Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Yes, a great group read thanks to many of you.

Cosmic wrote: "I was looking to start rereading Don Quixote in the Grossman translationDon Quixote. I started to read the sample of the Grossman book compared to this one https://www.goodreads.com/bo..."

I read the Ormsby translation because reviews here said it was closest to the original translation. I figured if I was going to take it on, it might as well be closest to the original. After reading the different examples you posted I'm happy I read the Ormsby translation but the Grossman
translation would have definitely been easier for me!

I rated it 3 stars...I really enjoyed Part I...it held my attention and I liked DQ getting himself into all the crazy situations, but Part II dragged on forever and seemed more mean spirited in that the people were purposely setting DQ up for the craziness. I did enjoy when SP finally got his island.
And as an horse lover...loved Rocinante and Dapple!
I feel good that I took on the challenge and finished it!

Anteq, congratulations! It feels good doesn't it?

Desertorum wrote: " I had the impression (before reading) that DQ was some kind of sympathetic character. But I was wrong, nothing sympathetic about him.
And all these adventures felt tedious. I didn´t find them funny at all. Just boring. .."

DQ, at least in part I was not in the least sympathetic. I provoked altercations with people who were minding their own business and I for one was happy when he was beaten up a few times after provoking a fight.

Cosmic wrote: "I was looking to start rereading Don Quixote in the Grossman translationDon Quixote. I started to read the sample of the Grossman book compared to this one https://www.goodreads.com/bo..."

I read the Grossman translation.

I can see the difference in your side by side comparison.

I guess I chose the wrong translation.

Nathan wrote: "Anetq wrote: "I CONQUERED DON QUIJOTE!! It was a hard battle, but I won!"

For me this was a more difficult read than Les Misérables, The Count of Monte Cristo or [book:Mob..."

I liked Les Mis and tCoMC and enjoyed them. They were so much better than Don Quixote.

I loved The Count of Monte Cristo! Les Misérables was a good read, but had some parts that were a slog for me. I just never got into Don Quixote, maybe some other year if I run out of books to read. :)

Even the part in Les Mis about about Petit Picpuis (the ins and outs of that convent) that some group members struggled with when we read it, was more compelling than Don Quixote.

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Even the part in Les Mis about about Petit Picpuis (the ins and outs of that convent) that some group members struggled with when we read it, was more compelling than Don Quixote."

LOL. Agreed.

Kathy wrote: "I just never got into Don Quixote, maybe some other year if I run out of books to read. :)"
So if there is no books left in the universe, you might go back?

- Well if you do, stick to volume 1, it's not too bad actually (but volume two is a bad sequel).

Well, sounds about right at the moment.

For me Les Mis and the Count of Monte Cristo were 5 star reads and DQ I even couldn´t finish...

I found this list from The Guardian (made in 2003 by Robert McCrum) where he says this about DQ: "The story of the GENTLE knight and his servant Sancho Panza has entranced readers for centuries".
Now I´m wondering if he even has read the book ;)

I wonder if McCrum read the book too. DQ was not gentle. He threatened people with violence throughout part I and provoked fights with people.

McCrum is living in an alternate universe or hadn't read the book if thinks DQ "gentle."

I find it is not unusual, when one actually reads the classics to find that most "truths" and standard summaries seem to just be copied from each other for centuries too. Like the windmills being the famous story from Don Quijote, or him being gentle... So one win from getting through this: we can totally call people on not having read it. yay.

I thought i would copy and paste a selection from Don Quixote. It is in the beginning of the fourteenth chapter. I love the humor. It reminds me sadly of the treatment of the American Indians. But i love the way this is translated. It is funny. Dies anyone want to copy the same in their own edition (the Goodman or Rutherford translation) i would love to see the comparison.


