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    Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
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    Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
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    Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
    Ebook1,650 pages25 hours

    Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

    By Miguel de Cervantes and Carole Slade

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
    • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
    • Biographies of the authors
    • Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
    • Footnotes and endnotes
    • Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
    • Comments by other famous authors
    • Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
    • Bibliographies for further reading
    • Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
    All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works. Widely acknowledged as the first modern novel, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote features two of the most famous characters ever created: Don Quixote, the tall, bewildered, and half-crazy knight, and Sancho Panza, his rotund and incorrigibly loyal squire. The comic and unforgettable dynamic between these two legendary figures has served as the blueprint for countless novels written since Cervantes’s time. An immediate success when first published in 1604, Don Quixote tells the story of a middle-aged Spanish gentleman who, obsessed with the chivalrous ideals found in romantic books, decides to take up his lance and sword to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked. Seated upon his lean nag of a horse, and accompanied by the pragmatic Sancho Panza, Don Quixote rides the roads of Spain seeking glory and grand adventure. Along the way the duo meet a dazzling assortment of characters whose diverse beliefs and perspectives reveal how reality and imagination are frequently indistinguishable. Profound, powerful, and hilarious, Don Quixote continues to capture the imaginations of audiences all over the world. Features illustrations by Gustave Doré.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarnes & Noble Classics
    Release dateJun 1, 2009
    ISBN9781411432086
    Unavailable
    Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

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    Reviews for Don Quixote (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

