Dapple, being stolen and then appearing in Dapple with no explanation) by saying it was a mistake of the printer, and so on. I enjoyed this kind of humor.
I particularly liked some of the phrasing. Cervantes, in the scene above describing his book that Quixote supposedly read, is said to have “more experience in reverses than verses.� Quixote is often described as lean, even gaunt, and one line speaks of “cheeks that seemed to be kissing each other on the inside.� One girl “did not measure seven palms from head to foot, and her shoulders, which overweighted her somewhat, made her contemplate the ground more than she liked.� My absolute favorite line is: “With a blunt wit thou art always striving at sharpness.�
But a lot of the humor is not to my taste. For instance, in one chapter, Quixote and Sancho and another man are sleeping in something like a stable of an inn. The other man is waiting for a woman to join him. Quixote sees her come in and thinks she is there to test his virtue, so he sets her down beside him to tell her why he must remain true to Dulcinea. The other man sees the Don holding the woman there apparently against her will and starts fighting him. Quixote thinks it is an enemy and fights back. The woman is thrown onto Sancho’s bed, and he, being startled, starts punching her, not realizing she’s a woman. It ends up a free-for-all, Three Stooges style. In fact, there is quite a lot of beating up in the first part.
In both parts there is a lot of setting Quixote up for situations and then laughing at him behind his back, but it’s more concentrated in the second part. Just about all the major characters in the book, even Sancho and the Don’s closest friends, have no trouble deceiving him and laughing at him. In fact, when a friend comes to deceive Quixote into coming home for a year in the hopes that his “madness� might thereby be cured, he is told by someone else, “May God forgive you the wrong you have done the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman in it back to his senses. Do you not see, senor, that the gain by Don Quixote’s sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give? � if it were not uncharitable, I would say may Don Quixote never be cured, for by his recovery we lose not only his own drolleries, but his squire Sancho Panza’s too, any one of which is enough to turn melancholy itself into merriment.� And this laughing at someone who is impaired plus setting him up for further laughs is not my kind of humor, either.
It’s a little crude in a couple of places.
Don Quixote seems pretty foolish at first, but by the end of the book I had grown quite fond of him. More than anyone else in the book, he maintains his integrity. He has his flaws, but he operates under the laws and ideals of chivalry unwaveringly, even when it costs him. As is said of him near the end of the book, he “was always of a gentle disposition and kindly in all his ways, and hence he was beloved, not only by those of his own house, but by all who knew him.�
So while the book will probably never go down as one of my all-time favorites, I am glad to have read it. I enjoyed much of the writing. It’s nice to know the full story now, especially as cultural references to Quixote abound.
September 6, 2024
Don Quijote er for mig en svær bog at anmelde. Dens betydning for moderne litteratur og tidløse humor gør den helt sikkert til noget særligt, men personligt havde jeg meget svært ved at komme igennem den.
Efter min mening er den simpelthen ALT for lang og selve grundhistorien ikke særlig dyb og tilfredstillende.
Ifølge visse kilder har den status som “det bedste værk, der nogensinde er skrevet�, og jeg er sikker på, at hvis jeg var i stand til at læse den på originalsproget, ville den være noget mere interessant, men ak.
Humoren føles overraskende tidssvarende, hvilket helt klart bidrager til dens udødelighed, og især karakteren Sancho Panza fandt jeg meget underholdende og interessant.
Men min konklusion er: Bogen ER betydningsfuld, humoren udødelig, men underholdende� Nej, ikke efter min smag.
Efter min mening er den simpelthen ALT for lang og selve grundhistorien ikke særlig dyb og tilfredstillende.
Ifølge visse kilder har den status som “det bedste værk, der nogensinde er skrevet�, og jeg er sikker på, at hvis jeg var i stand til at læse den på originalsproget, ville den være noget mere interessant, men ak.
Humoren føles overraskende tidssvarende, hvilket helt klart bidrager til dens udødelighed, og især karakteren Sancho Panza fandt jeg meget underholdende og interessant.
Men min konklusion er: Bogen ER betydningsfuld, humoren udødelig, men underholdende� Nej, ikke efter min smag.
February 21, 2025
Went looking for something. Lives up to the hype for sure. It’s funny and tackles the human condition in a really beautiful way. I hadn’t spent that much time thinking about the power of entertainment as a motivator but maybe it has always been true that we seek out humor and whimsy with as much vigor as nobility, respect, and material gain.
