Customer Reviews

Don Quixote: Abridged Edition (Mentor)

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Note: Amazon.com seems to have a hard time linking reviews to specific editions - it makes a difference. This review is of the Modern Library edition, ISBN-0679602860, translated by Samuel Putnam. I am reposting it, hoping it will link correctly this time).

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When you approach reading (or rereading) a "classic" work you really, mostly, don't have to think about whether to read it -- that decision was either made by someone assigning it to you or, more wonderfully, by you, yourself deciding to swim contra-current against the cultural waters... following Neil Young's advice to "turn off that MTV."

So. You are going to read it. And, if you are paddling the Amazon.com, here, you are going to buy and OWN it. The question really becomes which edition you should own.

This is the one.

Its a fine translation - surprising in its avoidance of archaic language. It has a nice structure - the inevitable notes are available but not obtrusive.

This edition, the Modern Library hardback edition, translated by Putnam, is also a nice book to own. It isn't one of those pretty faux-leather "shelf-candy" copies that'll break your wallet first. This is a hardworking book - the essence of the Modern Library idea. But it is a wonderful packaging of the whole 1000+ pages that is both readable and shelvable. No thousand-page paperback will survive an actual reading as anything you would want excepting as backup next to the latrine.

Did I mention that it is a great book, great story? Well, others over the years have managed that :-). But I will loudly agree. I'm rereading it only now after a 35 year hiatus (yes, indeed, classics can be lost on the young - thats why you want books that last. In 35 more years, when you turn your lance back toward targets you thought you left behind, a copy will cost you [a lot of money]). It is just plain startling in its innovations and story. I always thought Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard were the first to break down that "third wall" and talk to the audience - yet here is Cervantes doing so five centuries back ! Wow.

Even if you've been made to buy it and to read it, buy a nice copy. Read the "Cliff notes" if you must, but someday you'll be a crazy old coot like Don Q. (or me) and want to toss something more meaningful than Palahniuk (or even Rushdie) at the cobwebs that cling.

I was assigned to read this book this year in my senior Humanities class. We were not expected to read every chapter, but once I started, I couldn't dream of skipping anything. Don Quixote, Book 1, tells the story of a man more optimistic and idealistic than any other in literature. He sets out as a "righter of wrongs and injustices" and doesn't let anything stand in his way. Book one is also incredibly funny in many parts, both physically and intellectually. Book 2, although a somewhat difficult read and much less humorous, is by far the better work of art. At first, I was apalled at the ending of the book, but I now feel that Cervantes was justified in his ending because he wanted us to mourn the absence of chivalry and hope in our world. I cannot express how much perspective this book will add to your life. Tip: If you are reading Don Quixote in English, I reccommend the Putnam translation.

If you want to make going through "Don Quixote" as painless as possible, get the Samuel Putnam translation from the 1950's (ISBN: 0679602860), published these days by the Modern Library.

The Modern Library edition also has copious footnotes at the back of the book (Putnam's original ones), which is quite nice.

For my money, nobody has ever come close to matching the natural grace and power Putnam summoned when he pulled this one off.

If you can't find the Putnam, the Charles Jarvis translation (used in the Oxford World's Classics edition, ISBN: 0192834835) is, despite having originally been published in the 1600's (!), a serviceable second choice. Also well-glossed.

Don Quixote De La Mancha is a long book which many people nowadays wouldn't stop and read. Where's the time? But it is nonetheless a story everyone knows. Who hasn't heard of that crazy man chasing after the windmills with his partner Sancho Panza? It is work of art that has universal appeal due to it's clash between reality and idealism...something with which we all deal with in our lives. I read Don Quixote while in college and aside from it being a portrait of decadent Spanish society at the height of Spain's glorious empire, the book is often vulgar and downright hillarious. A true work of comedy. I recommend this book to everyone. Give it a chance even if it is so long. It's well worth it. You'll not only laugh out loud, you will have educated your mind with what is called the first novel and one of the masterpieces of world literature.

..."John Ormsby". I downloaded it, because I love this book and the Mobi cover shot looked like the cover of the paperback version that I read back in high school, so I'm hoping it's the same translation. In any case, I didn't see the translator's name mentioned on the description page at Amazon, so I thought I'd provide that, for those of you who (like me) are searching for whichever translation is most widely considered to be "the best", by virtue of it's ability to most truly convey the essence of both the story and the vitality of the language, were we able to read it in Cervantes' own words/language.

Last thought: if you've yet to do yourself the very great service of reading this special tale, please...grab your lance, mount your trusty Rocinante, and have at it - you'll discover there's a good reason for its being considered one of the very greatest books ever written.

[ASIN:B001HQHCBG Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Published by MobileReference (mobi)]

Just a head's up for people. This book is an abridged version of Don Quixote. It says so on the title page, which unfortunately the publisher doesn't allow Amazon readers to see (at least at the time of my review).

It's a shame, too, because it is a nice edition at a more than reasonable price (currently $7.49): it is a hardback edition with a sturdy spine and binding; the pages are thick; and the font is clear. Overall, in my opinion, it's an aesthetically pleasing book.