    4/5

    3,876 ratings113 reviews

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    • 5/5
      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
    • 5/5
      17th centurycervantesfictionspanish literature
    • 4/5
      I really liked this. And now I feel smarter. But I have nothing smart to say about it.
    • 3/5
      ZZZzzz.This was moderately painful to get through. Never again. This is probably the one text I would have preferred abridged.
    • 4/5
      Much as I love Shakespeare, Don Quixote is a more accessible work of 17th century literature. This book has been waiting on my bookcase for almost 22 years. Finally I have read it, and it was worth it. Funnier than I expected. Charming in its telling of the story of a madman and his wise but foolish squire. I enjoyed the connection between the adventures, with characters returning for further encounters with Don Quixote, and people spoken of in travellers' tales eventually materialising themselves. I struggled with the last 200 pages, not because the story telling weakened, but because I felt fatigued with reading about the futile wanderings of Quixote and Panza.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite stories. I never get tired of this story and this illustrated version is just lovely.
    • 5/5
      Can you believe this was written in the 15th century? It is one of the most contemporary books you can read. Sally forth!
    • 5/5
      Cervantes has a bit of Dutch humor in him. I am reminded of Sancho producing ejecta (I mean schijt) next to the Knight of the Rueful Figure in the dark who startled at the smell. Also, when Sancho is governing his "island" he writes Quixote and tells him he would send him something, though the only thing the island produces are enema tubes which are "curiously turned and mounted". I found the episode in which Don Quixote and Sancho vomit on each other after having consumed the magical elixir hilarious as well. I digress, I make the book sound perverse. It is far from it. Looking back on the 2 parts of Don Quixote, I must say that I believe the 1st part to be my favorite. Everyone knows the windmill scene. I am reminded of the windmill scenes in the old black and white Frankenstein movie and the one in Evil Dead. I could philosophize on this single adventure for an eternity. I will never forget Dorotea, Cardenio, Don Fernando, Luscinda, the Curate, Camacho... This book is one of the greatest--containing an occult knowledge of life. This is why men such as Voltaire carried it with them. Read Isaac Disraeli's essay "The Man of One Book" to understand me. This perhaps could be my "One Book". It has not only it's own wealth but also a wealth of past histories and chivalrous works within it. Take to the mountains and fields with this book, ye goat herders!
    • 2/5
      I feel I should have got more from this than I did. I will possibly try to read it again with cliff notes and put a bit more of an effort in. I liked the premise, but it just never caught my interest and I gave up at chapter 5, hardly any of the way in.
    • 3/5
      Famous lunatic wanderings of a would-be knight errant and his trusty squire. The gentle humor (graphic knightly assaults notwithstanding) has fared well over the ages.
    • 4/5
      As you stare at the 940-page mass that is Edith Grossman's translation of Don Quixote, you might wonder if reading this Literary Classic (TM) warrants several weeks of your readerly devotion. The answer depends upon what you value in a text. If you require a story with a set group of characters who move in a straight line from plot points A to Z, then you should reconsider spending your hours on the famous "knight errant," for as he wanders into various adventures, so does Cervantes, who rarely allows a chapter to pass without another side story featuring pairs of starcrossed lovers composed unfailingly of beautiful ladies and brave but unfortunate gentlemen. However repetitive, this storytelling device highlights the surprisingly modern metafictive elements of the novel. Although Don Quixote the man lacks the capacity for honest self-examination, the text achieves another superior level of existence via its self-awareness. Beginning with an Aristotelian book burning and proceeding to warp the distinction between fiction and reality, Don Quixote the novel embodies those characteristics that we have so simply reduced to the word 'quixotic'. It is this brilliant trick, over which I suspect Cervantes is still laughing somewhere in the ethereal land of deceased authors, that delighted my twenty-first century palate.
    • 2/5
      Well, I'm finished. I'm so glad to say that. Actually, I skipped about 200 pages and went to the end. I may or may not go back and read them, don't care much either way at this point.I have been by turns engrossed and enraged by this book. My kids keep asking me why I am still reading it. I don't really know. Cervantes is an infuriating writer. For the first 200 pages, I didn't really care at all about Don Quixote. He was just this delusional guy that went around doing stupid things. But then I started sort of liking him. Yes, he's crazy, but he is a man of honor. He is completely mistaken in his actions, but he has a good heart.But it just goes on and on and on! I got tired of Sancho Panza somewhere during Volume 2 and almost every time he started talking, I tuned out. Cervantes was using him as the comic sidekick, but I didn't find him funny at all. There were so many long passages of pointless arguments about this and that.One thing I hadn't expected was an almost postmodern twist of Cervantes directly addressing the reader, in the guise of the author. That had a surprisingly modern feel. There was a sort of inside joke, with one of the characters early in Volume 2. Sampson, a neighbor, is telling Don Quixote and Sancho Panza all about this book he has read about them. That was kind of funny. But the humor was not enough to make up for all the long boring spots.I also had a hard time reading it because of the style. The translator of my edition was Tobias Smollett, and it was done in the 18th century. A more modern edition might look more the way we're used to, with paragraphs after quotation marks, and no more of this two or three page paragraphs. It made it even more difficult to read.All in all, I suppose I'm glad I read it, but I'm even more glad I'm done.
