It was fun for a while and then I got bored. I probably did not start this novel with the right mindset either. Until I started to read the Literature Book and commit to reading more classics I haven't even thought of reading Don Quixote. However, after I read that it was the first modern novel and other interesting trivia about it, I decided to give it a go. If I like it great, if not, I can always abandon it and read something else. My ancient copy of the novel (1969) has 4 volumes and I finished the 1st one.

While reading, I recognized the book's merit, that some of its structure was before its time, that so many authors were influenced by it etc. I mostly enjoyed it, some parts were funny, some less, I felt pity ans awe for the main character. However, it did not appeal to me that much so I decided not too invest more hours in it. Next classic on my list is Les Liaisons dangereuses.

طنز خوبی داشت، جلد دوم کسل کننده
.
امسال تنها سالی هست که خیلی کتاب‌های کلاسیک خوندم و واقعا از این بابت خوشحالم

All the chivalric romance is long dead and gone… But the travesty Don Quixote is alive and kicking… The strange ones are the fittest…

…the castellan brought out the book in which he had jotted down the hay and barley for which the mule drivers owed him, and, accompanied by a lad bearing the butt of a candle and the two aforesaid damsels, he came up to where Don Quixote stood and commanded him to kneel. Reading from the account book – as if he had been saying a prayer – he raised his hand and, with the knight’s own sword, gave him a good thwack upon the neck and another lusty one upon the shoulder, muttering all the while between his teeth. He then directed one of the ladies to gird on Don Quixote’s sword, which she did with much gravity and composure; for it was all they could do to keep from laughing at every point of the ceremony, but the thought of the knight’s prowess which they had already witnessed was sufficient to restrain their mirth.

As soon as the mocking accolade is over Don Quixote is off to fight evil, to defeat monsters, to perform feats and to save damsels in distress…

“And if,” said Sancho, “those gentlemen wish to know who the valiant one was who did this to them, your Grace may inform them that he is the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha, otherwise known as the Knight of the Mournful Countenance.”
At this the knight inquired of his squire what had led him to call him by such a title at that particular moment.
“I can tell you,” said Sancho. “I was looking at you for a time by the light of the torch that poor fellow carried; and truly, your Grace now has the worst-looking countenance that I have ever seen, whether due to exhaustion from this combat or the lack of teeth and grinders, I cannot say.”

The valorous life of knight-errant is full of hardship so every new feat brings a new sorrow.
The grandiose epic continues: Sancho Panza plays his role of the squire and governor; Don Quixote plays his role of the valiant hero and all the rest play the roles of his adversaries or allies… Adventures, quests, mishaps and show go on…

“One plays the ruffian, another the cheat, this one a merchant and that one a soldier, while yet another is the fool who is not so foolish as he appears, and still another the one of whom love has made a fool. Yet when the play is over and they have taken off their players’ garments, all the actors are once more equal.”
“Yes,” replied Sancho, “I have seen all that.”
“Well,” continued Don Quixote, “the same thing happens in the comedy that we call life, where some play the part of emperors, others that of pontiffs – in short, all the characters that a drama may have – but when it is all over, that is to say, when life is done, death takes from each the garb that differentiates him, and all at last are equal in the grave.”

Many brave knights fought dragons and won but no one remembers their names… Don Quixote fought just a single windmill and even if he failed to defeat it, everyone knows him.

The best novel of all time.

84th book of 2021. Artist for this review is French painter Honoré Daumier.

