BookTalk.org

I can tell you now that I started reading this book on Sunday, and (including the translator's note and the Introduction by Bloom) I'm up to page 73 as of this morning. Someone out there on the web reviewing the edition said that it may be the best translation to English since the 17th century, which is certainly saying something. I can't speak to that, but what I can tell you is that the feeling I get is that I'm not so much reading a book as listening to Cervantes tell me the story -- animated, expressive, full of delight in the telling. This is remarkable. Very little going back and reading over -- pressing on instead. This was not the case when I was younger and reading what must have been an inferior translation -- it seemed more like work to read what I did, drudgery, and never able to complete the job. This is how it ought to be.

DWill wrote: One of the little useless things I remember is that ee cummings referred to Eliot as "tears eliot." Will you be shutting your eyes when the march of poems comes to Prufrock and The Wasteland?

Most likely. I like the first line or so of Prufrock, but after that I lose interest, and as far as The Wasteland is concerned, it has long been my opinion that a poem should not need footnotes. And I don't mean footnotes by a translator who is making a note of something that happened in translation of one language to another, but author written footnotes, without which the poem cannot be read.

Yeah. No. That kind of poetry does not stand with me. That, and I generally hate the "art for art's sake" movement in all forms of the arts, from poetry and art to music. I don't want to have to have my art explained to me, and I don't want to have to read 20 pages of long-winded poetry plus 10 pages of footnotes just to find what I already know -- I hate T.S. Eliot. The only work of his I ever liked was Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats -- and not just because it became a musical. Those poems are whimsical and amusing, and sometimes I think Eliot didn't even write them himself. Maybe there really was an "Old Possum."

DWill wrote: As this thread is about Don Quixote, and as I have started to reread my old Penguin, I have the idea to keep reading my edition and see whether what others say will indicate significant differences. The translator of the Penguin (1950) is J. M. Cohen. He says that his is modern, unstilted, and faithful to Cervantes.

The copy I have is my dad's, and the copyright on it says 1930, so I can only assume the translation is even older than that! No wonder I've been having such problems.

I'm going to get it. Every few years I reread the second - the more deeper - half. Don Quixote is my favorite novel. To think that Cervantes was a failure most of his life. Amazing the way things work out sometimes. Without his failures - which eventually forced him to ride around southern Spain as a tax collector - I don't think Cervantes would have ever written his great book.

Randy

I've got the version translated by "John Ormsby" in my collection of free e-books on http://Mikefiles.com
Here's the direct link - http://mikefiles.com/b/Classics/10.%20Don%20Quixote.txt
I'd like to know which one you like better. (All I know about the version I have is that it has a huge introduction. So far this seems common for all Don Quixote books that I've tried out so far.
So far I've taken several running starts, even in an abridged version in Spanish (though I'm not fluent and had to guess every other word), and in all cases I've never even reached the part with the windmill and the riding partner.
Good luck to you all in this undertaking.

Has anyone started reading? I will pick my book up today.

I am wondering if there are enough of us to set up a regulation threat with chapters and all. Anyone out there? I will ask Chris to set us up if enough people respond that they are reading.

Well gee darn, folks. I had never intended on attempting reading Don Quixote ever again and now....! Sigh. Will have to get the book. How horrible. This means another trip to the English language bookstore in Munich. But, we all have to make sacrifices.....!
As to the Tale of Genji, I have actually read and enjoyed it (2009 was an anniversary, btw, and Japan brought out some gorgeous stamps for the occasion). But I would suggest The Pillow Book as well. Actually, women authors in early Japan is a fascinating topic. (On the other hand, what isn't?). Sorry I'm rambling on--it's the shaky withdrawal symptoms I have since I still can't get into the Poetry forum yet.

Just got my copy of Don Quixote. Hope it can be put up as fiction selection.

I've been doing some reading about the book, and I have a suggestion, which may make the reading and discussion less daunting for those who were previously daunted .

The book is actually composed of two books, which were published 10 years apart. The first is what most people would probably identify as the story of Don Quixote, that is, his chivalric adventures. The second, published by Cervantes when another writer attempted to capitalize on the original work by writing his own sequel, has an interesting premise: everyone who is in the first book has read the first, and many if not all have a role in the second book and actually discuss the first book.

I would suggest, then, that we read the first part this year, and then take a 10-month break (to signify the 10-year interval between the two published parts) before tackling the second. What do you all think?

I will ask Chris to set us up a thread for the first book. Will anyone volunteer to be discussion leader?