Farewell DQ! Parting is such sweet sorrow...well maybe just sweet.

Last night was the final meeting of the DQ Club in which we would be discussing the infamous book entitled, Don Quixote. I have to say that all present were VERY happy about that. While Don Quixote, hereafter referred to as DQ, is one of the most amusing books I have read, it is obvious that this book was written for a much "slower" world that had time for and enjoyed reading minute details. It is somewhat telling of our culture and how spoon fed we have become when it comes to entertainment. When Cervantes published this book in 1605 the world was a different place. Language was more beautiful, and those who could read most likely had enough money to hire most of the household work done. Therefore, they had the time and patience to sit back and enjoy page after page of detail concerning our Knight and his faithful Squire, Sancho Panza.

So would I suggest you read DQ? Yes and No. I literally laughed out loud with this book on many occasions. It is without a doubt hilarious. However, the hilarity goes on and on and on and on....well you get the idea. I would definitely suggest an abridged version of Don Quixote, although DQ himself would probably call me a miscreant for uttering such blasphemy.

So how does one condense such a book? Well you can go online and find a number of reviews by really smart people or go buy Sparks Notes if you want a real review of DQ. However, for your enjoyment and because Jenny asked, I will share my own very simplied version of the Knight of the Rueful Countenance.

The country gentleman of La Mancha,Don Quixada, was enamored with books of romance. He spent all his time and fortune on reading and purchasing books of chivalry. He so enamored his brain with these works that he soon became "soft in the head" and was quite convinced that he too was a Knight. And so one day to the great surprise of his niece and housekeeper, DQ was gone. He saddled his skinny, pathetic workhorse and renamed her Rocinante (translated, workhorse no more). He also decorated himself with old, rusted, patched-together armor he abscounded from the walls and old trunks in his home. He renamed himself Don Quixote de la Mancha (Quijote is a piece of armor). He recognized that a true Knight has no purpose without a Lady Fair for which to fight. So he chooses Dulcenea del Tolboso(Or so he named her). Mind you he had never met Dulcenea, but that's just a matter of consequence to DQ. He sallied forth on his first adventure. Whereupon he met the faithful, yet simple Sancho Panza. Sancho readily left wife and children for the promise of the government of an island that he and DQ would one day vanquish. Fear not though fair reader, Sancho has always planned to have his own Teresa join him when he governs the said island.

It only takes a short time and a windmill to reveal to Sancho the softness of his Master's brain. But, the ever insecure Sancho always questions his own sanity, when his very well spoken Master insists that what he sees is reality. The windmills for instance are great giants to DQ and he bravely attacks them with his trusty lance. Sancho begs DQ to forebear, but alas, there is no stopping the valiant knight. A very bruised and broken-lanced knight is the result of the adventure. And so go all the adventures of DQ. And trust me there are pages and pages of such adventures. DQ attacks imagined foes and the result is almost always his own bruising and often the bruising of poor Sancho.

Part 1 ends with DQ back home thanks to the craftiness of some friends. He is ill(due to the fact that he rarely eats or sleeps as a result of his lovesick heart, a la Dulcinea)and is being nursed back to health by his niece and his housekeeper. Sancho is back home with his Juana(Teresa) who was too concerned with the health of their donkey to properly welcome Sancho home.(Cervantes sometimes forgets what he named a character and so sometimes calls them by a different name. He also forgets details. For instance, at one point Sancho lost his donkey,Dapple. Then a few chapters later he is riding Dapple again.)

Part 2 was written because Cevantes was offended. It seemed DQ was a booming success in Spain and even throughout other parts of the world. This was a nice break for Cervantes, since his life had been full of poverty, wrongful imprisonment and even a kidnapping by pirates at one point. And so success was sweet. Then a man named Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda published in 1614 a sequel to DQ! To see just how indignant Cervantes was at Fernandez's audacity, read the preface to Part 2 of DQ next time you are in a Barnes and Noble. All in all, we can thank Senor Fernandez for the length of DQ.

Part 2 opens with DQ restless at home and scheming his next sally. .He contacts Sancho, who is all too ready to be off again. DQ is actually encouraged to seek adventure by his friend, the Bachelor Carrasco. Carrasco has a secret plan to bring DQ home for good, but we won't discover this until MUCH later in the book. Once again, adventure after adventure befalls our good knight who in this book earns the name, Knight of the Rueful Countenance and Knight of the Lion. (Due to his encounter with a hungry, and fortunately lazy Lion.)

The last half of Part 2 is a record of DQ's stay at the home of a Dutch and Duchess who are playing him for their own folly and entertainment. Sancho is "given" the government of an Island for their entertainment as well. Sancho soon learns that the responsibility of a Governor is not for him. Meanwhile, DQ after weeks of being the butt of every joke in the palace(of which he is totally unaware)sallies forth. Soon thereafter, he is challenged by the "Knight of the White Moon" (remember our Bachelor Friend and his plan to bring DQ home?) The Knight of the White Moon challenges DQ to admit that Dulcinea is not the fairest lady and that his own Lady is the fairest of all. Now these are fighting words with DQ and the terms are set and agreed upon. If the White Moon Knight wins the challenge DQ must lay aside his arms, desist from traveling in quest of adventures,quit the field and retire to his own habitation, where he should continue a whole year without drawing a sword. The Knight of the White Moon was the victor and so came to an end the knight errantcy of the great Don Quixote da la Mancha. DQ of course being a knight of honor would in every way comply with the terms of his defeat and so headed home with plans to buy a herd of sheep and spend the next year in solitude as a shepherd. Upon arriving home, DQ was taken with fever and was attended by his faithful Niece and Housekeeper. Sancho never left his bedside. And DQ was often visited by his good friends the Bachelor, the Barber, and the Curate. In his illness and impending death, DQ's senses return and he confesses he is not a knight, but the good man Alonso Quixano(this is the first time in the text we are given DQ's real name). Quixano's death is grieved greatly by all aforementioned persons, most especially Sancho.

Cervantes ends Part 2 with an admonition to Senor Fernandez. He beseeches Fernandez to "let the wearied and mouldering bones of Don Quixote rest in the grave."

What I learned from DQ
1. It really isn't that difficult to read this "old style" language once you get in the flow of it. In fact, after reading DQ for a few chapters I find myself wanting in everyday life to say things like, "Hark now my fair offspring. I implore you to acquiesce to the desires of mine heart. I beseech you therefore to quit thine base behavior and forgo the acts of treachery in which you are presently employed." (ie "listen to Mommy, stop fussing with each other!)
2. The prejudice against Jews and Moors in the 1600's in Spain was incredible and very evident in the text. (Spanish Inquisition anyone?) I'm thinking the present day Islamic Extremist haven't read DQ or there would be some considerable violence happening at publishing houses around the globe.
3. I learned a lot about Spanish History.
4. I learned about the pervading literature of the time and how much Cervantes deplored it.

And so, Fair Jenny of the Northlands, I hope you have enjoyed this account of our friend Don Quixote. I am anxious to get to some Jane Austen, thanks to your influence. But first, on to John Bunyan and Pilgrim's Progress.