Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, Edith Grossman, George Guidall ISBN: 1-4025-6342-6 Publisher: Recorded Books Pub. Date: October, 2003 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 35 List Price(USD): $79.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.55 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of a kind
Comment: Don Quixote is rightfully considered one of the all-time great works of literature. It is probably one of the most accessible and timeless novels on any list of great books.
By accessible, I mean that it's a funny and touching story with clear mass appeal. By timeless, I mean that because the characters are so well developed (especially Don Quixote and Sancho) it is very easy for us to relate to their emotions and understand their actions even today. Reading this novel, I felt that I was sharing an experience with the Spanish public who read this book in the 17th century, and I understand why they enjoyed it.
I have read one other translation, and enjoyed it about equally, though I think most people will prefer Grossman's version. I am glad that this new translation has reignited interest in the book.
Rating: 3
Summary: A lot to get through, but a lovely point
Comment: The character of Don Quixote has decided that he will become a knight errant, leaving his life behind and sallying forth to advance the values of chivalry in the world. He takes the working-class (sorry for the anachronism) Sancho Panza with him as his squire. Much to the chagrin of those close to him, Don Quixote believes that he is indeed a knight, and the reality of the world falls victim to his perceptions of it as a place in which knights are assailed by magical forces and spells, in which the Helmet of Mambrino comes along for the taking and in which windmills are the enemy.
Don Quixote serves the lovely Dulcinea del Toboso, and performs his brave exploits in her honor. He has however never seen her (and she seems that she does not indeed exist), and some funny incidents happen when interactions are sought with her. Also, Don Quixote has promised Sancho an island to rule as governor, and Sancho pursues all avenues to achieve this end. In the second book of the novel, Sancho gets a chance to rule, and he shows interesting capabilities and savviness in the discharge of his duties.
The book is episodic, as Don Quixote and Sancho encounter various adventures and challenges. The reader has a humorous view of the two adventurers, able to see the reality in relief to their vision of the world. While Sancho seems not to have suffered a "psychic break" with the world, he is humorously flexible in his views; when it serves him, he accepts Don Quixote's explanations of reality, when it behooves him to see the world as it is, he does so, but modifies his retelling of his events for his master to maintain Don Quixote's illusion.
What comes first and foremost to mind is the line in the movie Quiz Show spoken by Charles Van Doren's father, a literature professor at Columbia University, as his students leave the lecture hall. Some of them cannot suspend their disbelief that a man could make his knightly fantasy last so long and be so believable (to himself), and Prof. Van Doren says he is able to be a knight because "he believes he is one" (or something to that effect). Strangely, it was this inadvertant lecture on Don Quixote that has made it most appealing to me, that explains the motivation and charm and compelling aspect of Don Quixote; he is chivalrous because he believes he is, he continues to honor those values because he believes they can be honored, and he believes that the world embraces his services because chivalry is alive, is needed, and its priests are welcomed.
Don Quixote's state of mind and construction of reality are humorous to be sure, but his beliefs in overarching values are appealing and made me think of what could be real because we make it so, what could be real for the better? As the novel progresses, Cervantes gives more credence to Don Quixote's value system, and less to those who are sane around him. It's an interesting read, and certainly a foundational work.
Rating: 4
Summary: Hail Knight of the Sorrowful Face!
Comment: Edith Grossman's newest translation of Miguel de Cervantes's "Don Quixote" is fabulous. As someone who grew up watching various incarnations of "The Man of La Mancha", I felt it was time to read the source material. But I was always afraid that the language (old timey as well as Spanish) would be a major hinderance to my enjoyment of the text. Grossman presents the adventures of Knight-Errant Don Quixote and his able (if slightly dimwitted) squire, Sancho Panza, with a fresh, contemporary voice. As I read the novel, I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the language was. I got the feeling I was reading and enjoying the novel the same way one of Cervante's contemporaries would have.
The novel is funny, sad and violent, sometimes all three at the same time. I highly recommend this latest translation.
 |
Title: Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman ISBN: 1400041341 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
 |
Title: Goya by Robert Hughes ISBN: 0394580281 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 11 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
 |
Title: The Early Stories : 1953-1975 by John Updike ISBN: 1400040728 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
 |
Title: The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan ISBN: 0670032115 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 08 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee ISBN: 0670031305 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 09 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