3.5. Don Quixote rather famously stands as the first “modern” novel, published in two parts, the first in 1605 and the second in 1615. They are very different beasts. The first part, or Book I, is perhaps the Don Quixote people think of: the thin, mad(?), Spanish man (Alonso Quixano) who decides to become a knight errant and rename himself Don Quixote. He manages to acquire a squire in the portly Sancho Panza and thus their adventures begin. Don Quixote sees inns as castles, ugly women as princesses, your everyday vagabond as some great criminal. . . He is always attempting to exact some knightly behaviour on the unsuspecting; and famously, of course, attacks windmills, claiming they are giants. On opening the novel at the beginning and starting to read I was stunned by the freshness of the prose (thanks to Grossman’s translation, whom I trust for her translations of Gabo) and the humour, which I believed to be actually humorous. The problem with the humour is though it never technically faulters, Don Quixote is almost 1000 pages long and so at times it feels as if it is the same gag running, told over and over, with slightly different twists. And besides, in the beginning we find Don Quixote’s madness humorous and by even the midway point, we start to find it endearing. I won’t go into all the possible interpretations of his madness as they are spoken about elsewhere by better speakers, but for me, Quixote’s unwavering desire to be a knight errant did strike me as being quite poignant when thought as simply as him staying true to what he believed in. At one point, after all, Don Quixote says to a man, ‘“Let me conclude by saying, Señor, that you should allow your son to walk the path to which his star calls him.”’



Book 1, for all its humour and chivalric tales of madness, was slow reading to me. Don Quixote feels long, much longer than it actually is. This derives mainly from the episodic nature of the first Book (and in part the second); it is full of stories, stories within stories, tangents, monologues. . . Minor characters appear and when asked by Don Quixote who they are and what they are doing (before he runs them through with his lance, for no good reason) they spin a long yarn about their life, their love, their failures, and all the while we know as readers that this minor character will finish his spiel, Don Quixote will realise that killing him because he is the devil or whoever else isn’t so wise and let him go, and down the same road another fellow will come along with a tale. At times it had the stop-start feeling of a short story collection. This presented a problem for me and damaged my experience of reading it. I had heard Book II is considered different and by some “better”, so that kept me reading through the longer and more uninteresting side-plots of the first Book.


"Don Quixote and Sancho Panza"—1855

And Book II is better. The humour feels reinvigorated and there’s a new angle to the already slight meta elements of the first part: now, in Spain, in reality, there is a fraudulent Don Quixote Book II. Cervantes is returning to set the record straight, it seems. But he does so with wit and grace. The characters in the novel are also aware of a fraudulent copy (for, I forget to mention, the book is actually published within the story too, and Don Quixote becomes “famous” in his own universe). It reminded me somewhat of Byron’s poem “A Vision of Judgement” which is a satirical poetic smackdown of Robert Southey’s own “A Vision of Judgement” from the year before. Cervantes not only mocks the fraudulent copy of his work but also mocks himself and addresses errors in Book 1 (which Grossman helpfully points out at the time: the misnaming of Sancho Panza’s wife (she has about 4 different names in Book I), the inconsistencies in the plot, most notably, the discussion of the disappearance/theft of Sancho’s donkey without it occurring in the plot). Quite meta. So we then have stories within stories, stories within stories again, real stories in reality within the fictional story, etc. Book II is far more enjoyable than Book I in my opinion and almost caused me to be magnanimous and give this 4-stars but the truth is despite loving Don Quixote, Sancho Panza and all the ridiculous things they got up to, this novel is long-winded. There are pages and pages that I didn’t care for aside from the famous duo. As far as the literary world goes this is perhaps a vital read and I am glad I finally read it. Despite the seemingly subpar rating, I’ll be thinking about the pair for a long time, about them vomiting on one another, about them arguing, about Don Quixote standing up to lions, getting caught hanging from a window, the two of them being tricked more times than there are pages, about every bruised body, broken tooth, windmill/giant, love for a lady one has never met, sweeping 17th century Spain with all its bandits, priests, prostitutes, soldiers, innkeepers, dukes and duchesses. . . all its kaleidoscopic madness that has kept it surviving until today as one of the most translated book in the world. And now I can refer to something as Quixotic with good faith and intention (and good memories of the beloved and most insane sane man to live: Don Quixote).

This book was published in two parts, originally. The first was published in 1605 and the second in 1615.
It was the Golden Age of Spanish literature and thus of any literature in the Western world. Don Quijote is the most significant work of that era and thus a cornerstone of Western literature.

