Customer Reviews

Don Quixotes Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain

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Quixote aficionados breed an unquestioned loyalty to their hero. Cervantes' novel is justifiably the most translated and printed book after the bible and indeed, adherents like myself will re-read our much-thumbed tomes on a regular basis in awe.

Thus I was giddily looking forward to this book. So giddy in fact that I failed to notice that it wasn't--as I was expecting--an informative travelogue or daring adventure retracing the step of the Knight of Sorrowful Countenance through Castilian Spain. Nor that of his originator Cervantes (who lived an equally, if not more fantastic existence than his literary creation), but a rather turgid and woeful and self-indulgent account of the author's student year abroad in Madrid. Sadly she doesn't come within even a lance thrust of a windmill.

Interspersed like filler are quixotic minutiae, scholarly summaries, historical data and literary references about Cervantes, Quixote and ninetieth century Spain in addition to the alleged Quixotic nature of modern day Madrid, the latter almost exclusively in the form of quotes from the authors body of acquaintances. The lurching back and forth between this factual and admittedly well-researched Quixote trivia to banal and meaningless memories about meeting Basque separatists in Tapas bars is really disconcerting. Several pages are taken up paraphrasing some choice passages from the novel or quoting verbatim (from the inferior Cohen translation - Samuel Putnum's version is the definitive English language version) with no apparent context.

Miranda France comes across as a prudish conservative English woman and gullible to any half-truth or rumor in order to dramatize it in prose and spice up her mundane middle-class existence. Her long-gone student leftist viewpoint can apparently now be attributed to youthful indiscretion. Indeed it comes off as a glib when she joins a street demonstration hoping to get "some exercise and a good tan". Her glee in "slumming it" with the unfortunate Madrileño low-life is just plain embarrassing and patronizing. She rarely seems to personally interact with anyone and her translation blunders like "Coño a Spanish word that refers to the female genitalia" add to the general awfulness of the book. Her student memories are for the most part remembered apocryphally; maybe even dare I say delusional. Although this is entirely within the spirit of a Quixote book this missed opportunity is quite a quixotic disappointment.

Two highly recommended by hard to find books that do actually trace the Don Quijote trail are:

"On the trail of Don Quixote : being a record of rambles in the ancient province of La Mancha" by Augusto Floriano Jaccaci

"Through Spain with Don Quixote" by Rupert Croft-Cooke

Miranda France achieves an elusive task in this travel narrative. She blends a keen cultural analytic eye with an awareness of the history of a great work of literature and with her own present-day experience. The result is a work which provides a unique and vital insight into the evolution of Spanish society in the last two decades of the twentieth century, from an outsider's point of view. The author also travels adroitly between commentary on sweeping cultural narratives and the gritty everyday reality of the younger generation. It's a necessary read for anyone interested in knowing more about the quixotic character that is proudly embraced by many Spaniards and the evolution of contemporary reality in the post-fascist democratic era.

Spain comes alive, Don Quixote is presented as seen by many, a madman, a hero, a symbol and the personality of a nation. The writing is wonderful, readable and humorous! Cervantes and his "friends" tell so much more than a story. The book is packed with insights so deserving of a modern review of Cervantes/Qioxte, the first novel - Don Qioxte has been translated extensively and read by every memorable author. Thanks Miranda France!