"So far as I can see, friend Sancho, these are not knights but base folk of low birth: I mention it because thou canst lawfully aid me in taking due vengeance for the insult offered to Rocinante before our eyes." "What the devil vengeance can we take," answered Sancho, "if they are more than twenty, and we no more than two, or, indeed, perhaps not more than one and a half?" "I count for a hundred," replied Don Quixote, and without more words he drew his sword and attacked the Yanguesans and excited and impelled by the example of his master, Sancho did the same; and to begin with, Don Quixote delivered a slash at one of them that laid open the leather jerkin he wore, together with a great portion of his shoulder. The Yanguesans, seeing themselves assaulted by only two men while they were so many, betook themselves to their stakes,

Cosmic, that would be fun to compare my Grossman translation, but I read DQ as an eBook.

What translation did you have?

My translation was by Ormsby.

I read the Grossman translation.

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Prt II is terrible.

His time would have been better spent writing an entirely new book instead of writing this awful part II."

You said you were reading the Grossman translation. I think if you read the Ormsby translation you would have had a different experience. Grossman's passages fell flat where Ormsby were funny (laugh out loud funny). Her sentences were painful to read. I don't know why we needed a new translation?

Something that The Art of the Novel (listen on audible sample) about Don Quixote is it is a book about "truth". I had not looked at it from that point of view. I am rereading it and I see that the truth is a theme. It is better the second time around because you can listen to it with our trying to listen close to the plots, you have the main story ideas in mind and can hear the "wisdom" parts better.

I would highly recommend Ormsby translation.

Laurie wrote: "I finished this book today. I have mixed feelings about this enduring classic. While I understand that it is considered the first modern novel and we have the word "quixotic" that derives from the ..."

I wonder which translation you read?

Cameron wrote: "I read this one outside of this bookclub's reading period but am hoping that there is no issues with me jumping in here to take advantage of your discussions.

Having done a bit of research (the O..."

I would be interested, in what translation you read Don Quixote in?

Cosmic wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I finished this book today. I have mixed feelings about this enduring classic. While I understand that it is considered the first modern novel and we have the word "quixotic" that de..."

I read the Grossman translation since it was the version available at my local library. I didn't find it dry but, of course, I don't have another version to compare it to. So it is possible that I would have enjoyed the novel more if I had tried the Ormsby translation, but I will almost certainly never know for sure since I have no intention of reading this novel a second time. I would like to read Kundera's The Art of the Novel that you referred to earlier. Sounds interesting and I would like to see what he has to say about Don Quixote.

I realize that it has been over a year, but I am finally on Part II of DQ! Another 3 months and I should be finished.

Kathy,

You are a trooper!

A very slow trooper.

Go Kathy...now that is commitment!

Whatever is working for you!

Yay for serial reader! (This is the one you're using Serial Reader with, right?)

Melanti wrote: "Yay for serial reader! (This is the one you're using Serial Reader with, right?)"

Yes it is. Small bites at a time.

Oh no. I took the week off from reading my installments and now I have 6 of them to catch up. I'm going to have to force myself .

Just do 1 at a time and finish 6 days later, or you might be put off from ever picking it up again!

Pink wrote: "Just do 1 at a time and finish 6 days later, or you might be put off from ever picking it up again!"

Duh -- why did I not think of that. Genius I am not.

Some of the later stories don't drag as much as the middle ones. I found the end actually came really quick after slogging through the middle portion.

Thanks for the encouragement Myst. I am at 72%

Whoop whoop, nearly there!! One day at a time and it will be done before you know it!

Pink wrote: "Whoop whoop, nearly there!! One day at a time and it will be done before you know it!"

Keep going :) I finished, so I know you can do it, too ;).

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Qui...

"Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published, such as the Bokklubben World Library collection that cites Don Quixote as authors' choice for the "best literary work ever written"

I've only got two installments left to read using Serial Reader App. And sorry to say I can't say that I've really enjoyed this one. I am reading it because of the above -- being considered, "best literary work ever written" is a pretty amazing recommendation; but I just haven't enjoyed people setting up Don Quixote as a fool.

I also wonder if all of the Quixote inspired works were actually written/painted by someone who actually read the book -- it seems that the windmill scene is still the most common theme & that happens in the first 5% of the book!

It still holds it place as, " one of the foundations of modern literature." So worth my time to read it.

