Reading the Classics discussion

Discussion thread for week 1 of the Don Quixote re-boot.

I’m definitely ahead of this in the book but I want to contribute to the convo.

These chapters have so many classic moments:
-Sancho getting tossed in the blanket is so funny and the amount of shame he feels in that moment just keeps coming back into the narrative.
-Quixote drinking the potion and completely passing out for multiple hours also had me cracking up. This man is beyond wreckless but always has a response ready for why things happen.
-The fact that Quixote is so beat up and horrifying looking that his appearance could only be “a devil out of hell” is also a hilarious touch.

What does everybody else think?

- Sancho's not going to forget the blanketing soon. He keeps making dark references to it throughout; it's hilarious.
- I had read this chapter many weeks ago — when I think of it now, it feels very sad. Don Quixote's almost desperate attempts to see the world in his rose tinted glasses just feels sad now, after reading the book once.
- But again, it's funny. Cervantes is a little like Shakespeare — he can be both funny and tragic.

Well I have a ways to go to catch up with all of you, but I am enjoying it.

My only problem is that can’t seem to get all those songs out out my head ; )

“Dulcenea ——dulcenea - - - on and on

I wonder what we know about Cervantes. Was he a happy man?? Or a troubled man?

I feel like it’s hard to say whether he was happy based on what we know about him. He definitely had an exciting life though. At different points in his life he worked in a cardinals house in Rome, was a soldier for the Spanish where he was shot in the chest twice and had his hand paralyzed from a third shot (noted to have fought bravely), a prisoner of Barbary pirates, and in the last ten years of his life became a writer.

He was definitely a survivor though. He tried to rise after every fall. He tried to escape Algiers thrice. He was imprisoned more than once and had a childhood stricken with poverty and that's enough to make a bitter and hard man. Could a troubled and dejected man survive so many hardships? We can never know what he was like but he sounds pragmatic.

Oh yeah I agree 100%. He was an amazing figure.

yet “Don Quixote” is a book of constant whit and humor. (At least what I’ve read so far). I would have guessed he was a Courtier of a royal court.

I don't think you can overcome so many obstacles and continue to advance in life, as he did, without being an optimistic sort. So I would guess, on balance, that he was happy. Also, if he was able to concentrate on writing during his last ten years, he must have been something of a success prior to that. This is all just conjecture, but it makes sense to me.

I was wondering about the history of Chivalry and a timeline. When did the age of Chivalry end??

Wikipedia has a very nice summary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivalry

It even answered my question -

"Christopher Wilkins contends that Sir Edward Woodville, who rode from battle to battle across Europe and died in 1488 in Brittany, was the last knight errant who witnessed the fall of the Age of Chivalry and the rise of modern European warfare. When the Middle Ages were over, the code of chivalry was gone.[66]"

"Don Quixote" (the first part) was published in 1605. Cervantes was writing of a world lost, by at least a hundred years and perhaps half a millennium since the Code of Chivalry's emergence.

Do we know a time frame for "Don Quixote"? I have the impression the events are occurring near the end of the chivalric era.

I think Don Quixote takes place in the year of its publication. Quixote is simply somebody who thinks the past is better than the present.

Yeah, Don Quixote states that he wants to 'revive' the long gone age of knight-errants. He said this several times throughout. So, to some extent, even he knew that there are no knights in the world now but wants to revive them with his fame. I think the novel is quite evidently set in the publication year.

L_Gail wrote: "I was wondering about the history of Chivalry and a timeline. When did the age of Chivalry end??

Wikipedia has a very nice summary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivalry

It even answered my quest..."

This is really interesting! I agree with Darshana in that I believe Cervantes set his novel in [what was then] present day.

The calendar is now FINALLY updated for the new Cervantes schedule.

Access here:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/...

Thanks Brian for keeping up the calendar

Thoughts on the story so far and my translation choices.

I am "listening" to the Thomas Smollett translation narrated by Robert Whitfield. It is a 37 hour unabridged audio of the text produced by Blackstone Audio.

I also purchased the Harper Collins Kindle edition with the Edith Grossman translation. I plan to stop at the end of my current "book section" and catch up with the Edith Grossman version.

This should give me some idea of the influence of the translators.

I have just finished chapter 22 in the audio version. This has allowed me to get caught up. But I need to start the kindle version and mark it up to be able to discuss the book more closely. I will continue to listen to the audio version so I don't get so behind. The audio version is easy listening for the most part.

The edition I'm reading is a Signet Classic from many years ago (complete with margin notes witten when I was probably in college), and I do wonder how much the translation changes the book. I am really enjoying the book but sometimes the word choice surprises me given the overall tone and context. I'm almost sure Cervantes originally had a more perfect word than the translator used. It also includes the introduction, which I did read, with background about Cervantes and how the story came about. I guess I wasn't paying attention when I read it though, because I don't recall much about it that would help determine if he were a happy or troubled man! I may have to go back and review.

With the change in calendar, I am actually just slightly ahead, and Sancho absolutely can't live the blanketing down! It has certainly scarred him, but meanwhile nothing seems to get to Don Quixote. The fantasy world he created for himself allows him to completely disregard incidents and multiple drubbings that would shame anyone else. If he can tweak it to fit in his narrative, he does, and if not he ignores it as if it never happened. I think Sancho's shame over the blanket incident may be to highlight this contrast.

Thanks for the updated calendar, Brian! I should be able to keep up and contribute to the discussions now.

Hey, Brian, I'm not sure if it's just my device, but I'm not able to access the calendar with the link you posted.