An excellent edition of this classic. Jan 21, 2003 (77 of 84 found this helpful)
Note: Amazon.com seems to have a hard time linking reviews to specific editions - it makes a difference. This review is of the Modern Library edition, ISBN-0679602860, translated by Samuel Putnam. I am reposting it, hoping it will link correctly this time).
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When you approach reading (or rereading) a "classic" work you really, mostly, don't have to think about whether to read it -- that decision was either made by someone assigning it to you or, more wonderfully, by you, yourself deciding to swim contra-current against the cultural waters... following Neil Young's advice to "turn off that MTV."
So. You are going to read it. And, if you are paddling the Amazon.com, here, you are going to buy and OWN it. The question really becomes which edition you should own.
This is the one.
Its a fine translation - surprising in its avoidance of archaic language. It has a nice structure - the inevitable notes are available but not obtrusive.
This edition, the Modern Library hardback edition, translated by Putnam, is also a nice book to own. It isn't one of those pretty faux-leather "shelf-candy" copies that'll break your wallet first. This is a hardworking book - the essence of the Modern Library idea. But it is a wonderful packaging of the whole 1000+ pages that is both readable and shelvable. No thousand-page paperback will survive an actual reading as anything you would want excepting as backup next to the latrine.
Did I mention that it is a great book, great story? Well, others over the years have managed that :-). But I will loudly agree. I'm rereading it only now after a 35 year hiatus (yes, indeed, classics can be lost on the young - thats why you want books that last. In 35 more years, when you turn your lance back toward targets you thought you left behind, a copy will cost you [a lot of money]). It is just plain startling in its innovations and story. I always thought Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard were the first to break down that "third wall" and talk to the audience - yet here is Cervantes doing so five centuries back ! Wow.
Even if you've been made to buy it and to read it, buy a nice copy. Read the "Cliff notes" if you must, but someday you'll be a crazy old coot like Don Q. (or me) and want to toss something more meaningful than Palahniuk (or even Rushdie) at the cobwebs that cling.
The Don Mar 11, 2000 (43 of 46 found this helpful)
I was assigned to read this book this year in my senior Humanities class. We were not expected to read every chapter, but once I started, I couldn't dream of skipping anything. Don Quixote, Book 1, tells the story of a man more optimistic and idealistic than any other in literature. He sets out as a "righter of wrongs and injustices" and doesn't let anything stand in his way. Book one is also incredibly funny in many parts, both physically and intellectually. Book 2, although a somewhat difficult read and much less humorous, is by far the better work of art. At first, I was apalled at the ending of the book, but I now feel that Cervantes was justified in his ending because he wanted us to mourn the absence of chivalry and hope in our world. I cannot express how much perspective this book will add to your life. Tip: If you are reading Don Quixote in English, I reccommend the Putnam translation.
Translations... Mar 23, 2005 (12 of 12 found this helpful)
The paper-back modern library edition (NOT what one reviewer commented on below) is a translation by Tobias Smollett first published in 1755. If you're going to read a book as talked-about and deeply ingrained in our collective mental universe as this one is, you have a very wide range of translations to choose from. Smollett was a major writer in his own right, and 18th century English prose is much closer in flavor to the original Spanish than anything written these days could be. There is a certain violence about the vocabulary and the constructions Smollett uses that fits very well with Cervantes. This books was first and foremost successful because it was rudely, bloodily, enthusiastically *funny* and Smollett is quite as up to the jokes about belching (which we learn is more politely termed 'eructing') and whipping as he is to Don Quixote's elevated speeches on knight-errantry.
Carlos Fuentes' introcution is wonderful and learned (like most everything Fuentes writes). Read the novel first, though. It really needs no more introduction than all of the bits and pieces one has already heard.
My only complaint about this version is the layout or the notes (hence 4 stars, rather than 5). Since this translation was itself made 250 years ago, some of the vocabulary and usage is a bit strange. Not that this really hinders the read, but it would be nice to be able to flip back to the notes when something of particular or peculiar interest pops up. The notes, however, are labled by book and chapter. There are two parts to the novel, and each has several books containing many chapters. It can be hard to find the note you're looking for without a lot of flipping around. This is a relatively minor gripe.
Altogether, I strongly recommend the modern library paper-back edition. Smollett is an excellent translator, and Fuentes provides erudite commentary. Modern Library makes very solid books, and since this one is 1100+ pages, it's especially important that the pages at the front don't start to fall out by the time you get to the ones at the back.
Go forth and read!