Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Geting to know Don Quixote in Spanish!, May 14, 2005
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.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Feliz cumpleaños don Quijote!!!!!!!!!!!, April 8, 2005
Estamos en Abril del año 2,005, y por lo tanto, en el cuarto aniversario de la publicación del más grandioso libro del idioma Español, Don Quijote de la Mancha.
Considero que el cumpleaños número 400, de este invaluable regalo, debe ser recordado por todos los que conocemos y dominamos esta bella lengua. La inmortal creación de Miguel de Cervantes, va mas allá de las fronteras y de los límites del pensamiento. Esa formidable, divertida y noble odisea de nuestro más recordado paladín justiciero, puede ser encontrada plasmada en nuestra memoria, en nuestros pensamientos y en nuestra idiosincrasia ya sea de Españoles en unos casos, y de Hispanos Latinoamericanos en otros.
Universales son las primeras líneas de Cervantes. Al introducir al lector a su personaje, que con el tiempo, llegó a trascender aún más que su creador.
"En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocín flaco y galgo corredor".
La fantasía del viajero que sueña mientras está despierto, acompañado de su leal Sancho, es la colisión del viejo mundo, con el nuevo. El fin de la guerra romántica que encuentra la crudeza del mundo moderno. Todo mientras don Quijote, nuestro héroe imitado pero no duplicado, expresa y vive sus pasiones más intensas. Sus ilimitadas intenciones de ayudar al necesitado, de encontrar y salvar a su hermosa Dulcinea y de ser un noble caballero, llevan a la mente del lector, una sensación poco encontrada en el mundo actual. Pero aparte de todo esto, de la montaña de nobleza que don Quijote inspira, hay un mensaje aún más profundo y fuerte. Sí, más fuerte que cualquier otro mensaje. Don Quijote nos muestra la importancia de ese tesoro que todos tenemos el derecho de poseer cuando nacemos, durante nuestras vidas, y cuando morimos. Mario Vargas Llosa lo encontró mejor que nadie. El mensaje de la LIBERTAD.
Don Quijote es libre. Libre para pensar, para vivir. Libre para salir a buscar su felicidad, libre para amar a su Dulcinea, para pelear contra los monstruos, para retar a otros caballeros, y libre para ser libre. Podría decirse que don Quijote de la mancha, pertenece a todos los hombres y mujeres que admiramos la libertad. Si te gusta pensar lo que quieras, don Quijote es parte de ti. Si te gusta hacer lo que quieres, don Quijote es para ti. Si te gusta vivir sin limitaciones, sin otros que fuercen su voluntad contra ti, don Quijote, VIVE para ti.
Es indispensable que todos nosotros, unidos, recordemos a don Quijote como el alma de nuestra literatura y el motor principal de nuestra cultura. Los libros mueven a las personas, a las sociedades, a las naciones y a las civilizaciones. Mueven nuestro conocimiento e inspiran nuestra pequeña o grande, pero igualmente valiosa grandeza. Y de todos los libros, "Don Quijote de La Mancha", escrito por Miguel de Cervantes, es nuestra posesión más valiosa y en un pedestal debemos mantenerla, y honrarla para nuestras futuras generaciones Hispanas.
"La libertad, Sancho, es uno de los preciosos dones que a los hombres dieron los cielos; con ella no pueden igualarse los tesoros que encierra la tierra ni el mar encubre; por la libertad así como por la hora se puede y debe aventurar la vida, y, por el cautiverio es el mayor mal que puede venir a los hombres" (Libro Segundo, Capítulo 58)
We are in April of the year 2,005, and therefore, in the fourth anniversary of the publication of the greatest book of the Spanish language, Don Quixote de la Mancha.
I consider that the birthday number 400 of this priceless gift, must be remembered by all of us that know and dominate this beautiful language. Cervantes's immortal creation, goes beyond the frontiers and limits of the thought. This formidable, funny and noble odyssey of our most remembered justice carrier paladin, can be found shaped in our memory, in our thoughts and in our idiosyncracy whether of Spaniards in some cases, and of Hispanic-Latin-Americans in others.
Universal, are the first lines of Cervantes. At introducing the reader to his character, that with the time, got to transcend even more than his creator.
"Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place which name I don't want to remember, a gentleman lived to so long ago, once of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shield and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing".
The traveler's fantasy, that dreams while he's awake, joined by his loyal Sancho, is the collision of the old world, with the new one. The end of the romantic war that finds the crudeness of the modern world. Everything while don Quixote, our hero imitated but not duplicated, expresses and lives his most intense passions. His unlimited intentions of helping the needy one, of finding and saving his beautiful Dulcinea and of being a noble knight, the reader's mind, a sensation little found in today's world. But besides all this, of the mountain of nobility that don Quixote inspires, there is a message even more profound and strong. Yes, stronger than any other message. Don Quixote shows us the importance of this treasure that we all have the right to have when we are born, during our lives and when we die. Mario Vargas Llosa found it better than anyone. The message of FREEDOM.
Don Quixote is free. Free to think, to live. Free to get out to look for his happiness, free to love his Dulcinea, to fight against the monsters and to challenge other knights, and free to be free.
It could be said that don Quixote of La Mancha, belongs to all of us men and women that admire the freedom. If you like to think want you think, don Quixote is part of you. If you like to do what you want, don Quixote is for you. Si you like to live with no limitations, without other forcing their will against you, don Quixote, LIVES for you.
It is indispensable, that we all, united, remember don Quixote as the soul of our literature and as the main engine of our culture. The books move the people, the societies, the nations and the civilizations. They move our knowledge and they inspire our little or big, but equally valuable, greatness. And out of all the books, "Don Quixote of La Mancha", written by Miguel de Cervantes, is our most valuable possession, and in a pedestal we must maintain it, and honor it for our next Hispanic generations.
"The freedom, Sancho, es one of the precious gifts that to men the skies gave; with her can't be imitated the treasures that the earth locks up and neither those that the sea covers; because freedom like honor, can and must venture life, and, through captivity is the biggest evil that can come to men" (Second book, Chapter 58)
Andrés Rojas (19).
Abril, 2005.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don Quijote, April 19, 2006
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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