I did check the publisher's website before purchasing Don Quixote to see if I could obtain certain information (e.g. translator), but at the time when I checked, I couldn't find such information anywhere.

I hope Ann Arbor Media Group will consider placing this sort of information on their website and/or online catalog one day.

One of the great classics of world literature, Don Quixote is very often called the greatest novel of all-time. Many also see it as the first modern novel, the precursor to all novels that have come since; some, indeed, even call it the first true novel ever written. Certainly, it is both world-famous -- almost all people, whether they've tackled this 1,000+page monster or not, seem to know about the "terrifying and never-before-heard of adventure of the windmills" -- and extremely influential upon all literature that has come since. The great Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky thought it was the best thing ever written; it was clearly one of Mark Twain's primary inspirations for Huck Finn.

The book has endured and remained popular and influential for four hundred years for several reasons. For one, the character of Don Quixote himself is immortal. One of the most famous characters in all literature, he has appeared in various forms throughout the centuries -- on the page, on the stage, on the screen. Clearly a huge influence upon a multitude of subsequent literary characters, he is one of the great archetypes in literature. Also, the story itself works on several levels. On one level, it is a highly comic adventure that can be read and enjoyed by everyone; a hugely-popular both upon release and still today, this is probably the main reason why it has lasted four centuries. Even at this later date, the book contains scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny, its jokes running the gamut from the most base level of slapstick to ringing burlesque and satire. Despite the novel's length, it is a very entertaining book and rarely slow: it can actually be an exciting and fast-paced read, if one chooses to view it merely as an adventure. However, on a deeper level, the novel, fascinatingly, does several different things at once, and all very well. To begin with, it is a truly immortal satire, both on the outdated and hopelessly idealistic chivalric code itself and on the romantic books of knight-errantry that proclaimed their virtues and were extremely popular at the time Cervantes wrote this work. Wit is abundant and ever-present.

As an author, Cervantes clearly had several tricks up his proverbial sleeve when writing this; he employs literary devices so charming, amusing, and inventive that they have never been equaled since. Indeed, this book was so very far ahead of its time that it makes many of the supposedly revolutionary post-modern novels seem mainstream and absolutely traditional by comparison. For, after all, this is a book about books; it is, thus, the ultimate self-reflexive text. As the introduction in this edition points out, the book actually tells two stories: that of Don Quixote, and that of the novel's composition itself. The number of self-references made in it can only be called ingenious. Several circumstances informed this. The mammoth book, as we know it today, was originally published in two halves, over a decade apart. Throughout, Cervantes constantly reminds us that the book is a book; in the second part, even the characters are aware of this, making for an intensely amusing and clever read. Also, before Cervantes published the second part, an impostor author released his own spurious sequel. Cervantes, responding in kind, changed the course of the book and wrote the apocryphal sequel into his own sequel, in addition to the first part of his own narrative! It isn't as confusing as it sounds -- indeed, it's quite delightful and inventive -- but the author himself, infamously, lost the course of his own narrative several times and lapsed into error. Of course, this, too, is noted later on in the book and commented upon as well. Literature as a whole is also commented upon. The author, in the second part, even addresses the criticisms of the first part, such as its digressions (which he defends, but stays away from in Part II) and its loose ends. The scene where the curate is selecting which books to burn and which to save is one of the most satirically-amusing ever written.

The book, for all of its burlesque and even occasional lack of seriousness, also brings several important questions to light. What is reality? What makes one noble? If one does noble and brave deeds only because one is deluded, is one then noble in reality, or merely a poor farce and a walking joke? For these, and many other reasons, Don Quixote is a classic that deserves to be read by all.

The paper-back modern library edition (NOT what one reviewer commented on below) is a translation by Tobias Smollett first published in 1755. If you're going to read a book as talked-about and deeply ingrained in our collective mental universe as this one is, you have a very wide range of translations to choose from. Smollett was a major writer in his own right, and 18th century English prose is much closer in flavor to the original Spanish than anything written these days could be. There is a certain violence about the vocabulary and the constructions Smollett uses that fits very well with Cervantes. This books was first and foremost successful because it was rudely, bloodily, enthusiastically *funny* and Smollett is quite as up to the jokes about belching (which we learn is more politely termed 'eructing') and whipping as he is to Don Quixote's elevated speeches on knight-errantry.

Carlos Fuentes' introcution is wonderful and learned (like most everything Fuentes writes). Read the novel first, though. It really needs no more introduction than all of the bits and pieces one has already heard.

My only complaint about this version is the layout or the notes (hence 4 stars, rather than 5). Since this translation was itself made 250 years ago, some of the vocabulary and usage is a bit strange. Not that this really hinders the read, but it would be nice to be able to flip back to the notes when something of particular or peculiar interest pops up. The notes, however, are labled by book and chapter. There are two parts to the novel, and each has several books containing many chapters. It can be hard to find the note you're looking for without a lot of flipping around. This is a relatively minor gripe.

