Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra & John Rutherford

Don Quixote

By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra & John Rutherford

  • Release Date: 2003-01-30
  • Genre: Classics
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 24 Ratings)

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Book Synopsis

The prize-winning translation of Miguel de Cervantes's mock-epic masterwork

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become a knight errant and pursue bold adventures, accompanied by his squire, the cunning Sancho Panza. As they roam the world together, the aging Quixote's fancy leads them wildly astray, tilting at windmills, fighting with friars, and distorting the rural Spanish landscape into a fantasy of impenetrable fortresses and wicked sorcerers. At the same time the relationship between the two men grows in fascinating subtlety. Often considered to be the first modern novel, Don Quixote is a wonderful burlesque of the popular literature its disordered protagonist is obsessed with.

John Rutherford's landmark translation of Don Quixote won the 2002 Premio Valle Inclan prize for translation. His introduction discusses the traditional works parodied in Don Quixote and issues of literary translation.

'John Rutherford makes Don Quixote funny and readable ... His Quixote can be pompous, imposingly learned, secretly fearful, mad and touching' Colin Burrow, The Times Literary Supplement

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Latest Impressions

  • Defining the Self

    5
    By Richard Bakare
    “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” - Daniel Burnham This quote summarizes the key aspect of Don Quixote that I enjoy so much. The power of imagination to move us beyond are pre-defined selves and create a world for ourselves as we see fit. This is of course idealistic and the realities of life prove routinely that obstacles will often interrupt us along the way. I first read this book in 1998 in college. Back then I took from it mostly the idea of the conflict of self identity matched up against outside perceptions and expectations. That interpretation was particularly important for me as a black male in an American culture that routinely tries to define for me, who I am and what I am capable of; despite all my wildest dreams that crave more. In this second reading, many of Cervantes’ genius literary triumphs really jumped out at me. His subtle and hilarious use of “Breaking the 4th wall.” The use of all of the subplots and characters to illustrate the crossroads of culture, Moorish and Christian, Chivalry and Rule of Law, along with Romanticism and Realism. Cervantes often self-references the labyrinth of layers upon layers of deep social and literary commentary of the times in which he was writing. Some of which, particularly the class, religious, and racial turmoil remain with us today. Still, it remains the narrative about what or who is the ultimate authority on what and/or how we define the self that most intrigues me. In truth, the idea of the self is a complex formula. We are the careful balance of experience, wit, luck, and a little madness. Outside perceptions are then layered on this amalgamation of individual chemistry. This combination results in the same person waffling between genius and madman, when viewed in a myriad of different ways by an array of different eyes. Don Quixote is the vehicle by Which Cervantes masks scalding social criticism couched in the persona of a mad man. This sprawling novel that traverses the canyons between madness and sanity is a story of unbridled experience. We all want to live lives full adventure, but the world and our “place” in it often keeps us within limits that say this is ok and this is crazy. I love this journey because I believe that if we, like Don Quixote, live life as we define it, the stories would have been worth it.

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