The premise of the book is that it is a ‘history’ of Don Quixote de La Mancha, a man who read so many books about knights and chivalry that he believes are true, that he goes insane and decides he is a knight, and gets into a whole lot of trouble. Along the way we meet many different adventurers who have their own stories to share. As the book was published in two parts, and I have some other fiction pieces I’ve wanted to read, I am pausing inbetween the parts of Don Quixote.
It has not been the easiest read, as the dialogue is very lavish and verbose. It reminds me of the King James Bible in style, with a larger vocabulary. However, do not mistake this as a negative statement from me; it has been an absolute joy to read. I was surprised at how good it’s humor is, it’s a very funny book of misadventures and mishaps, but when it would take up a different story for a while, I was further surprised at how much I enjoyed those as well.
I could only fault the poetry of the book, but I can defend it as well. It’s a translation from Spanish to English, the basis of rhythm in English poetry is the metric foot of varying stress patterns, but as I understand it Spanish poetry is simply based on syllables. With a fundamentally different rhythmic base, I imagine translation is tougher. The author was faced with a conundrum and made what he could of it, preserving the poetic meaning and their rhymes so their structure is clear, but mostly ignoring metre and line length. This is no fault of the book, the fact is that any translation of poetry is always inferior to the original.
I want to reach for the word ‘grand’ to describe this book, yet I feel the word itself doesn’t capture it. Another way I would put it, is that the book captures something that is the essence of what drives life, with all it’s improbabilities and strangeness, the frequent irony we witness day to day is rendered, though in a more fantastical adventure.
I look forward to the next book, especially as I hear Don Quixote will finally meet his revered Dulcinea (the woman whom he is fixated on and imagines to be a princess, but is a simple village girl who is only acquainted with him as neighbor), a prospect that is exploding with ideas.