Mostly, I read this book because I’m not above being a sycophant, and to a less degree because it seems like one of the books a person should read at some point. A work colleague, my “buddy” during the onboarding process, is coming over for dinner next week. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is his favorite novel. I thought it’d be something we could talk about.
I’ve learned that Don Quixote actually consists of two parts that were written and published years apart. I’ve just finished Part 1, which seems like enough of an achievement to write about. I don’t know if I can discuss it in an intelligent manner, but I do have some thoughts.
- This book is LONG. The first part clocks in around 500 pages. (Admittedly, the version I’m reading is one of those small paperbacks.) The second part is just as long.
- I saw on the Internet that Don Quixote is considered by some to be the first modern novel. It was quite readable. (Not sure what role the translation played in this.) In fact, it’s hard for me to comprehend how this book was written more than 400 years ago, as parts of it seem so fresh. (Again, unsure what role the translation played in this.) On the other hand, novels are not written this way anymore. Don Quixote involves a lot of people sitting around and telling each other their stories. To be sure, there is action as well, but the latter half of Part 1 in particular seemed to consist mostly of people telling their life stories, along with a novella thrown in. Similarly, there’s a lot more unadorned dialogue than I’m used to, whole chapters of two individuals going back and forth each making their arguments with long paragraphs of text. Today’s authors, I think, try to use more “show, don’t tell,” in their approaches, whereas Cervantes heavily uses dialogue to explain what characters are thinking, planning and doing.
- On a similar theme, there isn’t much of a point in the plot of Don Quixote. It doesn’t have the classic three part structure that I associate with novels. Sure, things happen and wrap up by the end, but it’s mostly episodic.
- The famous windmill scene happens in Chapter Eight. For context, this is essentially the very beginning of Don Quixote’s adventures. Total chapter count is fifty-two. Don Quixote has a short escapade before Chapter Eight but it’s preliminary – his “squire,” Sancho Panza, isn’t with him until right before the windmills. And the windmill “adventure” lasts no more than three pages. Given that the windmill scene is essentially all I knew about Don Quixote prior to reading it, the fact that it came so early into the novel and that it played such an insignificant role in the story was astonishing. True, it’s a great visual and you can read all sorts of symbolism into it. The cynical part of me wonders if it is so famous because it’s early enough into the novel that almost everyone gets that far before abandoning the effort.
- Don Quixote is funny. And not (just?) in an erudite way. It has a lot of slapstick humor and even scatological humor. It’s almost like a Looney Toons cartoon. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are constantly getting beat up, but never seriously slowed down. At one point, they vomit into each other’s faces. A long paragraph is devoted to Sancho Panza attempting to secretly defecate while he is standing right next to Don Quixote. Unfortunately for him, the smell rises up to Don Quixote’s nose. “Sancho,” he says, “I think you’re more frightened than you had let on.” And then asks him to stand farther away.
- It’s clear than Don Quixote has gone mad and truly believes he’s a knight errant, but it’s not clear to me if he uses being a knight as an excuse to avoid things he doesn’t want to do, or if he’s always acting in good faith. For instance, at one point Sancho Panza is “blanketed,” tossed up and down on a blanket by some guys at a inn as a joke when he tries to leave without paying the fee. Don Quixote has already left the inn, and returns when he hears Sancho’s cries; but when he gets to the wall of the inn and actually sees Sancho being tossed into the air, he can’t move and doesn’t do anything to stop it. He later attributes this to being enchanted, as he believes everything in the inn (a castle, in his mind) is enchanted. I still can’t decide what really happened.
- While it’s a comic story, Don Quixote (and to a lesser degree, Sancho Panza) is a tragic figure. He’s mad. His attempted heroic deeds cause only confusion, disaster or loss of property to the unsuspecting people around him or physical damage to himself and Sancho. He brings some people laughter, but it’s the laughing-at-you-not-with-you kind. This is not a guy you would want to meet, because he would somehow mess up your life all while believing he was doing something noble. At the same time, there is something noble about his steadfast dedication to living out his life as a knight errant. He ends up in a cage. That’s hard to laugh at, especially when I take care of people lacking capacity in the hospital.
Overall, I’m happy I read it, but I haven’t decided if I’m reading Part 2 yet.
SDG