should i continue reading?

[wzmh]

i've read upto part i, chapter 27 (roughly 200 pages).
Ok, i see that the author created this character Don Quixote and tried to compare him to "the one" in the New Testament.

But why are there so many long stories of some non-important random characters who come out so randomly to tell their own life stories (which, in my understanding, have nothing to do with what the author is trying to say in this book) that last at least a chapter each?? These ****ty life stories(or love stories) of random characters eventually made me to turn pages without reading, cause I didn't want to waste my time anymore.

My question to you who have finished reading this book is whether it is really worth spending more time to finish the book? If the rest of the book will be just the same as first 27 chapters, without any significant turning point or proposition, then i better quit here...

[wzmh]

I finished the book yesterday. Had much fun reading it through.

BUT.

The ending of it... confuses me. (!!spoiler warning!!)

I do not understand why DonQ had to die that way. I mean, I thought that
he was supposed to represent the lives of all devout Christians who are carrying
their own heavy cross. And if so, how can he (how dare he), at the end of his
valiant fight over the course of his life, show us such disappointing end,
leaving us so hopeless?? He should have died the happiest man ever, and full of
confidence just the way he lived.

But then again, this passage from the second last chapter of the book:
[...he woke up and in a loud voice exclaimed, "Blessed be Almighty God,
who has shown me such goodness. In truth his mercies are boundless,
and the sins of men can neither limit them nor keep them back!" ]
together with the fact that the story ends as they are back in their 'village',
('village' symbolizing the place where they once belonged) lead me again to
think that it was a beautiful, Christian ending afterall.
I understand that Cervantes wanted to put an end to all the knights novels..
but I wonder if it was that important a point to end this story explaining that.


Somebody please help me.
I guess I'm just too young and immature to understand this masterpiece.

[grotto]

Ah! The mark of a truly well read book! It makes you ask questions and doesn’t allow you to understand in a finite way!

Congratulations on not being a cookie cutter book reader who has all the answers!

Keep reading! Keep asking questions and don’t forget to forum your own opinion while being always open to a different one. Oh yeah, and don’t take yourself too seriously in the process, we all chase windmills.

[bazarov]

I do not understand why DonQ had to die that way. I mean, I thought that
he was supposed to represent the lives of all devout Christians who are carrying
their own heavy cross. And if so, how can he (how dare he), at the end of his
valiant fight over the course of his life, show us such disappointing end,
leaving us so hopeless?? He should have died the happiest man ever, and full of
confidence just the way he lived.

To show what Cervantes thinks about those days heroes, knights and other freaks; which he shows through whole story with numerous short stories that look like they have nothing with basic plot. His death in that way is just a normal and cruel result of his insane life and acts. Realization ''The hell with you; Amadis from Galia!'' showed that even Don realized how stupid he was.

There is an excellent poem from Pushkin on similar thesis, with slightly different ending. You can find it in Pushkin's section on this forum.

[Don Quixote Jr]

The ending of it... (Don Quixote) confuses me.

Hey, join the club! But, to try and give you my spin on the ending - I found it uplifting because Don Quixote's sanity returned to him before he died and also because he got to follow his (admittedly insane) dream in real life, which most of us don't get a chance to do.
I think the ending can be interpreted in various ways which is the sign of a deep work and not some cheap pulp fiction.

[shylock1079]

Since this post is a bit old, you've prolly already made your decision. If not, I would encourage you to complete Don Q if only for yourself. If you ever read and academic studies on Arthurian legend or the Spanish variants you'll find a great deal of humor. If you take a look the modern equivalent of spoof films, you'll somewhat see where Cervantes is headed. Many of these random stories are also influences for many stories you read today in pop culture.

[wzmh]

It's been more than a month since I finished the book, and I'm still wrestling with its ending. Thank you for your comments, but to be honest, I still do not have an answer to the ending. It looks badly twisted to me..

Question:
If the purpose of Don Quixote's journey, to find Lady Dulcenia, was all just a madman's dream, then how is it that Sancho's was realized? (to be the ruler of an island)

In the Bible, there is a person named Joseph, who dreamed a dream and believed it will be realized, and it actually did.

[Gracewings]

Throughout the book, Don Quixote was seen as a madman which prompted abuse, ridicule and some mean elaborate jokes at his expense. However, consider the effect he made on people by the close of the book.

[Manchegan]

what a tricky end indeed. i liked where it was going - to satarize the pastoral novels next - but i was so sad and stunned he had to die!

In his intro to the second part, Cervantes makes a point that he leaves Don Quixote in the ground so that no other author can continue his adventures. So that's probably part of it. But it can't be everything.

I think the purpose of his quest was less about finding Dulcinea and more about proving and spreading his honor. All of his own mad adventures end horribly for him, but they put him in a position to spread much wisdom and resolve the conflicts of many others quite peacefully. His quest was succesful. He doesn't need another sally.

[nick henderson]

Why be confused about the ending? Several times in the book, characters say that everyone has to die sometime, and whether the Don dies a Christian death or not has nothing to do with it. He dies, finally sane and rid of his obsession, and leaves his money to his faithful Sancho as well as to his housekeeper and niece. Christianity or not (and in my opinion many Americans obsess too much about religion), the Don dies a death which is moving (it brought tears to my eyes) and 'satisfying' from a narrative point of view.

[Truthlover]

After having read this book in high school and in college, I still didn't "get" it. Finally, about forty years later, I ventured to read it again, with the question foremost: Why is this considered one of the top classics of world literature? (Why is it placed on the level of Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe?) I read Sharkie's translation and after about 250 pages with no palpable answer to my question, suddenly I was entirely overwhelmed and electrified by an experience I had never before had in my life. I became embarrassingly aware of myself in the context of the entire history of my past life. I was shocked by the decisions I had made, because I had based them either on my ideal world vision, or on my realist world vision. I saw my personal choices as dependent on whichever of the two world views I was unconsciously operating under at the time I made each particular decision. This was really scary. It forced me to reexamine all the major decisions I had made. I realized how such decisions needed to be revised and corrected if necessary. This is when the book really started getting "great." I traveled through it with immense joy and realized I was seeing myself in a mirror. This book actually unveils yourself to yourself. It is a book that reads you from cover to cover.

In my own case, even after reading Don Quixote under this uncanny prism, I have remained true to all the major decisions I made in the past. Does this mean I am a coward? Seeing I am not in a position to change them at my age, especially because I am responsible to others who depend on me, I have nevertheless been able to transcend myself, that is, to see myself for what I am. From the vantage point of this new, objective little hilltop where I now sit and laugh at myself, I can continually improve my life by decisions I must make daily. I am liberated from myself! So, whatever decisions I could have made more wisely in the past, now no longer matter for the quality of life I enjoy. It's not what you do, but why you do it, and how you do it, after all, that provides the greater happiness and fulfillment. (I do not include under this heading what would be morally wrong.)

Since I have lived in Mexico for the past 32 years, I have learned enough Spanish to listen to the 37 CDs of this incredibly great work, in Castilian Spanish, unabridged, produced in Madrid. They did a real good job of it. This set is highly recommendable.

[heethar73]

I really hope you continue to read. I had the same question running through my mind at that exact part in the book, but I promise it picks up in about 75 pages. At the beginning, I thought it was slow as heck and it took me 2 weeks to get through 200 pages, but now I can't put it down! Good luck!