The protagonist is actually called Alonso Quixano, a poor and already quite old hidalgo (nobleborn). However, after reading countless romances about noble knights, he loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant and thus reviving chivalry and serving his country as the titular Don Quijote (or Don Quixote) de la Mancha. Relatively soon after setting out on his poor and underfed horse, Rocinante, he is brought home by a farmer because of his injuries. The farmer is, of course, the famous Sancho Panza, who is Quixano's neighbour and who becomes his faithful squire (more like a caretaker).
While his master has his head in the clouds and refuses to see the world as it is, instead daydreaming of living a quest in a world full of fair maidens, honourable adversaries and horrible monsters, Sancho Panza might not be the brightest candle in the chandelier but at least retains his dry wit when dealing with his master's (lengthy) rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood or his often quite dangerous undertakings.
One such undertaking is probably the most famous one that almost everyone has heard about one way or another: Quijote's attack on windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants. But that is only the beginning of their travels/(mis-)adventures. And one is more absurd than the one before.
Part 2, interestingly, was not only published 10 years after the first one, it is also far less funny. Instead, the author focused more on sincerity and on philosophically looking at the subject of deception.
Even his characters therefore know about the publication of part 1, the book thus exploring the concept of a character understanding that he is written about, an idea explored often in the 20th century.
Moreover, we see Quijote being made fun of and deceived as a cruel practical joke for the amusement of others. Ultimately, the book also ends tragically as all the pranks and tricks end in Quixano returning home and recovering his sanity before falling deathly ill and dying sad and disenchanted.

The book was the first to incorporate so many different literary styles and techniques, thus blending seamlessly fantasy and history and giving the book several layers (the author often interrupts the tale to say that the source so far recited stops at this point but that he found another that continues the tale, thus deceiving the reader by pretending the tale had actually taken place).

Unsurprisingly, the book had a major influence on other writers throughout history, as evidenced by direct references in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers as well as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and even more modern works such as the science fiction series The Expanse by S.A. Corey. Not to mention all the paintings, statues and other art forms depicting the two protagonists.

As can be seen by the foreword, the fact that Cervantes cited fictional sources to lend the book additional credibility, and the fact that the book is almost outrageous in places when seen from the time it was published in (a time when Catholicism ruled supreme, especially in Spain), the author was quite sarcastic. Unlike his protagonist, I don't think he had any illusions about the world while probably wishing it to be at least a little bit different.

What delighted me was how, when Cervantes called out society's hypocrisy and stupidity, he actually also took a feminist stance when showing what men expected was their due and what women were expected to do/say and how they were expected to behave. The scene with Marcela that I dedicated a status update to was just one example.

Here is the (to me) most important thing:
When the book was first published, it was generally interpreted as a comic novel. After the French Revolution, it was better known for its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong - thus it was seen as disenchanting. Then, in the 19th century, it was regarded as a social commentary, despite nobody being able to tell what Cervantes' social commentary actually was ("whose side Cervantes was on"). Later, many critics came to view the work as a tragedy in which Don Quixote's idealism and nobility are viewed by the post-chivalric world as insane and him and his idealism/nobility being defeated and rendered useless by common reality and the unchivalrous nature of society.
The kicker? IT IS ALL OF THAT. At the same time.

I knew this would be good but I have to admit that I had no idea this would be so entertaining while simultaneously being so profound.
The reader is taken from one layer of story to the next, getting a look at Cervantes as much as his characters from the tale. At the same time, we get to see several Spanish landscapes and encounter what must have been typical representatives of society back then. The funny / tragic thing about that is that there are direct parallels to today's society, making this book so timeless and precious.

بیایید به آنهایی که دوستشان داریم، دُن‌کیشوت هدیه بدهیم!