    • 4/5
      I decided to delve into Don Quixote to prepare for seeing the play this August in Ashland, Oregon (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). I actually read a slightly abridged version (from Samual Putnam's The Portable Cervantes-- it was still over 700 pages). I only read Book I as the play only covered Book I. I think that reading the book greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the play and vice versa. The story itself is episodic in nature and I think it could have done without so many episodes-- they started to get a bit tiresome. I also found the love quadrangle around Cordenio to be confusing since the bits of it were separated so far apart. The play elucidated much of that. I am sure this is a novel that should be studied thoroughly and with full historical context to fully appreciate it. It was a fine read going into it blindly though and much easier than I expected (good translation helps). As I was reading it I was wondering how on earth they would stage it (battles with sheep herds, horses with personality, etc.) The production was brilliant and I HIGHLY recommend it! Book Rating 3.5
    • 4/5
      I am never sure how to go about reviewing a classic so I will just include here some random thoughts. I liked the difference in development between the first and second books – the first being more episodic and the second being more encompassing. The proverbs were delightful – some being the same as current ones and some different – some revealing a more logical origin. I loved it, and have reaffirmed my commitment to learn Spanish and read the original.
    • 5/5
      I read this back in the early seventies in my Great Books of the Western World class at UF, and I remember writing a pretty good paper about it. Sadly, I have no idea which edition or translation, but it is truly one of the great archetypal works.
    • 5/5
      This is a classic for a reason, extremely funny! I must say though that the trusty squire Sancho Panza steals the show. This book would be nothing without him. A good read if you need a laugh
    • 1/5
      I really didn't enjoy the book. The chapters were to short. It wasn't my sense of humour. I didn't finish it. I just couldn't. I just felt sorry for Don Quixote. He was clearly mad and Sancho was just annoying
    • 5/5
      It's not a comic novel, or a romantic tragedy, or a journey into the self, or of course it's all those things, but mostly it's an incredible metanovel, dude. Think about how much thinner this book would be without all the stories people tell in it. Thnk about how many of those stories are false or apocryphal or ludicrously confused, the story equivalent of DQ's many many platfalls that somehow never get old, and then think about how the stories drive the action. How the author gamely steps up for his share of blows. How half the book only exists to show up that Tordesillas dude who wrote a fake sequel, and how that's the same as Don going out and adventuring in the first place - literature is the driving force, and Orlando and all of that is real literature too, of course. This book interacts with the real world in maybe the closest and subtlest way ever, and as the characters get oh-so-close to realizing their fictitious, constructed nature, you stop and go OH SHIT. Here I am with my reading, wasting my life away too. Why? And then you go on doing it, a slave to books just like Quixote, and that is insanity too. but what else can you do? You don't have control; you are fictional. Your books are writing you.
    • 2/5
      Although I tried to like Don Quixote, it reminded me too much of the slap-stick humor of Gilbert & Sullivan or the 3 Stooges. Worth reading once to understand references found in other material, but definitely not one of my favorites.
    • 5/5
      A brilliant translation! Turns what has been one of the most convoluated translated pieces into something easily digestible.
    • 4/5
      What a long book. It's a good read and worthwhile, but also a thousand plus pages of sometimes slow going (due to the subtlety of things to catch and understand rather than boredom). Quixote is a self-proclaimed knight-errant, basing his character and his actions on a time that has passed and never actually existed in the way represented by chivalric fiction.His squire, Sancho Panza is the most dynamic character, letting his simple wisdom come out along the way. Though Sancho is influenced by Quixote, the former influences the latter more. This is expressly seen in Quixote picking up Sancho's habit of littering his speech with proverbs and metaphors. It is more subtly represented by his having some common sense toward the end. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra lived some of the adventures in the book. As a crusader, he was captured by Turks and held for ransom. His first book was used by another author as the basis for a fake second part, leading Cervantes to frequently mock the counterpart throughout his own sequel. Quixote even defeats a faux version of himself. The book references a lot of phrases that one might have thought to be born at a later date. Cervantes himself is sometimes thought of as the Spanish equivalent to Shakespeare. Both of them died on the same nominal day, April 23, 1616, though Shakespeare actually died 10 days later, due to the English calendar being still unreformed at the time. Quixote was a tool for putting chivalry in a modern context. Quixote had read every chivalry book (Amadis of Gaul is referenced most frequently, as is Lope da Vega) and Cervantes referred to quite a few of them. Frequently, the chivalrous deed resulted in a worse situation. Examples include Quixote admonishing a master not to beat his servant, only to have invoked a later subsequent beating. Quixote also frees several suffering men who turn out to be criminals. Just before his death, Cervantes was proclaimed a "tertiary of St. Francis." Quixote compares the Iron age to the previous Golden age, seeing the latter as being a time when men lived freely off of what the earth easily offered. There was no need to open the "bowels" of the land with a plow and maidens could roam freely, thinly clad, without having to worry about the affront of men. That is how chivalry is portrayed. (Compare that to Hobbes' description in Leviathan. Cervantes seems to draw from Chaucer or some of the same stories - the magic horse, etc.)
