Don Quixote

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

It’s been a while since I’ve written in my blog. The reason for this is that I’ve been re-reading Don Quixote, a 950 page book. And for me, when I re-read a book, it generally takes me longer than my initial reading. The first time through just about any book, I find myself reading somewhat fast in parts, anxious to find out what happens next. In subsequent times through, I’ve gotten that out of the way. I know what happens next (well, if it’s many years between re-reading, I have a general idea of what happens next anyway), so I can slow down and appreciate the detail, appreciate the style, enjoy more of the dialog, and so on. Thus, re-reading Don Quixote took me about two weeks or so.

The turn of the 17^th century was a remarkable time in the literary world. In England, Shakespeare was producing his greatest plays – the greatest plays in the English language (and perhaps in any language). At the same time, in Spain, Cervantes was writing what still stands as one of the greatest novels ever written – Don Quixote.

Don Quixote was actually published in two parts. The first part was published in 1605. Part two (written in part in response to the so-called false Quixote, an unauthorized sequel by another writer) ten years later. Since then, the two parts have typically been published as one long novel.

Most everyone knows the story of Don Quixote: Quixote is an older gentleman, fond of reading novels of chivalry. These were quite popular at the time. Most were poorly written, and filled with fantasy elements so extreme as to sound absurd. But Quixote is convinced they are real and convinced that he is the modern heir to the older knights, that it is he who will restore knight errantry to the world. So, along with a poor neighboring farmer, Sancho Panza, he rides off in search of adventure. And he finds adventure, because his madness causes him to see and interpret things in fantastical ways: inns become castles, prostitutes princesses, windmills giants, and flocks of sheep armies. And when he is forced to see anything for what it is – when Sancho sees that the windmills are in fact windmills – Quixote explains it as a result of the malicious enchanters who bedevil knights errant, who take away victory by turning giants into windmills.

As you can see, this is all the basis for an amusing slapstick comedy. But Don Quixote goes far beyond that in a number of ways. I’ll talk about a few of them.

First and foremost, what makes Don Quixote stand so far above other novels of this type is the characters. Both Quixote and Sancho are a marvelous mixture of wisdom and, in the Don’s case, madness, and in Sancho’s case foolishness. But both are very real and in their ways, very likeable (especially Sancho). And together, they are a marvel. Their dialogs are entertaining and insightful – the Don often talking wisely (at least when not on the subject of chivalry) and Sancho spouting proverbs and good common sense, mixed with remarkable naivety (he is convinced, for example, despite all he sees, that Quixote will one day make him the governor of an insula).

The novel is also very witty and full of wordplay. It mixes comedy on all levels (ranging from bathroom humor to biting satire), but at the same time there is an underpinning of seriousness. Quixote is both funny and sad; we laugh at him and his antics, but at the same time our hearts ache over the fact that he is not achieving what he wants. In the midst of it all, he means well, he wants to see courtesy, dignity, and freedom in the world, so when he fails, we feel his pain.

Don Quixote part one tells of the Don’s first two sallies. The first is a short, solo sally, from which he quickly returns. The second is the one that most who haven’t read the novel still know of in which the Don and Sancho encounter the windmills. In the first part, the Don and Sancho go through pain and hardship. The also encounter an amusing and interesting cast of characters. Cervantes uses parts of the novel to not only satirize novels of chivalry but also pastoral novels and other types of romances, and the Don and Sancho find themselves in the midst of situations straight out of these types of novels (and where the characters, like Quixote, have been warped by being too influenced by them).

The first part also includes several novelettes, where Cervantes inserts another story into the main novel. Usually this is done by having the characters listen to this story. Cervantes was criticized for this, and it does break the flow of the novel. While these inserted stories are good in their own right, the reader really wants to get back to the Don and Sancho. They are the ones we want to know more about, not “The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious.” But in the end, these stories do tie back into the main novel, as characters and events from them become part of the story.

This in fact brings us to what is perhaps the main thrust of Don Quixote: the interrelationships between fiction and reality. The novel explores the ways that fiction and life intersect, and in fact on how fiction influences and becomes part of life. The Don is convinced that the fictional accounts of chivalry are real. A country squire is similarly influenced by pastoral novels. Stories throughout intersect the events of the world. And this interrelationship becomes even more pronounced in part two.

Don Quixote part two start with the Don and Sancho, home from their adventures and the Don, perhaps, somewhat on the mend, being told an amazing fact: their adventures have been written down. Don Quixote part one has been published, and they are now known throughout Spain. Moreover, a false sequel has been written, and they are astounded to hear that someone is making up false adventures about them. So, they sally forth into the world again, this time often encountering people who know who they are since they’ve read about them. A large section of the novel, in fact, involves the two of them as guests of a Duke and Duchess who were fond of part one and who pretend that all is real and play several amusing tricks on the two.

Part 2 is my favorite of the two parts, though both are good. Perhaps it’s because I know the characters even more by the time I get to that point. Perhaps because it contains more about the Don and Sancho, and Sancho in particular gets to say and do more. It contains some of my very favorite incidents -- Quixote attacking a puppet show, thinking he is rescuing several of the characters, Sancho’s reaction to being told he must give himself 3,300 lashes to disenchant Dulcenia (one of the tricks of the Duke and Duchess), the Cave of Montesinos (where the Don sees – or dreams he sees (it’s sometimes unclear what he himself believes) – an amazing group of older knights when his lowered into a cave), and so on. And of course in part two for at least a short while Sancho does become governor of an “insula” (a small town controlled by the Duke, but Sancho doesn’t know the difference). And, to the surprise of all, he actually is a good and wise governor for the week he is there, until the Duke tricks him into leaving again.

Don Quixote is a novel that rewards rereading. I’ve now read it three times (twice in the Putnam translation, this time in the Grossman translation) and have been delighted and found more each time I’ve read it. And the Don and Sancho are such wonderful characters that it is pleasant to return to them in again.

There is much more I could say here. Don Quixote is the subject of books, so this brief essay barely scratches the surface. But it remains one of the great classics and a very readable and delightful book, one that works on many different levels. Highly recommended.