من این کتاب رو به پیشنهاد فهرست "صد رمانِ برترِ تمامِ دوران‌ها"ی نشریه‌ی گاردین خوندم. دن کیشوت در اون فهرست صدر نشینه!
یکی از بهترین رمان هاییه که در تمام عمرم خوندم و موقع خوندنش گاهی با صدای بلند می خندیدم و گاهی بر انگیخته می شدم و گاهی درس می گرفتم. این رمان، اولین رمان مدرن به حساب میاد. یعنی سروانتس قواعدی که تا اون موقع برای رمان نویسی رایج بوده رو نادیده می گیره و دن کیشوت وار شروع به نوشتن رمانش می کنه. این کتاب در ابتدا به صورت یک جلدی نوشته میشه اما از اونجایی که با اقبال زیادی از طرف خوانندگان روبرو میشه و به چند زبان ترجمه میشه، یک کشیش بی مایه، میاد جلد دومی برای رمان سروانتس می نویسه. سروانتس هم عصبانی میشه و ده سال بعد از نگارشِ جلد اول دن کیشوت، شروع می کنه به نوشتنِ جلد دوم دن کیشوت. و تا انتهایِ جلد دوم هم به اون کشیش بد و بیراه میگه. برای من، جلد دوم به اندازه ی جلد اول جذابیت نداشت چون فاصله ی نگارش بین اونها ده ساله و مسلماً نویسنده در ده سال دچار تحولاتی از جمله کهولت سن و کم حوصلگی میشه و گمون می کنم همین امور در افتِ طنز و تهور قهرمانِ داستان بی تأثیر نبوده.
دن کیشوت کتابیه که هر رمان خونی باید خونده باشه. محمد قاضی این کتاب رو از فرانسه ترجمه کرده اما جوری ترجمه کرده که انگار خودِ سروانتس به فارسی نوشته!

این کتاب درس‌های زیادی به من آموخت لکن از بین همه‌ی اونها، یک درس رو نصب‌العین کردم:
غمِ همسایه خوردن، خر را هم از پا در می‌آوَرَد.

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to Don Quixote, written around 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. A few interesting facts: (1) The book was originally written in Spanish, (2) I read an English translation as when I attempted to read the Spanish, between the changes in language over 400 years and my own limitations of the language at the time I read it, (3) this is considered one of the first "modern" novels and (4) all the great writers in the 19th century looked to this novel and author as the person whose footsteps they should be following in... that's how good it was and how famous it was years ago. So many forget about it now, think of it as just some non-American book, a romance story or a play or film they watched. WRONG! It started as a great Spanish novel -- I'm only being funny with my little attitude here -- that influenced the entire world. If you haven't read it, you should definitely give it a chance. From romance to solid friendships, to travels and cultural experiences, this book tells of life's greatest pleasures and all the emotions that come with it.

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

6/5.

This is quite simply the greatest thing I’ve ever read.

RTC

Don Quixote, English edition: 1050 pages. & not once was I like, "This ain't worth it." Because it is!

The novel about novels (my favorite motif of all lit is lit within lit... storytelling...ya know...?) is actually a novel about love. The three voyages by Don Quixote are obvious metaphors for life and all the characters he meets along the road are romantically inclined, bored and in want of change. Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, provide ample entertainment for them and for us, the reader.

This relationship lasted a month and I cannot recall a single detriment. It is structured like The Arabian Nights and The Canterbury Tales---that is, much is told of the character telling the story, and of his or her potential madness or sanity. This dualism is explored to the fullest & characterized by moments of sheer happiness & almost-delirium. There is a world established here, and did it actually occur? The characters fall into apocrypha and then into stark reality. It is no mistake that Cervantes foretold what the two adventurers realize at about page 900: they will be famous for all time and their images shall be ingrained everywhere. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are immortal in Spain and can be seen pretty much in every town traversed. The self-sppointed prophecy lives to this VERY DAY!!!! That fiction merges with history, that the book is self consious and post modern... all these things and more are part of the Quixote legend.

