Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Don Quixote
Book Review: Cervantes speaks from the dust
Summary: 5 Stars
Translating is a bit more art than science and sometimes the translator can suck away the voice of the author in pandering to a modern crowd. I'm happy to say that Grossman's translation does not do this. She tries to be as literal as possible and thanks to her work we are transported back to the time of the story and can here the characters of Don Quixote speak as they would have spoken. The pompous voice of Don Quixote himself shines through with his often circumlocutious way of getting points across left unabridged. And Sancho Panza's passionate nonsense is also given here with his ridiculous patchwork of cliche exposed to our eyes unadulterated.
And as for the novel itself? Don Quixote is one of those books you must read before you die and the sooner the better. Shakespeare himself used parts of the novel to craft at least one play.
Our hero is the ultimate principle-based manager passionately engaged in his cause. His only flaw is that he happens to be totally insane (but perhaps you've worked for someone like that?). More often than not, Don Quixote is simply an observer of another tale woven within the fabric of the novel. And so reading Don Quixote is a bit like reading Aesop's fables and The Odyssey if they were somehow combined into one book.
A fable is ultimately what the novel Don Quixote is. The moral of the story is that passion is always the winner in everything that matters, and the point of living one's life, even if you happen to be insane.
Book Review: Contemporary, Hilarious and Thought Provoking
Summary: 5 Stars
This is by far the translation of Don Quixote I have enjoyed the most.
I do not know if Ms. Grossman's translation does justice to the original Spanish version because I haven't read it but I enjoyed this book tremendously.
I enjoyed that Ms. Grossman tried to capture not only the story, but also the prose, rhythm and style of writing of the era even it was long winded and somewhat tedious. Even Cervantes' self deprecating and self glamorizing humor is intact. The foot notes also help the non-Spanish speaker understand more of background to the stories, the prose and inside jokes.
Even though this book was written centuries ago I found it contemporary, charming, hilarious and accessible. I believe that it is a great disservice to Cervantes that Don Quixote is being thought of as a drama only to disregard the story's comedic aspects.
Among the 1,000 pages of the book, Cervantes weaves unrelated background stories of characters which the duo meets on their adventures. I found that to be an advantage in such a long book because I could put the book down for a few weeks, read another book, and come back without missing a beat.
I believe that if you would take away the "classic literature" label from this book, which so many people find terrifying, you'll find a funny story, sometimes sad yet very modern even by today's standards.
If you are not familiar with the story of Don Quixote then here is a very short summary: Alonso Quixano is a retired country gentleman in his fifties who lives in La Mancha with his niece and housekeeper. Quixano has become obsessed with books about knights and chivalry (very popular at the time the story was written) and believes that they are true to their words despite the fact that many of the events are clearly unrealistic. Quixano's friends think that he has lost his mind from too much reading, too little sleep and food depravation.
From here the delusional Quixano sets out in search of adventure and takes on his nom de'guerre "Don Quixote de la Mancha" while announcing his love to a neighbor's daughter (unbeknown to her) renaming her "Dulcinea del Toboso".
What follows are adventure of mishap occasionally occurring because Don Quixote has a habit for sticking his nose in matters which are none of his business, using chivalry as an excuse to pick a fight wherever he can - only to be defeated, injured and humiliated. However to be fair, Sancho Panza receives the brunt of those punishments.
That is the end of part one.
Part two, which was written ten years later, reintroduces us to the now famous Don Quixote and Sancho Panza which are the victims of cruel jokes by rich neighbors. Don Quixote gains back his sanity and proves a capable ruler only to be met, again, with disastrous results.
He dies sane and sad instead of delusionary and happy.
While part one is whimsical, part two seemed to me very melancholy and more philosophical
Book Review: DQ Newest Translation
Summary: 4 Stars
I am really enjoying this version of DQ. Grossman does a fabulous job of contextualizing everything in her footnootes (i.e. currency conversions, textual differences between the first and second book, translation choices, and years texts that are referenced were published.) A very smooth, good read.Book Review: DQ, actually a pretty good book.
Summary: 4 Stars
I had to read this book for a writing class this semester (Narrative and Technology), and I found it to be surprisingly good. It was a little hard to read due to the translation from Spanish to English (lots of footnotes to clarify), but otherwise was a fun book to read. Mind you, I wouldn't go out and choose to read this book on my own, but I am glad that I read it. Overall, I noticed that during the discussion of the readings from this book in class really helped to shed some light on the underlying themes and intentions of this book. Cervantes was a pretty witty guy, and you have to realize that while you're reading that this was written in the 1500's in Spain during the Inquisition. I would say, if you're reading this one on your own, to pick up a copy of Sparknotes to help you along the way. Enjoy.Book Review: Delusion and cowardice: A knightly disaster
Summary: 4 Stars
Read about the incompetent (and likely incontinent) knight and his cowardly squire. The two make a great duo, the knight seeing nothing to fear and foes to be vanquished everywhere, the squire afraid of everything and worrying always for his beloved donkey.