This book reminded me that humor and humility are as beautiful gifts and any others. Plus I LOLed. 10/10 would seek out unabridged version and give it my go.
“It is vain to expect uniformity in the affairs of this life, the whole seems to be rather a course of perpetual change�
“Yet for all that, it is a fine thing to go out in expectation of accidents, traversing mountains, searching woods, marching over rocks..all at pleasure�
“Until death, all is life�
This book reminded me that humor and humility are as beautiful gifts and any others. Plus I LOLed. 10/10 would seek out unabridged version and give it my go.
“It is vain to expect uniformity in the affairs of this life, the whole seems to be rather a course of perpetual change�
“Yet for all that, it is a fine thing to go out in expectation of accidents, traversing mountains, searching woods, marching over rocks..all at pleasure�
“Until death, all is life�
July 13, 2022
Decent adaptation that has certainly gotten me curious about the full-length version.
May 4, 2024
Per
Fection
Can't get enough of Chris Riddell's paintings
Fection
Can't get enough of Chris Riddell's paintings
November 15, 2024
The artwork was cute and this style of adaptation is a good way to introduce people, especially kids, to the classic work that is Don Quixote.
January 30, 2025
I enjoyed it
Downloaded as an ebook from the library
Quick read
Downloaded as an ebook from the library
Quick read
March 18, 2009
Amazingly well-written, this is a charming tale of a man who's something of an anachronism in his own time. He reads constantly of knights-errant, tales of chivalry and daring-do, and dreams of reliving those days, though they have even in his timeline, long since passed to history.
He assembles an old set of armor, a sword, arrays an old nag as his trusty "steed", and enlists a neighbor to become his squire, setting off to find adventure, rescue damsels, right wrongs, and justificate injustices.
Unfortunately, his slightly overactive imagination leads him to perceive adventures in trivialities, wrongs in normality, and injustices where there are none. This actually adds to the hilarity and charm of the story, though. Quixote is by turns a madman and a very "deep" warrior-philsopher type, true genius on the part of Cervantes.
The story isn't all hilarity, though, and is at times very poignant and borderlines tragic. Apparently there's even tragedy in comedy.
He assembles an old set of armor, a sword, arrays an old nag as his trusty "steed", and enlists a neighbor to become his squire, setting off to find adventure, rescue damsels, right wrongs, and justificate injustices.
Unfortunately, his slightly overactive imagination leads him to perceive adventures in trivialities, wrongs in normality, and injustices where there are none. This actually adds to the hilarity and charm of the story, though. Quixote is by turns a madman and a very "deep" warrior-philsopher type, true genius on the part of Cervantes.
The story isn't all hilarity, though, and is at times very poignant and borderlines tragic. Apparently there's even tragedy in comedy.
Read
October 21, 2010Well, I read the first part of this book(originally published 10(?) years apart). HILARIOUS. I was amazed how well it stood up to the test of time. It was lacking in that most of the book seemed to be made of small adventures that weren't connected very much.
Basically, in the first half of the book, Don Quixote went on some adventures with his sidekick Sancho. Don Quixote is convinced he's a knight Sancho is an idiot and believes everything he says. Don Quixote does things like fighting windmills that he thinks are giants and getting into fights because they won't admit a woman they've never seen is the most beautiful woman in the world.
I just finished the second half-it wasn't as funny as the first. The plot references the first one as having made Don Quixote and Sancho famous. So, rich people love them as a joke.
A few times, Cervantes got a little philosophical, and that wasn't so good.
Basically, in the first half of the book, Don Quixote went on some adventures with his sidekick Sancho. Don Quixote is convinced he's a knight Sancho is an idiot and believes everything he says. Don Quixote does things like fighting windmills that he thinks are giants and getting into fights because they won't admit a woman they've never seen is the most beautiful woman in the world.
I just finished the second half-it wasn't as funny as the first. The plot references the first one as having made Don Quixote and Sancho famous. So, rich people love them as a joke.
A few times, Cervantes got a little philosophical, and that wasn't so good.
March 3, 2024
I finished it! It was quite a long read. I don't know if I would have finished it if I hadn't switched up the translation I was reading near the beginning of my journey. My first sally into the world of Don Quixote, if that's a better way to put it.