    • 4/5
      Be it the last great Romantic novel, or the first great work of modern Western Literature, Don Quixote blurs the line between these two eras, parodying, satirizing, and waxing philosophic all the way.Don Quixote, arguably the most influential Spanish work of literature, is a tale told in two volumes, published a decade apart. Within this work, the ingenious hidalgo, Don Quixote de La Mancha, goes slightly mad after a little too much reading and not enough eating or sleeping (haven't we all been there...), and takes it upon himself to perform great feats of chivalry in the name of his unwary love, Dulcinea.Joined by his dimwitted sidekick, Sancho Panza, the two embark on quests and adventures, great and small. Quixote's niece wishes to get her uncle back and sane, which she and her accomplices team up to do, all the while thwarting Quixote's attempts at great acts of chivalry.A great work by any means, albeit a thick one. Recommended for anyone who has had to attack windmills, either figuratively or literally.
    • 3/5
      Very, very, very tedious and very, very, very long. I actually liked the stories within the story better than I liked the story of Quixote. The Lothario tale was very entertaining, among others. And I enjoyed Sancho Panza's time ruling his "island." But I found the constant abuse and belittling of Quixote by others to be increasingly annoying, and when Quixote spoke, I had to will myself to pay attention. I'm glad I read it, but I'll never read it again.
    • 4/5
      Don Quixote has always intimidated me. The novel is a literary giant, my own windmill to conquer. This year, over the course of a couple months, I finally read it. I was surprised by the gentle nature and sincerity of the famous knight. I’d always thought of him as a bit clownish, but in reality he is the most human of men, if that makes sense. He’s deeply flawed and so he’s deeply relatable. I didn’t realize when I started the book that it consists of two separate volumes published 10 years apart. The first volume includes most of the well-known elements of the story, including Don Quixote’s famous attack on the windmills. In the second volume everyone knows who Don Quixote is because they've read the first volume. It adds an interesting element to the book, because he is now trying to live up to his own legend. He's become a celebrity and his cause and condition have become well known throughout the land.Alonso Quixano is Don Quixote’s true name. He reads book after book dealing with stories of chivalry throughout the ages. He then becomes convinced that he is in fact a knight errant and he must go on a crusade to help the people who are suffering in Spain. “It is not the responsibility of knights errant to discover whether the afflicted, the enchained and the oppressed whom they encounter on the road are reduced to these circumstances and suffer this distress for their vices, or for their virtues: the knight's sole responsibility is to succour them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds.”He saddles up his horse, Rocinante, and recruits a local farmer named Sancho Panza to embark on his travels with him. Sancho becomes his faithful squire. The two set off and along the way they “help” those who cross their path. The problem is that Don Quixote is delusional about who actually needs his help. The famous windmill scene comes about because he thinks he is fighting giants. He fights for the honor of a woman who barely knows him, Dulcinea del Toboso. The first volume contains a strange mix of stories. Everyone is able to see the Don’s madness except himself and his proverb-spouting squire. Though this is tragic in some ways, it’s also beautiful. There’s something about having complete faith in another person that gives you strength in your own life. The first volume is entertaining, but lacks the depth I was expecting. It wasn’t until I got into the second volume that I really fell in love with the book. There’s such a wonderful exploration of motivation, delusion, loyalty, and more. Who is Don Quixote hurting with his quest? Is it wrong to allow him to remain convinced of his knighthood? The second volume also pokes playful fun at the first volume, joking that the author exaggerated stories, etc. “The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”Don Quixote’s naïveté and earnestness about his field of knight errantry make him an easy target. People who want to play tricks on him or friendly jokes or even rob him are easily able to because they know exactly what his weaknesses are. He believes, without a doubt, in the code of knight errantry that he holds himself to. He's also wise about so many things while remaining blind to his own absurdity. At times he reminded me of Polonius from “Hamlet” spouting off wisdom to anyone who will listen. Sometimes it's good advice, sometimes not but he believes it wholeheartedly. There's a purity in living a life so full of earnestness that you believe in your dreams without faltering and you hold yourself to a higher standard.BOTTOM LINE: This isn’t a novel I’ll re-read every year or anything, but it was a richly rewarding experience for me. It made me want to believe in some of the magic in life and to not always question the motives of others. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza will be with me for years to come. "Then the very same thing, said the knight, happens in the comedy and commerce of this world, where one meets with some people playing the parts of emperors, others in the characters of popes, and finally, all the different personages that can be introduced in a comedy; but, when the play is done, that is, when life is at an end, death strips them of the robes that distinguished their stations, and they become all equal in the grave.”“Time ripens all things. No man is born wise.”
    • 5/5
      "'In any event, I insist that he who has a book printed runs a very great risk, inasmuch as it is an utter impossibility to write it in such a manner that it will please all who read it'" (p. 622, spoken by Carrasco).
      ________________________________________________________________________

