Community Reviews
Over the course of a 1000 pages, Don Quixote and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza transformed from two fumbling idiots to entertaining adventurers to genuine friends that became apart of my daily life as much as my co-workers and my family. From their encounters with the infamous windmills to their vulnerability to those ever-present enchanters, Don Quixote is one long narrative of duality that will leave you amused yet sympathetic, balancing your own role as both a reader/spectator and co-adventurer. Is Don Quixote an actual brash, misunderstood genius or a mad man not so much in touch with reality? Is Sancho profusely loyal and shrewd or just a foolish companion along for the ride? And is everyone else horribly judgmental or just simple-minded and unimaginative?
As in life, there are no clear answers which means that as readers we do not have to align ourselves to any one side but instead, can take the good with the bad and the insane with the sane. This is a good thing because there is no logic that can be applied to the man who mistakes a barberâs sink basin as a prized, golden helmet who then thereafter is able to deliver a speech as poetic and eloquent as it is coherent:
ââ¦for I know well what valor is, namely, a virtue that is situated between the two vicious extremes, which are cowardice and rashness. But it is far better for the brave man to mount to the height of rashness than to sink into the depths of cowardice, for just as it is easier for the generous than for the miser to be prodigal, so it is easier for the daring than for the cowardly to become truly valiant. And in the matter of encountering adventures, let your worship, Don Diego, believe me that it is better to lose the game by a card too much than by one too little, for âthis knight is rash and foolhardyâ sounds better in the hearerâs ears than âsuch a knight is timid and cowardly.ââ
Looking at this bulky masterpiece, unabridged and complete, it looks just as daunting as the enchanters, demons, and scoundrels Don Quixote conjures up in his mind as a practicing knight-errant, but after what seems to be my umpteenth attempt at triumphing this literary conquest, I finally was able to complete it in it entirety and feel better for it. You canât help but to feel all the wiser after reading this book with the ever-preaching Sancho Panza and his string of proverbs that are dispelled like verbal vomit to all of the tangential story-lines, plots, and tales accompanied with their own twist on morality and justice.
It truly is a feat that Don Quixote hasnât exalted his iconic cultural status, not losing popular momentum from Spanish Golden Age to present day, and most likely for years and years to come. Cervantes, through Don Quixote, defines and communicates what so many bibliophiles feel, that all good literature leaves an indelible mark upon all deserving readers, and its reach is both limitless in direction and power on our lives. You just have to let it in. Holding back does not simply make one ignorant; it makes one blind, deaf, and numb to the potential world that lies beyond the turn of every page. It is no lie to believe that Don Quixote lives and forges on through each and every invested reader.
As in life, there are no clear answers which means that as readers we do not have to align ourselves to any one side but instead, can take the good with the bad and the insane with the sane. This is a good thing because there is no logic that can be applied to the man who mistakes a barberâs sink basin as a prized, golden helmet who then thereafter is able to deliver a speech as poetic and eloquent as it is coherent:
ââ¦for I know well what valor is, namely, a virtue that is situated between the two vicious extremes, which are cowardice and rashness. But it is far better for the brave man to mount to the height of rashness than to sink into the depths of cowardice, for just as it is easier for the generous than for the miser to be prodigal, so it is easier for the daring than for the cowardly to become truly valiant. And in the matter of encountering adventures, let your worship, Don Diego, believe me that it is better to lose the game by a card too much than by one too little, for âthis knight is rash and foolhardyâ sounds better in the hearerâs ears than âsuch a knight is timid and cowardly.ââ
Looking at this bulky masterpiece, unabridged and complete, it looks just as daunting as the enchanters, demons, and scoundrels Don Quixote conjures up in his mind as a practicing knight-errant, but after what seems to be my umpteenth attempt at triumphing this literary conquest, I finally was able to complete it in it entirety and feel better for it. You canât help but to feel all the wiser after reading this book with the ever-preaching Sancho Panza and his string of proverbs that are dispelled like verbal vomit to all of the tangential story-lines, plots, and tales accompanied with their own twist on morality and justice.
It truly is a feat that Don Quixote hasnât exalted his iconic cultural status, not losing popular momentum from Spanish Golden Age to present day, and most likely for years and years to come. Cervantes, through Don Quixote, defines and communicates what so many bibliophiles feel, that all good literature leaves an indelible mark upon all deserving readers, and its reach is both limitless in direction and power on our lives. You just have to let it in. Holding back does not simply make one ignorant; it makes one blind, deaf, and numb to the potential world that lies beyond the turn of every page. It is no lie to believe that Don Quixote lives and forges on through each and every invested reader.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.