After an intriguing month delving into the depths of Poe's imaginative mind, we now sally forth into Cervantes' realms of fantasy with Don Quixote and his trusty sidekick Sancho, described by some as "the sane madman and the wise fool".


May I suggest that we read and discuss this book in the following increments:

Prologue - Chapter 14 during the first week
Chapters 15 - 27 during the second week
Chapters 28 - 42 during the third week
Chapters 43 - 52 during the final week


Enjoy!

It sounds OK to me.

I've got the Folio Society edition of Smollett's mid-18th-century translation. In this edition, Part 1 is divided into four books with a total of 51 chapters, but I'm sure I can work out where I should be by the end of each week.

I'm only up to chapter 6 but at this point I can't help but like the character Don Quixote. His love for books of chivalry has lead him to embrace such a lifestyle, leave his home and try to aid damsels in distress, vanquish foes and right wrongs. The description of the inn he first arrived at as he 'sallied' forth, the doxies that in his muddled brain become ladies of the manor, and his vigil over the arms so he can become knighted by the inn keeper.
Part of me can't help but see nothing wrong in his chosen lifestyle. At this point he hasn't really hurt anyone, okay I take that back as he did bonk a few heads at the inn when the ment tried to remove the arms in the trough, but imagine how much worse this would have been had he read romances and imagined himself a lothario, or horror books and imagined him a monster. At least he choose relatively innocuous books to entertain himself.

I think Don Quixote has got to be one of my all time favourite characters in literature and, even with all his faults, I just can't help admiring him. I've got a little further on in the book, so I'll wait a while before I post further thoughts about specific adventures.

>>>imagine how much worse this would have been had he read romances and imagined himself a lothario, or horror books and imagined him a monster.<<<

Thank goodness he didn't, sebastiancat...the mind boggles!!

How wonderfully refreshing the prologue is!! I can't remember reading it before. It immediately brings out the charm and wit of Cervantes. So original! Of course, other writers have spoken of their books as they would of a cherished child, but not in such a unique way, I am sure. I have to keep going back to reread the prologue..

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Sometimes when a father has an ugly, loutish son, the
love he bears him so blindfolds his eyes that he does not see his
defects, or, rather, takes them for gifts and charms of mind and body,
and talks of them to his friends as wit and grace. I, however- for
though I pass for the father, I am but the stepfather to "Don
Quixote"- have no desire to go with the current of custom, or to
implore thee, dearest reader, almost with tears in my eyes, as
others do, to pardon or excuse the defects thou wilt perceive in
this child of mine.

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Hello everyone. I am finished with week two's readings and am nearly halfway thru the 3rd week, which still means I am a week behind.

I have a co-worker who is from Columbia and had to read this in high school in the original Spanish. When she saw that I was reading it she commented that no one in her class had particularly enjoyed it being so long.

Although it is slow going and meanders I am actually very fond of Don Quixote. My favorite passage thus far has been when Don Quixote and Sancho encountered two groups of sheeps and lambs but all Quixote could see were two invading armies and began to enumerate on each individual person. The imagination he has!! The depth of feeling he has for knights and chivalry.

I can't help but imagine how a person like Quixote would have survived today. He may have been institutionalized, especially if he began to injure himself or others (which unfortunately he has done). He may have been put on medication to "alleviate" the symptoms of his illnes.

I am up to the occasion where the barber and the curate have decided to take action and as they travel back to the inn, the innkeeper mentions how he fancies the tales of knights but he himself is not about to go out and become a knight errand.In regards to this it also has practical application as well as holds true in current events. You nearly every week see a news item where some family is suing the maker of a game/movie/singer etc because their game/movie/song inspired them or their child to heinous acts. And yet like the innkeeper others have watched/played/or listened to the same thing but it obviously didn't have the same effect.

My co-worker has reminded me that this was meant to be a satire of all things chivalrous and knightly and you can see it a bit, how biting Don Quixote gets when others presume to tell him how to be chivalrous, as he must be the reigning authority on it.

I will be reading this book into the next month but hope to see how others are doing with this book as well.

Don Quixote was a rather lengthy choice for us I'm afraid, and I do know just how hard it is to try and keep up with the reading schedules, especially when so many other commitments and priorities must take precedence, so I fully understand.

I do think, however, that as there are so many separate adventures our intrepid duo find themselves caught up in, this is a book which can be set aside and dipped into time and again days, weeks or even months later with hardly any loss of momentum. So I do hope that those who started out on Quixote's wonderful journey of self discovery will continue to enjoy it, however long it takes to complete.

Having read a few translations many years ago, I thought I'd attempt to dip into a comparatively new version in the Penguin Classics range this time around, but found it just a little disappointing...a bit too 'modern'. My first ever, and by far my favourite, foray into this gem of literature was in two beautifully leather bound volumes translated by Charles Jarvis. The style of language is suitably dated for this olde worlde, chivalric yarn, and both the humour and poignancy come across extremely well. It has been said that Smollett's translation is the very best of the best and the only one to do real justice to Cervantes' work, but I've never been lucky enough to have found a copy.

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I do think, however, that as there are so many separate adventures our intrepid duo find themselves caught up in, this is a book which can be set aside and dipped into time and again days, weeks or even months later with hardly any loss of momentum. So I do hope that those who started out on Quixote's wonderful journey of self discovery will continue to enjoy it, however long it takes to complete.

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I completely concur with you on this izzi. While long, it is a great book. I wonder how much of the nuances a person misses by not reading it in it's original language.

There are so many side stories, people telling their adventures, their perils, how they came to be. I went from the gathering at the inn and the telling of how everyone came to meet there, to the companion telling how he fared after his father selling the family estate and splitting the money, to the gentleman now espousing on the sonnets he knew. You really have to concentrate on what is the ultimate story as you can get lost in the sidelines.

I like it when books give us new vocabulary words--in this case, Quixotic!

>>>I like it when books give us new vocabulary words--in this case, Quixotic!<<<

You've started something now, skylarb!

"Catch 22" is another example.