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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
400 years ago the first part of this book was written. Surely much people knows it deals with a fool man of La Mancha, truly a not very wealthy region of central south Spain, not far from Madrid.
Madness of Don Quijote is a fiction to defy social barriers and speaks truth, forbidden to sane persons, as Cervantes was an experienced man when he wrote his work: he has had been soldier, lover, delinquent, and proved chance also in writing theatre and poetry, but here he knocked against another supreme master: Lope de Vega, who had won the taste of people with his comedies.
Worth of Don Quijote are many, between these, is evident the showing of the Spanish society in times this country was a great empire, but Cervantes is yet aware of the first signs of decadence: the true "hidalgos" were a class of men not poor nor rich, but they, as Don Quijote, never worked, in a time English or Dutch rural owners and firsts scientist were yet showing signs of the industrial society. In effect, paradoxically, the defeat of Moors in the Reconquista and the discovery of America with his treasures of gold and silver accustomed these cavaliers and hidalgos only to hunting, administering with laziness his properties and reading books as those that turned mad to Alonso Quijano and converted him in Don Quijote, as they used only to make war, and so, heavy agricultural work was in hands of "moriscos" (moors falsely converted to Christianism, and the intellectual work was a task own of Jewish people. The expulsion of both by Catholic kings of Spain proved to be fatal in only a century with a great decadence.
In a pure literary order of Spanish language and conception, Don Quijote is a the big precedent of modern novel, inexistent until there.
Madness of Don Quijote is a fiction to defy social barriers and speaks truth, forbidden to sane persons, as Cervantes was an experienced man when he wrote his work: he has had been soldier, lover, delinquent, and proved chance also in writing theatre and poetry, but here he knocked against another supreme master: Lope de Vega, who had won the taste of people with his comedies.
Worth of Don Quijote are many, between these, is evident the showing of the Spanish society in times this country was a great empire, but Cervantes is yet aware of the first signs of decadence: the true "hidalgos" were a class of men not poor nor rich, but they, as Don Quijote, never worked, in a time English or Dutch rural owners and firsts scientist were yet showing signs of the industrial society. In effect, paradoxically, the defeat of Moors in the Reconquista and the discovery of America with his treasures of gold and silver accustomed these cavaliers and hidalgos only to hunting, administering with laziness his properties and reading books as those that turned mad to Alonso Quijano and converted him in Don Quijote, as they used only to make war, and so, heavy agricultural work was in hands of "moriscos" (moors falsely converted to Christianism, and the intellectual work was a task own of Jewish people. The expulsion of both by Catholic kings of Spain proved to be fatal in only a century with a great decadence.
In a pure literary order of Spanish language and conception, Don Quijote is a the big precedent of modern novel, inexistent until there.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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21 reviews
140 of 141 people found the following review helpful
Geting to know Don Quixote in Spanish!
15 May 2005
Format:Hardcover
This review is intended for English speaking folks who want to read Don Quixote in the original Spanish.
When in my twenties I first read an English translation of Quixote in an undergraduate literature class. At the time I enjoyed how the book was arranged - stories within stories, the humor, Quixote's idealism and his reaction to the world. The professor told us that it is a book whose messages change as we age. She recommended that we read it again when we reached our 40s and 50s, and it would have a whole new set of meanings for us. So it does. Now - in my forties - when I read Don Quixote I see a man who has been disappointed by his lack of accomplishments and dismayed by the state of the world around him. I see myself.
I am re-reading Don Quixote slowly, one to three chapters per day. A pace, I believe, Cervantes intended. It is a pace that allows for reflection. I first read a chapter of the English translation, then I read it in Spanish. I began this project with the Don Quixote editions I had on hand: an archaic 18th century translation by Tobias Smollet left over from college, and an artsy tourist copy of Don Quixote I picked up years ago in Mexico and never read. By the fifth chapter it became apparent that this would not do. Relying on an inaccurate archaic English translation to help me understand Cervantes' archaic Spanish was not working out. Also, the Mexican copy, printed on brittle, acid paper, held together in a glued binding, was falling apart. I sensed a pretext to buy books!
For my modern English translation I chose Edith Grossman, and for the Spanish version I am reading this edition from the Real Academia. I selected Grossman for her modern, yet formal Latinate translation that suits Cervantes' Golden Age Spanish. I chose this Real Academia edition for it copious footnotes and glossary.
