Reading the Classics discussion

Discussion thread for Week 3 of Don Quixote. Next week is a week off, so you can treat this as a 2-week period, or finish the reading and take next week off to BREATHE :)

I just read C27 (spoiler alert).

This has been my favorite chapter of Quixote so far. It really hits me where I live, as I am a huge Shakespeare fan, and The History of Cardenio is known to be a lost Shakespearean play performed by The King's Men in 1613. The 1st edition of Don Quixote was published in Spanish in 1605, and the Thomas Shelton English translation of the first part was published in 1612.

The lost play Cardenio is presumed to be based on this chapter of Don Quixote, which gives me all manner of goosebumps, as Cardenio's story, now that I finally get to read it, has ALL the hallmarks of a Shakespearean tragedy. What a treat it would be to be able to read that lost play, or even better: see it performed. Part of me now feels that I have: I can imagine the arc Shakespeare would have taken with the tale.

I know that there is more to Cardenio's story, likely to come in C28, but I have put it aside for tonight in order to enjoy it tomorrow.

Just finished Ch 30 last night. I am laughing so hard at the fun the curate and company are having at Don Quixote's and Sancho's expense! I absolutely loved the line at the end of Ch 30 when Cardenio said Quixote is "so strange and unusual that I don't know whether anyone who tried to invent such a character in fiction would have the genius to achieve success." Nice plug for yourself, Cervantes!

I'm sure Cervantes meant that in jest, like the rest of the book :)

I was struck by Sancho's lament that his prize was likely to be rule over an Ethiopian kingdom, and that it meant his subjects would be black. I know this is an early 17th century text, but still a bit jarring to see him comfort himself with the idea that he'd just sell them, and turn them into 'white and yellow'.

Overall I really enjoyed this week's reading, and am very curious to see what transpires as they try to lead him back to his village and keep him there.