Product Description

'he thought it expedient and necessary that he should commence knight-errant, and wander through the world, with his horse and arms, in quest of adventures' Don Quixote, first published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, is one of the world's greatest comic novels. Inspired by tales of chivalry, Don Quixote of La Mancha embarks on a series of adventures with his faithful servant Sancho Panza by his side. The novel has acquired mythic status and its influence on modern fiction is profound.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #305825 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-21
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1120 pages

Synopsis
'he thought it expedient and necessary that he should commence knight-errant, and wander through the world, with his horse and arms, in quest of adventures' Don Quixote, first published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, is one of the world's greatest comic novels. Inspired by tales of chivalry, Don Quixote of La Mancha embarks on a series of adventures with his faithful servant Sancho Panza by his side. The novel has acquired mythic status and its influence on modern fiction is profound.

About the Author
Translated by Charles Jarvis, and edited with an Introduction by E. C. Riley, Professor Emeritus of Hispanic Studies, University of Edinburgh

Customer Reviews

Knights with a twist
Alonso Quixone is a big fan of books on knights and chivalry before losing his sense and becoming convinced he is the knight Don Quixote de la Mancha. He had a thing for a country lass called Aldonza Lorenzo who he renames the Lady Dulcinea del Toboso, as every knight needs a lady to do great deeds for. He sets out to seek adventure, taking along the dense local Sancho Panca as his squire.

His exploits include the famous incident where Don Quixote tilts against windmills mistaking them for giants, seeing many an inn as a castle, rescuing damsels in distress and righting wrongs. Part one sees Don Quixote seeing things not as they seem and introducing the idea of enchantments against him. At the end of it they return home (after being tricked by some people from his town in costumes) and his family try to "cure" him by burning all his books and sealing the room they were stored in. It doesn't work and he sets out again with Sancho on more adventures. Part two sees a change in situation for the Don. A book of his earlier exploits has been published and his name is well known throughtout the country. He is taken advantage of by a Duke and Duchess among others who use his madness for sport. Sancho starts to overuse proverbs, but does finally get his position as govener of an island and prove his excellent judgement.

I really enjoyed this book, although it took ages to get through. It seemed like everytime I sat down to read it, I wouldn't get more than 30 pages further no matter how long I read for... It was worth the struggle though as the story is entertaining and well written. I started off laughing at the unfortunate pair, but later on I came to pity them both. The ending was very sad, mostly because Don Quixote recovered his wits. I recommend reading this, but maybe trying to read it over a longer period of time (the chapters are quite short).

The eternal classic
Don Quixote de la Mancha, the renowned, the valiant, the sage, the enamoured knight, the undoer of wrongs, the tutor of wards and orphans, the protector of widows, the destroyer of maids, he who owns no other mistress than the peerless Dulcinea del Taboso.
Cervantes is quite ironical with the picture of the knight embodied by the ridiculous but none the less moving character of Don Quixote. In a historical perspective one has to consider that the last book of chivalry was published in Spain in 1602 and Don Quixote was completed in 1615. The reading public at that time was thus quite ready to laugh at the fictional world of knights, castles, giants and dwarfs, enchantment and trials by ordeal. The publication of Don Quixote coincided with the realisation that the medieval military caste had little further use in a changing world. Therefore a knight-errant who, contrary to his literary heroes, is aged fifty, skinny and a poor rural gentleman. Sancho Panza is a fat, illiterate, lying and married squire lacking the gentility and education associated with chivalrous apprenticeship. It is interesting to note that Don Quixote did not die with the literary genre it parodies but has become a classic text of western cultural tradition.

Not the best version available..
Don't get me wrong, I love everything about the stories of Don Quixote, but I found this translation far too poetical and long-winded to actually read. I realise that this specific version was written 200+ years ago and in some ways may perhaps stay more true to the original version, but I definitely think there are better, easier to follow editions available. Also, the book isn't exactly a pleasure to look at, though I suppose that's why it's so cheap to buy. I would go as far to say that if you want to truly understand and enjoy Don Quixote, you should read it in its original form. This translation is only really suitable for someone who might also have the Spanish version and wants to read the two.