I believe you're confusing Monty Python with Douglas Adams here. I'm aware that Adams did a few guest writing spots with the Pythons, but he wasn't a member, and I wouldn't lump them all together. I can also clearly see other influences in their works, and wouldn't start accusing them of pilfering too much Cervantes just yet. For example, while you can clearly see elements of Don Quixote in The Holy Grail, you can also see that until the charge by God to search for the grail, the film is very obviously parodying Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, from the beginning credits (with Swedish subtitles to drive the parody even further home), to the monks beating themselves in imitation of a similar scene in The Seventh Seal, to the burning of the witch. These were not Cervantes' images, and given the status of Bergman and The Seventh Seal in the film culture of the 1960s and 70s, that is clearly their primary parody source. Most people who watch it now don't even know this, because Bergman fans in this day and age are few and far between. Cervantes also said nothing about dead parrots or old loan clerks becoming pirates and attacking newer and bigger corporations, so it's safe to say the Pythons had plenty of their own ideas to work with, as well as anything or anyone they obviously parodied.Robert Tulip wrote:Just on Monty Python, I am growing more convinced that those Cambridge loons pilfered their best ideas from Cervantes. Towards the end of the book, in the restaurant at the end of the universe, we find the very model and source for the cheese shop.
I finished the book, and no, it did not get any better. I did not have anything else on my mind, and I didn't miss anything. I simply didn't like it.Robert Tulip wrote:Don Quixote only gets better. I think if you don't enjoy it you should stop reading, as that is a sign that perhaps you are missing something, have other things on your mind, and may be better waiting until later.
I think you're taking this a bit too hard, Robert. That doesn't mean it isn't still an important piece of literature, or that you can't stand by it and like it as much as you want. But I, along with everyone else here, am entitled to my own opinion about the book, and just because yours happens to be in the minority here doesn't give you the right to criticize our reading habits or reading comprehension just because we disagree. You're sounding a bit like Stahrwe, I'm sad to say, and I think maybe you should take a step back and look at this topic a bit more objectively. None of us are attacking Cervantes or Don Quixote, we just don't particularly like the book. And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that.