Overall I very much enjoyed the book. It was funny and engaging, even though a bit long winded at times. Although the longwindedness and some of the speeches some of the characters made were what helped make the book so funny. I enjoyed the different characters a lot, and I liked the way that they all felt archetypal somehow. Maybe this is because the book was written in a different time, though it still holds up well in today's time and place. In summary, this is still a worthwhile book to read and I am definitely going to be looking more for it's influences in all of the media that I consume probably for the rest of my life.
So in summary, long, but probably worth reading. Get the right translation.
Overall I very much enjoyed the book. It was funny and engaging, even though a bit long winded at times. Although the longwindedness and some of the speeches some of the characters made were what helped make the book so funny. I enjoyed the different characters a lot, and I liked the way that they all felt archetypal somehow. Maybe this is because the book was written in a different time, though it still holds up well in today's time and place. In summary, this is still a worthwhile book to read and I am definitely going to be looking more for it's influences in all of the media that I consume probably for the rest of my life.
So in summary, long, but probably worth reading. Get the right translation.
September 28, 2017
A madman and his borderline alcoholic squire walk into a bar, thinking it’s a castle...
Thus began the many documented adventures of the famous Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, travelling through Spain, pursuing knight-errantry. To be honest, I could’ve done without it, like most classic books. It was alright, but nothing to write home about. There were comical scenes here and there, and the absurdity often gets you. I did manage to admire the close and dysfunctional friendship between the two, and in turn was able to grow close to them myself in an odd sort of way.
The end came as a mild surprise, and though it made me sadder than I expected to be, I still believe that it’s the best way to end this adventure. There is no other way I could think of for passionate Don Quixote to retire than with a soft, melancholic wither.
Thus began the many documented adventures of the famous Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, travelling through Spain, pursuing knight-errantry. To be honest, I could’ve done without it, like most classic books. It was alright, but nothing to write home about. There were comical scenes here and there, and the absurdity often gets you. I did manage to admire the close and dysfunctional friendship between the two, and in turn was able to grow close to them myself in an odd sort of way.
The end came as a mild surprise, and though it made me sadder than I expected to be, I still believe that it’s the best way to end this adventure. There is no other way I could think of for passionate Don Quixote to retire than with a soft, melancholic wither.
November 17, 2021
This book, undoubtedly, had an immeasurable effect on the world of literature and in the lives of many, but it was sadly not for me. I thought Don Quixote’s speeches were brilliantly written and beautiful. It would have been even more beautiful in the original Spanish.
I cheated and read the abridged version, so I was spared some trouble, but even with this shortened version, I frequently felt bored. I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the characters and the flow of the abridged version left something to be desired, though I’m sure it is different in unabridged copies. I didn’t like the way mental illness was often the center of the joke. I didn’t like the sexism. These are related to the time this book was written, so it shows how far we have come in these manors. This fact did not stop those issues from bugging me, though.
I cheated and read the abridged version, so I was spared some trouble, but even with this shortened version, I frequently felt bored. I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the characters and the flow of the abridged version left something to be desired, though I’m sure it is different in unabridged copies. I didn’t like the way mental illness was often the center of the joke. I didn’t like the sexism. These are related to the time this book was written, so it shows how far we have come in these manors. This fact did not stop those issues from bugging me, though.
February 18, 2012
While this book is a classic for a reason, I had an incredibly hard time getting through it. Perhaps it was that the font was tiny and the pages crammed, but every time I attempted to read it at home I would fall asleep. Once I started reading it only on my lunch hour at work things became much better.
Don Quixote is pretty much hilarious and I love Sancho as well. I wish I had read this in high school or college as part of an English class or something, because I think it's one of those books that you get so much more out of when someone is instructing you while you read it.
Either way, I am glad I picked it up and can now say I've read Don Quixote.
Don Quixote is pretty much hilarious and I love Sancho as well. I wish I had read this in high school or college as part of an English class or something, because I think it's one of those books that you get so much more out of when someone is instructing you while you read it.
Either way, I am glad I picked it up and can now say I've read Don Quixote.
March 1, 2015
For the funniest book ever written and the world's most influential book, it was a bit dry, ironic yes! Still it does remind us to not take life too seriously and to chase our dreams if only for the entertainment of adventure. I think this copy is abridged so I'll have to track down another copy for comparison- see if serious hilarity was sacrificed! Chris Riddell's illustrations are amazing! So if you have a teen reluctant reader and you want an illustrated text, it's worth the read. If you have ever wondered where that 'all knowing talking head from Dr Who comes from, wonder no more! Oh and the misnomer "the books she read had addled her brain" correction: wrong gender!
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