      In my estimation, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote, arguably the first novel ever written, remains the best novel ever written. Sadly, too few people read it any longer — and not just English-language speakers, but also native Spanish-language speakers. In his excellent Foreword to this 1949 first edition, Samuel Putnam attests to this lamentable fact.

      And while we’re on the subject of Samuel Putnam, let me hasten to add that I believe him to have written the definitive English-language translation. All translations are not created equal, and this is something every serious English-language reader needs to take into account when reading any non-English-language classic.

      Don Quixote is just such a classic. It combines wisdom with a strong narrative line, deep philosophy with comedy bordering on slapstick. ‘The Knight of the Mournful Countenance’ is one of the most memorable characters in all literature, and his sidekick, Sancho Panza, is no slouch either.

      I’ll leave to other, more erudite (or at least more scholarly) critics to argue Cervantes’ true intent, vis-à-vis Romance Literature, in writing this novel. For me, personally, the story suffices qua story.

      And the prose? Allow me to cite just two passages, the translations of which are almost as poetically alluring as the original:

      "At that moment, gay-colored birds of all sorts began warbling in the trees and with their merry and varied songs appeared to be greeting and welcoming the fresh-dawning day, which already at the gates and on the balconies of the east was revealing its beautiful face as it shook out from its hair an infinite number of liquid pearls. Bathed in this gentle moisture, the grass seemed to shed a pearly spray, the willows distilled a savory manna, the fountains laughed, the brooks murmured, the woods were glad, and the meadows put on their finest raiment" (p. 701).

      and

      "With this, the merry-smiling dawn hastened her coming, the little flowers in the fields lifted their heads, and the liquid crystal of the brooks, murmuring over their white and gray pebbles, went to pay tribute to the waiting rivers. The earth was joyous, the sky unclouded, the air limpid, the light serene, and each of these things in itself and all of them together showed that the day which was treading on the skirts of morning was to be bright and clear" (p. 885)

      As for Cervantes’ philosophy as a writer, we have this observation to chew on and digest:

      "'For in works of fiction there should be a mating between the plot and the reader's intelligence. They should be so written that the impossible is made to appear possible, things hard to believe being smoothed over and the mind held in suspense in such a manner as to create an astonishment while at the same time they divert and entertain so that admiration and pleasure go hand in hand. But these are things which he cannot accomplish who flees verisimilitude and the imitation of nature, qualities that go to constitute perfection in the art of writing'" (p. 499).

      I cannot encourage you strongly enough to read Don Quixote — and to read none other than Samuel Putnam’s translation (unless, of course, you can digest the original). If it were required reading in the secondary or at least college curriculum of every student in the Western world, I firmly believe this would be a better world.

      RRB
      04/15/11
      Brooklyn, NY, USA
    • 4/5
      Somewhat harder to stick with than I had presumed, because Cervantes is playing with metafiction and similar situations come round again and again, as Don Q and other players change and grow. But worth the time. I think this is one book that is better studied than read casually.
    • 5/5
      A great tale about a spanish Knight and his friend in which they embark in all sorts of fun and drama. A wonderful tale filled with imagination and laughter. A tale for children everywhere to read.
    • 3/5
      I liked this book better the first time I read it, but maybe that was because I didn't feel quite as rushed the first time around. It's easier for a teen to find time to wade through this very long book, than it is for an adult. It's still a reasonably enjoyable read, though.
    • 5/5
      I'd been putting off reading Don Quixote for a number of years. I knew I should read it, but I guess its length put me off. I'd also been put off by reading poor translations of other non-English classics, and didn't fancy slogging through 900 odd pages of staid and tortured English.It was only after all the rave reviews that Edith Grossman's recent translation received, that I finally decided to give it a go. And let me say, it is well worth the effort. Grossman has translated Cervantes' Spanish into wonderfully flowing English, capturing as much of the original word play as is possible. Where particular phrases cannot be translated into English whilst retaining their original humour, Grossman provides footnotes explaining the original Spanish meaning.I never thought a 400 year old book could make me laugh out loud, but this one has on many occaisons. It has to be the funniest thing I've read all year (but I have spent a lot of this year reading Proust, so maybe it doesn't have much competition). Although the adventures the "Knight of the Sorrowful Face" experiences are hilarious, my particular favourites being "The Adventure of the Galley Slaves" and "The Adventure of the Cave of Montesinos", they can become a bit repetitive. They all follow the same general pattern, Don Quixote mistakes some common thing or event as a chivalric adventure and is subsequently beaten up. You would think that this would make the book boring, as some reviewers on here have said, but the plot really isn't the point of the book. What really makes the book for me is the wonderful dialogues between Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza. Quixote veers from the coherent discussion of a country gentlemen to the ravings of a madman, whilst Sancho at one moment can be a country bumpkin, the next he is discussing the governship of "insulas" with princes, always relying on his endless supply of mixed metaphors and maxims.In short, this is one of the best books I've ever read.
    • 5/5
      Grossman has successfully brought the best of the humour out to make this the defintive translation of the misadventures of literatures first chivalric gentleman. I was laughing out loud by the end of the first chapter.