Altogether, I strongly recommend the modern library paper-back edition. Smollett is an excellent translator, and Fuentes provides erudite commentary. Modern Library makes very solid books, and since this one is 1100+ pages, it's especially important that the pages at the front don't start to fall out by the time you get to the ones at the back.

Go forth and read!

The definition of classic. Dostoyevsky considered Don Quixote the most beautiful of people and I cannot disagree. Cervantes wraps all things human into one book and almost always has you feeling every emotion all at once - slapstick humor, dark tragedy, dogged optimisim, dry realism, love, insanity, poetry vs utility, and wit, tons and tons of wit. If you read the information about Cervantes life you get more out of this book. You will see that this book is written about and from its author's soul, not a thought out plot. Disfigured through war and a hostage sitting in prison for the better part of his life, Cervantes knew what it meant to be taken in by the romance of war and how it contrasts with its harsh reality. He knew what love was and how it is related to "irrationality" or a poetic insanity that makes us human.

If I was approached by an alien who asked me to give it a description of the soul of a human, this is the book I would give it. At certain times in the book I laughed and on second readings I felt sorrow over the same part.

It is written in the 1400s, but is not a difficult read whatsoever. ...

Don Quixote

Written by the author Miguel de Cervantes, during a time known as the enlightenment, this novel tells a classic tale of chivalry. But it wasn't really classic, because this book was set in a time when chivalry, and knight errantry had all but disappeared. Knight errantry is the practice of being a knight errant, or someone who wanders and aids others, following a strict code of chivalry or in this case, someone who interferes in other's affairs, as it would seem from Don Quixote's portrayal.

Don Quixote was not always of this manner of people. He was originally a regular man, who lived in a village, in the region of La Mancha, Spain, with his niece and a housekeeper. His actual name was not Quixote, but Quixada, or Quesada. He loved reading books of chivalry, and of knights, that he became obsessive. He eventually got to the point where he decided that he was going to be a knight errant. He got some armor belonging to one of his ancestors, a sword, a lance, and a helmet with a fake visor if his own creation. Having done this, he mounted his horse Rocinante, and left to wander the countryside in search of those in need. Later he gained what he called a squire, a simple peasant named Sancho Panza, who came with due to the promise of wealth

Had this been several hundred years prior to this time, it may have been more acceptable, but for someone to do this even in the late 1600's was hardly commonplace. The most interesting aspect of his quest was not this being out of place, so much as his vivid imagination.

Don Quixote's imagination, which at times was borderline insanity, was really what made this book what it is. He imagined everything from prostitutes being maidens, to windmills being giants. This imagination of his got him in to trouble numerous times, but all the time made the book more enjoyable. While those who observed him thought him to be mad, he was quite convinced of the truth of what he saw. This was especially true of Sancho Panza. Sancho was constantly trying to show Don Quixote his error. Despite Don Quixote believed himself right, and even started to convince Sancho at times.

The truth was revealed about his delusions later on, that he did most likely understand that they were false, but didn't care all the same. He wanted to escape reality, and live in a time when people were courtly and followed strict moral codes. He accomplished this by convincing himself that things were not as they appeared. And though others try to convince him of his errors, he still convinces himself of the validity of his ideas.

While a tale of chivalry may seem boring to some, this is clearly not a traditional tale. Imagine if a story of King Arthur had been set in present times, this story accomplishes this. Because Don Quixote is so out of his place in time, it seems positively ludicrous. To counter act this, Cervantes Makes the book seem more credible, by making it seem as though historians, and sages were telling it.

From the start, the book keeps the attention of the reader by telling the reader of Don Quixote's incredible encounter at an inn. This sets the reader up for what is to come. Also, while Don Quixote's apparent stupidity may aggravate the reader, it is worth reading it all the same, because it is justified, and makes more sense as the story progresses.

Despite these grievances the book is indeed truly outstanding. The description, and humor of this novel are exceptionally well done. Cervantes makes the book seem so credible that it is not hard to believe that it really happened. Cervantes uses language that while being especially formal it still gives vivid descriptions of the surroundings, down to the last detail. The characters didn't simply gather near trees, they gathered near cork trees. Along with the vivid descriptions, came humor, portrayed as being serious. When Don Quixote attacked a barber and stole his brass basin, he was so convinced that it was the Golden Helmet of Mambrino that the reader couldn't help but be amused by how seriously Cervantes told of Don Quixote wearing it on his head.

It is also good to note that there is much to gain by reading this book. Not only an intimate knowledge of the laws of chivalry is gained, but also many deeper insights. From reading Don Quixote the reader can understand what it was like at the time the novel was written, and can gain insight into what drives a person to do crazy things. The overall message seemed to be, that times have not changed for the better, and that sometimes people live in a fantasy world because of this prevailed, and should be considered a valuable lesson.

Overall this is a very meritorious book. It shows insight by telling a tale of chivalry, but not in a traditional sense. The tale it tells is of a man so convinced that he is a knight errant, that he can no longer accept reality. Others, such as Sancho, try to convince him of this, but are unsuccessful, but despite all this, he still maintains his ideas of chivalry and knight errantry.