Product Description

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become a knight errant and pursue bold adventures, accompanied by his squire, the cunning Sancho Panza. As they roam the world together, the aging Quixote's fancy leads them wildly astray. At the same time the relationship between the two men grows in fascinating subtlety. Often considered to be the first modern novel, Don Quixote is a wonderful burlesque of the popular literature its disordered protagonist is obsessed with.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25818 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-30
• Original language: Spanish
• Binding: Paperback
• 1056 pages

About the Author
Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda's (1547-1616) life was occupied with a struggle to earn a livelihood from literature and humble government employment. As well as Don Quixote, he wrote a number of plays and a collection of highly accomplished short stories, Exemplary Tales (1613). John Rutherford is a Fellow of the Queen's College Oxford and a Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Spanish American literature. He has translated Leopoldo's La Regenta for Penguin Classics.

Customer Reviews

Maybe the first, maybe the best!
This book is often referred to as the first modern novel, and written while Shakespeare was still putting on plays in the early 1600s, we can see why. It is also one of the best novels I've read, with some of the best characters in literature.

The story follows the Don as he sallies forth as a knight errant in search of adventure, to win honour and fortune. Unfortunately, Quixote is not a knight but rather an old man with an unravelled mind infected by the reading of too many medieval romances depicting such deeds. The stage is set for a hilarious tale of hallucination and misadventure. With Sancho Panza his loyal squire he takes on spirits, evil enchanters and most famously, of course, giants in the form of windmills.

As we follow the ingenious Hidalgo we find him increasingly endearing, his complete faith in everything he believes is disarmingly lovable while also humiliatingly funny. I found it a surprise that the comedy still holds up today, yet a man trying unsuccessfully against outlandish situations of his own making is very much a cornerstone of today's sitcoms and movies. The character is therefore a familiar one and immensely engaging. While we laugh at him, we can't help admiring his dedication and fearlessness, through this Don Quixote manages somehow to keep his dignity. Above all it is this characteristic that keeps our esteem for him so high.

Sancho Panza, the lovable squire begins very much as a simple companion, only there to highlight the absurdities of the situations invented by the Don himself, but the character grows artfully throughout the adventure becoming indispensable for his simple wit and practicality. This so at odds with the high-minded madman leads to great comedy as conflict and friendship mix to form a subtly growing relationship that provides the foundation of the story.

We also meet a whole host of characters during the course of the adventure, each with their own tale to tell. Using this, the author is able to entertain us with diverse digressions, and stories within stories that never allow the journey to get stale and boring.

A must, must, MUST read. Hilariously absurd throughout as adventure piles on adventure and a new tale unfolds with every character met. Cervantes is a talented entertainer that treats his noble creation with a tenderness we can't help but share, while all the time haranguing him with all the humorous predicaments his malady makes possible. It WILL make you laugh, and if you have any heart it will also make you cry. Fantastic!

An utter masterpiece!
This novel is a superlative piece of literature, at once eloquent and bawdy, poetic and brash, sweet and rude, traversing through all these contrasts with the delicate ease of a masterly author.

Gushing aside, it is the architypal rivetting read and, despite its huge size, it is divided into many small episodes that make it idea bedtime reading. This translation is excellent and very well researched - there are masses of notes and references at the back to explain the meaning and context of thousands of names, phrases, verses, songs and historical events mentioned in the book.

I doubt there is praise too lofty for this book. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Good knight Cervantes
Rutherford's introduction contains a fascinating account of the complexity of the translator's art and it is pleasing to note that this edition has received the recognition is deserves. The narrative flows with supreme ease, feels surprisingly modern whilst capturing its place in history (Spain c.1600). For me Cervantes has a Shakespearian ability to write a story that can exist, with joyful relevance, in any time and place: the legacy of a genius being his or her ability to live in the minds of countless succeeding generations. This is immortality. And the insane, hilarious, haphazard adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza deserve their place in the canon of world literature.

There is so much to enjoy in this tale of chivalry: Cervantes' voice, hidden beneath the narrators, teasing the reader with a fictional account of the history's origins; the digressions, tales of love and loss; Quixote's honourable delusions, metamorphosing his perception of reality (the windmills are the most famous example but there are many others); Panza's mercenary loyalty, his malapropisms interlaced with a stream of proverbs; friends and family; Rocinante and Sancho's `dun'; the imitable maiden Dulcinea. Ultimately I found the evolving relationship between knight errant and squire the most rewarding aspect of the book. The sensitivity in which Cervantes handles this friendship is beautifully drawn out and I was left with a feeling of unbridled love, compassion and affection. Never mind the difference in socials status, master and servant, these two heroes are equals. They suffer together (although Sancho always feels he comes off the worst), they share the same madness and naivety, and they witness the same mirages of the mind (the flying wooden horse scene is very funny). Such is the timeless authority of the humour that it came as no surprise to discover on pages 885-6 a remarkable resemblance to Monty Python's cheese shop sketch. One of the greatest reads I have experienced. Six stars!!!