October 6, 2020 The episode with the Knight of the Mirrors stands up there with the best stories of Vol. I. And I did not see the reveal coming at all! But it had been foreshadowed. Then I wondered, if Samson Carrasco planned out this encounter with our priest back in La Mancha, then what … Continue reading 70 chapters into Don Quixote
October 4, 2020 My son thinks I’m reading “Donkey Hotee”. The book has never been funnier than in the first 7 chapters of Vol. II. As always, it’s the dialogue that gets me the most, especially Sancho’s talks with his wife and with Don Quijote. Cervantes is getting more creative and trying new things, and … Continue reading 62 chapters into Don Quixote
October 2, 2020 I've finished Volume 1. I’m going to miss all the side-characters. Even before they split off from our core group, saying goodbye to our knight, squire, priest and barber, it was clear that their stories were now more-or-less resolved and that the rest of Vol. I would probably just take the core … Continue reading Halfway through Don Quixote
October 1, 2020 Dorotea’s unspooling of her story – while we, along with the anguished Cardenio, guess who she might be – is the most gripping thing in the book yet. (I read this rather than watch the first Trump/Biden debate, and I’m so glad.) Her speech when Fernando enters her room is stirring (“I … Continue reading 41 chapters into Don Quixote
September 29, 2020 In chs. 26 and 27 there are intimations that to go mad for your lady is actually the point. A possible motivation for our knight’s decision to take up this profession. There are clear signs that, at least in the literature of chivalry, this is one way in which knights are distinguished. … Continue reading 36 chapters into Don Quixote
September 28, 2020 I'm twenty-two chapters into "Don Quixote", a book I've been meaning to read since the 1990s. A few things are already clear: Rocinante is not a gentleman (Vol. I, ch. 15). Neither is Don Quijote, who doesn’t listen, doesn’t ask questions before attacking, or attacks if he asks questions and gets answers … Continue reading Starting Don Quixote
