Don Quixote

By Miguel de Cervantes SaavedraGuillén de CastroFernanda de las Cuevas, et al.

Book Overview

Newly introduced by leading Quixote scholar Ilan Stavans, this 400th Anniversary edition of Don Quixote of La Mancha--called the most popular book in history after the Bible and the first modern novel--inaugurates Restless Classics: interactive encounters with great books and inspired teachers. Each Restless Classic is beautifully designed with original artwork, a new introduction for the trade audience, and a video teaching series and live online book club discussions led by passionate experts.

Described as "the novel that invented modernity," Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote of La Mancha has become since its publication in Spain in two parts--the first in 1605, the second in 1615--a machine of meaning, endlessly adapted into ballet, theater, dance, film, music, and television, not to mention a veritable tourist industry.
Lionel Trilling argued that "all prose fiction is a variation on the theme of Don Quixote." Mark Twain was a passionate fan. Flaubert modeled Madame Bovary after it. Dostoyevsky reimagined its protagonist in The Idiot. And Borges, in his story about Pierre Menard, looked at it as the gravitational center of Hispanic civilization. Milan Kundera fittingly summarized this unstoppable devotion when he said that "Cervantes teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question."
Of course, Don Quixote has its detractors, too. Nabokov, for instance, maintained it was one of the cruelest narratives ever. Still, after 400 years, the book remains with us, winding improbably through history like the famous errant knight and his companion, Sancho Panza.
The commemorative Restless Classics edition, published on the four-hundredth anniversary of its full release, features John Ormsby's canonical English translation, illustrations by award-winning Mexican artist Eko, and an insightful, thought-provoking introduction by Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost public intellectuals today. Don Quixote, Stavans writes, is "not only a novel but a manual of life. You'll find in it anything you need, from lessons on how to speak and eat and love to an exhortation of a disciplined, focused life, an argument against censorship, and a call to make lasting friends, which, in Cervantes's words, is 'what makes bearable our long journey from birth to death'."
The volume includes access to an interactive series of video lectures by Stavans, available online at restlessbooks.com/quixote. The videos serve as map to this restless classic, which speaks more eloquently than ever to our perennial desire to sacrifice for a dream in order to see its true worth.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1632060752
• ISBN13: 9781632060754
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: Restless Books
• Length: 960 Pages
• Weight: 2.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Don Quijote

. Wrong version wrong series wrong year issued.. this isn't even the picture of the book I clicked on. Need refund immediately please.

Get this abridged version

A few years back, I read an unabridged version of part one. Keep in mind, this book was written between 400 and 500 years ago. This version is so much better. There are explainer notes at the bottom of some of the pages; to give better meaning to sayings, and to explain customs of the time. It brings more understanding to the story. I laughed out loud. This book is funny.

Abridged

Maybe it is my fault for not fully investigating before purchasing, but this is an abridged version of Don Quixote. I honestly don't even understand why abridged versions exist and why they're not more clearly labeled. If someone went through and edited a masterwork, it's no longer by Cervantes; it's by the editor. Will have to buy a different copy.

Top Notch Book Condition

Had to read some of the book for my English class and was one of the more entertaining ones. The font was super small and there were a ton of pages though!

The Great Cervantes And The Great Don Quijote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote De La Mancha =The Greatest Piece Of Literature Ever Written !!End Of Discussion!! Don Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra=The Greatest Writer Who Ever Lived !!End Of Discussion!! Professor Alphonse A. Dattolo

Smollett translation

I have looked at a number of translations of Don Quixote. I don't know why this tranlation is often passed over. It is my favorite by far and I think it stands on its own as a masterpiece. I can't imagine the original language surpassing it.