Yeah, towards the end of Part 2 is my least favorite section of the whole thing. I didn't like them setting him up at all. It was pretty cruel.


Maybe the windmill scene is often depicted cause it's early on and even those who quit early will recognize it - but also because it's a easy scene to depict and mock?

It's kind of hard to depict Quixote talking about an inn as if it were a grand castle.

Kathy wrote: "I've only got two installments left to read using Serial Reader App. And sorry to say I can't say that I've really enjoyed this one. I am reading it because of the above -- being considered, "best literary work ever written" is a pretty amazing recommendation; but I just haven't enjoyed people setting up Don Quixote as a fool. .."

Actually, even though I don't particularly enjoy this work, I can see why it is considered on one of the top literary works--and I doubt it would still be in print without strong literary merit. I have met people who love this novel, including one of my brothers. I hate how they set up Don Quixote for their humour, but there are many people who find that stuff funny, and they do it to people themselves.

Yes, I think some of those people have read the book. Many people like the humour, just like many people like the humour in parts of The Canterbury Tales (I didn't care for that book overall, either).

Finished -- 168 installments on Serial Reader, so this one has taken me half a year to read.

Congrats, Kathy!

Thanks

I found how people treated DQ throughout the entire book awful. Once they realized he wasn't going to give up on his 'vision' of a situation, they did everything they could to treat him like crap.

Sure he was 'abusing' their hospitality by refusing to pay, but he was clearly delusional vs 'choosing' to be a 'bad guest'.

Myst wrote: "I found how people treated DQ throughout the entire book awful. Once they realized he wasn't going to give up on his 'vision' of a situation, they did everything they could to treat him like crap.
..."

Yes exactly, I just couldn't get into the story because of that.

Well done Kathy!!!

Just a reminder, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is the Revisit the Shelf Read for the months of February and March 2024. We decided to vote on a longer book and spread the reading over two months.

in progress. its really a well written and interesting book. The characters sure like to talk a lot hahah.
My first time through....

About 52% total.

Lower the lances! Charge! Onto part II.

The mad-house story could easily be the inspiration for a Edgar Allan Poe story (The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether).

About 52%

I really like the chapter of Sancho with his wife. Not so much for the content, but the really weird commentary from the “translator” telling us not to trust the book. Sort of post-modern.

Chapter X: A strange chapter. First Sancho has never seen Dulzinea del Toboso before. He had way back in the beginning of part I :

"Well, well!" exclaimed Sancho. "So Lorenço Corchuelo's daughter is Mrs. Dulzinea del Toboso, also known as Aldonça Lorenço? …. I know her well, …. and I can tell that she is as good a pole thrower as the strongest shepherd in the whole village. She is, by God, a beautiful girl, a real woman with hair on her chest … “

I guess the author allowed himself that freedom to maximize to comedic effect.

Then Don Quixote is the one of see the world as it really is. But – now comes the strange thing – suddenly jumps into Sancho’s strange tale. Without any reason and contrary to what he is actually seeing.

I guess that if this was written today, people would say it was about conspiracy theorists believing whatever strange thing they wanted to believe in or felt like believe in with no connection to the real world. (Of course if it had been written today there would be quite a few comments about Sancho’s opinions about Jews and Muslims.)

71%

Again the make-believe game and people dressing up to fit in to Don Quixote’s fantasy. But with a very delicious twist. The best thing so far in part 2: Sancho is told that he is the one who was deceived about his own lie!

“Sancho, though he fancies himself the deceiver, is the one that is deceived; and that there is no more reason to doubt the truth of this, .... we too have enchanters here … tell us …. that agile country lass was and is Dulcinea del Toboso, who is as much enchanted”

Wow! What a crazy story. What is this about? How lies can be become believed by others, even their own inverters?

I seems to me a lot of this is really about religion. But hidden a bit and not too obvious. I would guess that you could not criticise the church at the time. This is about the same time that Galileo Galilei had a “little talk” with the Roman Catholic Inquisition about the Earth revolving about the Sun

Several times different people ask how do you know there knight-errant? This is asking: How do you know that things in books are true? …. Any book or “The Book”?