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Don Quixote

  • 18-07-2012 12:00pm
    #1
    Slattsy
    Registered Users Posts: 15,775 ✭✭✭✭


    Picked up Cervantes' Don Quixote recently... a classic by all accounts.
    Now, its going to be a looooong read, is it worth it ??


Comments

  • #2
    Psychedelic
    Registered Users Posts: 2,126 ✭✭✭Psychedelic


    It's about 14 years since I read it but I liked it a lot. The good thing is it's very easy to read and is divided up into short chapters, and the story usually moves quickly from one plot point or location to the next. The 2 main characters are likable, Sancho Panza in particular. The whole thing is quite light-hearted, comedic and compared to other classics it's not a slog to get through, despite its hefty length. You should know early on if you are going to like it.

    So yeah, definitely check it out but as with all books you won't know till you read it yourself if you'll like it or not.


  • #3
    Quatermain
    Closed Accounts Posts: 243 ✭✭Quatermain


    I suggest you settle in. It's well worth it, in my opinion. Excellent characters, constant comedy at Quixote's antics, and a fantastic history of the book itself. You might also like a look at the musical "Man of La Mancha" based around the book itself, with Peter O'Toole in the title role.


  • #4
    Queen-Mise
    Registered Users Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭Queen-Mise


    I read it as a teenager & really liked it. It is funny - it is not a particularly hard read.


  • #5
    Tom Joad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,134 ✭✭✭Tom Joad


    Read this about 10 years ago and it lives long in the memory. It takes a while to get through it just because of the length of it but is well worth the read.


  • #6
    Slattsy
    Registered Users Posts: 15,775 ✭✭✭✭Slattsy


    All positive feedback, thanks.
    Will start it shortly :)


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  • #7
    Agent Weebley
    Registered Users Posts: 450 ✭✭Agent Weebley


    Hi Slattsy,

    How are you enjoying the book?

    The Edith Grossman translation is considered to be the best one yet. She explains some of Cervantes' jokes and colloquialisms.

    Don Quixote is often voted to be the best book ever. There were a lot of serious books about Knights at the time . . . Don Quixote was, apparently, a genre changer. I would compare it to the dark, serious, and shallow Batman comic and movie series, as opposed to the high quality, funny, and introspective Batman TV series.

    I read the Edith Grossman version a couple of years ago and had a hard time putting it down . . . although, that could have been due to my habit of eating sticky buns while reading.

    I am now thinking of reading it again, as there are some things one can only do for oneself . . . thanks!


  • #8
    clsmooth
    Registered Users Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭clsmooth


    Just starting this up again. Got about 200 pages in before I got derailed by the short novel in it a few years ago. Gives me a good excuse to read it from the start again :D


  • #9
    quickbeam
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 16,287 Mod ✭✭✭✭quickbeam


    Tried it a number of years ago. It didn't hook me but I'm not above giving it another chance though. I still have it on my bookshelf.


  • #10
    Sheridan81
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,429 ✭✭✭Sheridan81


    I thought it was good, although I can't remember much of it now.


  • #11
    wreade1872
    Registered Users Posts: 362 ✭✭wreade1872


    I thought it was ok, started great and overall the forst volume is good but the second feels pretty pointless except to give some kind of ending.
    I didn't find it funny at all, more tragic frankly. The film 'Super' (Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page nee Ellen) which is clearly a version of Don Quixote, i found equally unfunny and equally tragic and equally a bit of a slog to get through.. so i guess they did a great job on that adaptation :) .


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