Other editions of book Don Quixote

Don Quixote is widely considered to be the first modern novel. As a classic of Western literature, it is regarded by scholars worldwide to be one of the finest works of fiction ever written, and a magnificent product of the Spanish Golden Age of literature. Cervantes’ influence on the Spanish language has been so great that his work is often called “la lengua de Cervantes.” The work was written in two separate volumes, both of which are contained in this production. It introduces the character of Don Quixote de la Mancha, a hero who carries his enthusiasm and self-deception to unintentional and comic ends. He is paired with a comic character of opposite qualities, Sancho Panza, a peasant who is a compound of grossness and simplicity. Volume Two is generally conceded to be the funniest part of the novel. Don Quixote himself represents the faded glory of Spain’s medieval past in all its grandeur…and its superstitious nonsense. Sancho Panza, on the other hand, represents the common sense of the Spanish peasant whose view of reality may be hilariously comical in its ignorance, yet reflects the stern conditions of practical life. The average peasant has little use for the legends of medieval knights. The tension between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza sustains the comedy and provides the basis for the highly sophisticated philosophical discussions between the two, and between them and the other characters who wander in and out of the tales. Don Quixote of La Mancha is a masterpiece worthy of serious contemplation, and of being eagerly and repeatedly enjoyed. This version of Don Quixote was translated by John Ormsby.

The immortal comedy of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and their chivalrous misadventures.Entranced by romantic tales of heroism and chivalry, Don Quixote goes on a delusional quest for fame and adventure as a self-proclaimed knight errant. Riding his nag of a horse and wearing a rusty old suit of armor, he roams the countryside with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Together they encounter an array of unforgettable characters and undertake some of the most famously foolhardy exploits in literature.

It's the classic adventure of a madman: the "renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha". He attacks windmills, believes a peasant girl to be a lady, and fancies that he is a knight-errant, dedicated to righting wrongs and rescuing damsels in distress. Don Quixote is a middle-aged gentleman from the region of La Mancha in central Spain. Obsessed with the chivalrous ideals touted in the many books he has read, he decides to take up his lance and sword to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked. After a first failed adventure, he sets out on a second one with a somewhat befuddled laborer named Sancho Panza, whom he has persuaded to accompany him. In many works, the experiences of a man like Don Quixote would probably appear tragic. He's repeatedly beaten, chased away, lied to, and misunderstood. But in the hands of Cervantes, these events are comic.

The immortal comedy of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and their chivalrous misadventures.Entranced by romantic tales of heroism and chivalry, Don Quixote goes on a delusional quest for fame and adventure as a self-proclaimed knight errant. Riding his nag of a horse and wearing a rusty old suit of armor, he roams the countryside with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Together they encounter an array of unforgettable characters and undertake some of the most famously foolhardy exploits in literature.

An old man, enchanted by tales of knightly courage, puts on his rusty armour and sets out on a quest of his own. For him, the world is filled with giants, knights, and a peerless mistress. Others, such as his earthy squire Sancho Panza, see windmills, sheep, and vulgar serving girls. But such prosaic interpretations do not satisfy the greatest figure in Western literature: Don Quixote. Quixote's story--moving, funny, and thrilling--embodies the glory and absurdity, vanity and idealism, sorrow and delight of humanity. Cervantes created a hero for all time and for all mankind.

The story follows the adventures of a hidalgo named Mr. Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood. Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story. Throughout the novel, Cervantes uses such literary techniques as realism, metatheatre, and intertextuality. It had a major influence on the literary community, as evidenced by direct references in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers (1844), Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), as well as the word "quixotic" and the epithet "Lothario". Arthur Schopenhauer cited Don Quixote as one of the four greatest novels ever written, along with Tristram Shandy, La Nouvelle Héloïse, and Wilhelm Meister.

Hailed by Dostoyevsky as "The final and greatest utterance of the human mind," Don Quixote constitutes a founding work of modern Western literature. Cervantes' masterpiece has been translated into more than sixty languages, and the novel's fantasy-driven "knight," Don Quixote, and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza, rank among fiction's most recognized characters. Their adventures have been interpreted for film, opera, and ballet, and they head a cast of characters that comprises a diverse array of beliefs and perspectives, reflecting the historical realities of seventeenth-century Spain. Within its absorbing re-creation of the world during Cervantes' time, this parody of chivalric romances and epic of heroic idealism forms a strikingly contemporary narrative. The author is often credited with inventing the concept of the novel, addressing himself to the readers rather than the characters or the action. This edition of his landmark work presents the acclaimed 1755 Tobias Smollett translation.

Published in two volumes, but complete here, a decade apart, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".

The immortal comedy of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and their chivalrous misadventures.Entranced by romantic tales of heroism and chivalry, Don Quixote goes on a delusional quest for fame and adventure as a self-proclaimed knight errant. Riding his nag of a horse and wearing a rusty old suit of armor, he roams the countryside with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Together they encounter an array of unforgettable characters and undertake some of the most famously foolhardy exploits in literature.

* Beautifully illustrated with delightful illustrations from early editions, Don Quixote follows the adventures of Alonso Quixano, who has read so many chivalric novels that he decides to set out to revive chivalry, under the name Don Quixote.* Just as accessible and enjoyable for today's readers as it would have been when first published, the novel is one of the great works of world literature and continues to be widely read.* This meticulous edition from Heritage Illustrated Publishing is a faithful reproduction of the original text and is enhanced with images carefully selected by our team of professional editors.

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!