This being a Spanish edition, the footnotes and glossary are, of course, in Spanish. And while a footnoted archaic word, or antique expression is often explained in equally confusing and obscure modern Spanish, I still nevertheless find the footnotes more and more useful as I work my way along. In my opinion they alone double the value of the book. In addition to this, the physical properties of the book itself make it under-priced. The binding is textbook style, sewn, not glued. The pages are thin, yet not easily torn. This edition is for readers, not decorators. There are no illustrations by famous or semi-famous artists. And although the spine is attractive, it would be wasted as a decoration. This is an edition that welcomes being read, marked up, highlighted, and returned to again in twenty years.
When in my twenties I first read an English translation of Quixote in an undergraduate literature class. At the time I enjoyed how the book was arranged - stories within stories, the humor, Quixote's idealism and his reaction to the world. The professor told us that it is a book whose messages change as we age. She recommended that we read it again when we reached our 40s and 50s, and it would have a whole new set of meanings for us. So it does. Now - in my forties - when I read Don Quixote I see a man who has been disappointed by his lack of accomplishments and dismayed by the state of the world around him. I see myself.
I am re-reading Don Quixote slowly, one to three chapters per day. A pace, I believe, Cervantes intended. It is a pace that allows for reflection. I first read a chapter of the English translation, then I read it in Spanish. I began this project with the Don Quixote editions I had on hand: an archaic 18th century translation by Tobias Smollet left over from college, and an artsy tourist copy of Don Quixote I picked up years ago in Mexico and never read. By the fifth chapter it became apparent that this would not do. Relying on an inaccurate archaic English translation to help me understand Cervantes' archaic Spanish was not working out. Also, the Mexican copy, printed on brittle, acid paper, held together in a glued binding, was falling apart. I sensed a pretext to buy books!
For my modern English translation I chose Edith Grossman, and for the Spanish version I am reading this edition from the Real Academia. I selected Grossman for her modern, yet formal Latinate translation that suits Cervantes' Golden Age Spanish. I chose this Real Academia edition for it copious footnotes and glossary.
This being a Spanish edition, the footnotes and glossary are, of course, in Spanish. And while a footnoted archaic word, or antique expression is often explained in equally confusing and obscure modern Spanish, I still nevertheless find the footnotes more and more useful as I work my way along. In my opinion they alone double the value of the book. In addition to this, the physical properties of the book itself make it under-priced. The binding is textbook style, sewn, not glued. The pages are thin, yet not easily torn. This edition is for readers, not decorators. There are no illustrations by famous or semi-famous artists. And although the spine is attractive, it would be wasted as a decoration. This is an edition that welcomes being read, marked up, highlighted, and returned to again in twenty years.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
This is a very good edition.
27 Feb 2005
Format:Hardcover
This Spanish edition includes footnotes in every page explaining the archaic words. Without them, the book is not readable. I had bought another edition and could not understand many sentences. The footnotes explain places, names, and provide commentary on consistency errors that the text has.
I decided to read the book on its 400th anniversary. I had tried before when I was fifteen, but did not get to page 100. I have finished the first book, and I'm in the process of reading the second one.
As some have noted, some insights of Don Quijote are still modern. He talks, for instance, about the way that people that go to college are better paid than soldiers, when soldiers risk their lives and health. Also, about how entertainment is vulgar because the masses likes it that way (hence the term, from vulgo), and other subjects that remain current.
I am going to finish the book, but it takes effort. I have been reading for two months, reading other books in between.
I decided to read the book on its 400th anniversary. I had tried before when I was fifteen, but did not get to page 100. I have finished the first book, and I'm in the process of reading the second one.
As some have noted, some insights of Don Quijote are still modern. He talks, for instance, about the way that people that go to college are better paid than soldiers, when soldiers risk their lives and health. Also, about how entertainment is vulgar because the masses likes it that way (hence the term, from vulgo), and other subjects that remain current.
I am going to finish the book, but it takes effort. I have been reading for two months, reading other books in between.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Don Quijote
20 April 2006
Format:Hardcover
If you want anything in English to help you, this is not for you, BUT,if you have some Spanish (in my case 1 college year) this is a great way to tackle Don Quijote. There are many footnotes explaining words whose meanings have changed and some obscure references. The physical quality of the book--paper, print, and binding--is remarkable for the price.
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