I say the book is about love because everyone suffers from the disease: Don Quixote loves his tales of knight errantry, and his own views of chivalry clash with those of the folks he meets. He is progressively antiquarian. Sancho is in love with his master, has a very stable view on life (he attains the title of governor and insists, ten days later, to quit and continue his life with his knight) and talking in proverbs he displays, until Book II of course, a wisdom that has obviously evolved, like the story, like the character, like the reader. There are plenty of characters in love with damsels, there are peasants in love with a good laugh (even the ass and Rozinante, the "Knight of the Rueful Figure"'s steed, find eternal companionship) and then there is the reader, an IMPORTANT FIGURE IN THIS ADVENTURE (also) who is sure to fall under the enchantment of this classic that defies conventional storytelling and has absolutely no rival.

حالا می‌فهمم چرا لرد بایرون این کتاب را غمبارترین رمان عالم خوانده بود. دن کیشوت داستان سرخوردگی‌هاست و داستان آرزوهای بزرگی که رنگ می‌بازد و بدل به اوهامی سرگردان می‌شود.

«دن‌کیشوت از هر رمانی غم‌انگیزتر است و به خصوص از آن رو غم‌انگیز است که ما را به خنده می‌آورد»

از مقدمهٔ کتاب:
دن‌کیشوت مظهر طبقه‌ای است که قدرت و شوکت خود را از دست داده و رو به زوال می‌رود، ولی نمی‌تواند این زوال را باور کند و یا این‌که نمی‌خواهد آن را به روی خود بیاورد. همین است که دن‌کیشوت، نجیب‌زادهٔ مفلوک ناتوان، شمشیر می‌بندد و زره می‌پوشد و بر اسب «تازی» سوار می‌شود و در عین فقر، مهتر و اسلحه‌دار نگاه می‌دارد و به این سو و آن سو می‌رود و مبارز می‌طلبد. سروانتس، تراژدی بسیار غم‌انگیز یک انسان مجنون و ذلیل و درمانده را با کمدی ��سیار مضحک کسانی که دیگر اجتماع جایی برای ایشان ندارد، استادانه درهم‌آمیخته و شاهکاری به وجود آورده که تجسم زندگی دردناک و رقت‌انگیز کسانی است که برخوردار از شرافت و درستی و صاحب افکار بلندند، ولی راه واقعی برآوردن آرزوها و آرمان‌های خود را نمی‌شناسند. از این جاست که «دن‌کیشوت» در هر خانه و کاشانه‌ای جای خود را باز کرده است. دن‌کیشوت با ما بیگانه نیست، در کنار ماست. این‌که بیشتر اوقات مضحک جلوه می‌کند برای این است که او یادگار گذشته‌ای است که بر آن مهر باطله خورده است، رفیق خواب‌ماندهٔ پهلوانان است که بسیار دیر به یک جهان پیر و فرتوت قدم نهاده است، ناچار خویشتن را با آداب و رسوم و احتیاجات و تمنیات زمان که نه می‌تواند درکش کند و نه می‌تواند بپذیردش در تناقض شدید می‌بیند. با این وصف، این مرتاض، این کشیش، این زاهد عدل و داد، از همهٔ لذت‌های حیات، از خوشی‌های یکنواخت زندگی شهرنشینی چشم پوشیده است تا سوار بر یک مرکب جنگی سر به دشت و صحرا بگذارد، در سر پیچ جاده‌ها در کمین جنایت و نابکاری بایستد و عدل و صلح را به جهان بازگرداند و آن روز که می‌فهمد تلاشش بیهوده بوده و ساده‌دلانه فریب احلام و اوهام خود را خورده است، می‌میرد.

I'm going to miss Don Quixote and Sancho Panza so much! They feel like old friends!

In all honesty, I didn't expect to love this book as much as I now do! My favorite stories are the ones that make me feel a myriad of emotions, which is exactly what reading Don Quixote did! I laughed at almost every chapter, felt tearful by the end, and adored them the whole way through!
This is a groundbreaking work of fiction, and I feel honored to have read it! To think that some of my favorite "classic" writers have also read this story fills my heart with joy! To think that Tolstoy, Dickens, Dostoevsky, and so many others have read it as well!!!

I wish to thank Cervantes for bringing me along on all of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza's adventures and misadventures!!!
It was quite the quest!