When I first read Don Quixote, the story took me back to my initial visit to Spain as a young Ruta Quetzal explorer. From infinite sunflower fields to crumbled windmills in central Spain, from medieval Toledo to mysterious Barcelona: every landscape description made me yearn for Spain. A Spain that has nothing to do with contemporary hip cities…
Don Quixote is an aging hidalgo – a penniless nobleman- so entranced by chivalric romance that he decides to become a knight-errant to perform heroic deeds. To fulfill his quest, he recruits a pragmatic farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, and soon they pursue bold adventures. As they travel through Spain, Don Quixote attacks windmills that he mistakes for giants. Saves greedy innkeepers and ingenuous shepherdesses that he considers as damsels in distress. And finally falls in love with a peasant girl that he dubs Dulcinea del Toboso.
There is still no consensus as to whether Don Quixote is really mad or simply misunderstood. But one thing is sure: he is a true idealist. And his yearning for a strong moral code is endearing. For me, the priest and the barber in the first chapter are the real lunatics. Because unlike the protagonist, their narrow-mindedness makes no room for strangeness.
Published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, this world-literature classic is considered as the first truly modern novel. Cervantes captures the quintessence of the Spanish Golden Age by creating a strikingly modern narrative that is transgressive, paradoxical and ironic. The protagonist looks at himself as a fiction and the narrators are unreliable. Don Quixote is not just a book. It’s a book that contains many other books.
It was this particular use of the metalepse that led me to write my Master thesis about the illustrated editions of Don Quixote printed during the French Romantic era. The frontispiece used to show Don Quixote as a reader. I was always fascinated by this metaleptic invitation to play: we, as readers, watch Don Quixote, who, himself, is a reader, as he becomes insane. Will we too, one day, know the same fate?
This novel is a comic masterpiece portraying a coarse Spain: it’s refreshing, sarcastic and complex. It’s the only book that will make you travel further than you might want to go. It makes you question your own sanity, if you accept the challenge. And it leaves you with more questions than answers. If that is not a truly modern novel, then I don’t know what is.
I leave the last word to the protagonist: “Too much sanity may be madness – and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”
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28 Responses
Carol Colborn
You are an excellent book reviewer. Don Quixote is such a classic yet you tell it like it’s a brand new book out in the market. I have never read it.
Mei and Kerstin
Thank you, Carol. I used to work in publishing. 😉 I hope you will find some time to read Don Quixote.
loufrance
I love a book that transports you to a specific place and time. You must know this book inside out as you studied it for your masters?! Seems like I’ll have to add it to my reading list!
Mei and Kerstin
Yes, you should definitely add it to your reading list. And I hope you will like this book. 😉
Jas
I remember reading this in school and it’s just such a classic. Seems like I gotta give it a reread now that we got more time to lounge at home hahaa.
Mei and Kerstin
Yes, I’m sure you will “experience” this book differently, when you read it now. 🙂
ansh997x
As someone who loves history, this post was a good read.
Desiree C
Your passion for this book really comes across in your writing! How awesome that you got to use it for your Masters.
I just might have to add it to my reading list!
Mei and Kerstin
Thank you, Desiree. Yes, studying Don Quixote more thoroughly within the framework of my Master thesis was an adventure itself. I hope you’ll read and like this novel.
Damien
Thanks for posting this review. I have heard many many people making quotations about Don Quixote, I really should read it sometime.
Mei and Kerstin
You’re welcome, Damien. I’d love to know your thoughts once you’ve read Don Quixote.
Ada
This book is actually on my nightstand in my to be read stack. I’ve been meaning to read it FOREVER. Thanks for the nudge to actually get reading.
Mei and Kerstin
I know what you mean, Ada: the stack of books on my nightstand is getting higher and higher. 😅 But I hope you’ll read it soon.
two’s company
This sounds like a really interesting book and so great you got to write your Masters on this, I bet it was a real passion project!
Mei and Kerstin
Yes, studying Don Quixote was one of my passions. And I’m glad I did it for one of my Master theses.
Breathtaking Travels
As a history fanatic, I absolutely loved this post!
Mei and Kerstin
Thank you! Make sure to read our other articles too. They are all for history lovers 😉
Addy Camot
whoah, this is really interesting to read. thank you for this! I will have this on my library <3
Mei and Kerstin
You’re welcome, Addy. I hope you’ll like this book.
Snazzytrips
‘Too much sanity may be madness.’ I love this line. You make me want to download this book and read it now.
Mei and Kerstin
I hope I even made you read it to the end. 🙂 Let me know how you’ll like Don Quixote.
Chantelle Kincy
I haven’t read this novel, but I love the quote at the end of your post!
Mei and Kerstin
You’ll find many interesting quotes in Don Quixote. I hope you’ll read it someday. 😉
MY RIG Adventures
Here’s one that I’ve never read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective on the novel.
Mei and Kerstin
You’re welcome. I hope I made you want to read Don Quixote. 😉
josypheen
What a fun topic for your Masters! You must have really enjoyed studying that! I have only read parts of Don Quixote (and all in English as my Spanish is pretty rubbish) but the illustrated editions sound even more fun to peruse. Did studying this make you want to go back to Spain to see it through the eyes of the author?
Fares
Looks like a really interesting book, I think I’ll have a look!
Mei and Kerstin
I hope so! And let me know how you’ll like it.