Saturday, 23 May 2015

Don Quixote - book review by Robert Bovington

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/spanisimpres-21/detail/B0095GWYPO
click on above picture to
purchase a copy of this book
Given that this book was written 500 years ago it is surprisingly readable. In fact, it is a thoroughly enjoyable and often comical read. Maybe it is Edith Grossman's translation that has made it accessible to a reader who prefers Bill Bryson, Peter James and Dick Francis to great classical authors like Shakespeare and Dickens. However, untranslated, it must be a pretty good novel anyway because in many surveys it is considered one of the best books of all time. 

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/... 

Cervantes great novel tells the story of an impoverished country gentleman who, having read too many stories about chivalry, decides to become a knight errant. He sets out on a series of adventures - or possibly misadventures - in a quest to put the world to rights. The escapades of the absurd Don Quixote and his companion, Sancho Panza, are set in the La Mancha region of Spain. 

Even if you only read one of the great classics of literature, I would urge you to read "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes and this edition would be recommended for English readers. 

A cheap "Wordsworth Classic" version:-

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/spanisimpres-21/detail/1853260363
click on above picture to
purchase a copy of this book
 
other blogs by Robert Bovington:

"Photographs of Spain"
"Spanish Impressions"
"postcards from Spain"
"you couldn't make it up!"
"a grumpy old man in Spain"
"Spanish Expressions"
"Spanish Art"
"Books About Spain"

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