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Don Quixote

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JRoberts

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Has anybody read this novel?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Also, I could have sworn that Ayn Rand mentioned this novel somewhere.  Does anyone happen to know where?

I don't know where she mentioned it but I can tell you that Peikoff adressed it somewhat in his '8 Great Plays' lecture series. In the lecture on Shakespeare's 'Othello' he made referrence to Cervantes as sharing a similar philosophy to Shakespeare in that they were both pre-rennaisance skeptics that had, in essence, rejected Medieval Christianity (which was waning) but had not yet dicscovered a replacement. It was a fabulous lecture.

Its an expensive series to buy for just that one lecture but if you know someone who has it that would let you borrow it, I'd think you'd find it interesting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I tried to read the book a year ago. But I had a huge problem to read it and I stopped after 30 pages or so.

I thought of what might have caused me to feel so strong that I shouldn´t read it.

I came to the hypothesis that it´s a loosing project to read the book because it´s about a looser and it´s attractive. I don´t want to be entertained by reading 1400 or so pages about an extreme looser.

I heard that a lot of people who read it are trying to understand it or someting and debate it. What they don´t seems to realize is that they are big time suckers who carved the vibes of that looser into their brains. The best these people can do is to take the loss as early as possible by acknowledging right away that they was seduced by a huge looser (Don Quichote) and ask themselves: what draw me into it´s net?

I haven´t discarded that hypothesis yet.

Have a great day!

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  • 2 weeks later...

This book was the first novel. It is considered the best novel ever written. It is about a old blind man who reads about knights and wants to become one. So he sets off and makes the real world his fantasy. Ive never read it but I have seen the musical 'Man of La Mancha'. This is the story where the old man thinks a windmill is a monster and fights it. But this whole [play] is being acted out in a jail cell. THis paralelles Cervantes' life becuase he was actually imprisoned. Anyway why it is considered teh best novel of all time is because you get so attached to the characters (which is a hard thing to do). And some people really like that. Personally there are other works that are far better than that. I would not even consider this book to be the greatest of all time.

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  • 11 months later...
I tried to read the book a year ago. But I had a huge problem to read it and I stopped after 30 pages or so.

I thought of what might have caused me to feel so strong that I shouldn´t read it.

I came to the hypothesis that it´s a loosing project to read the book because it´s about a looser and it´s attractive. I don´t want to be entertained by reading 1400 or so pages about an extreme looser.

I heard that a lot of people who read it are trying to understand it or someting and debate it. What they don´t seems to realize is that they are big time suckers who carved the vibes of that looser into their brains. The best these people can do is to take the loss as early as possible by acknowledging right away that they was seduced by a huge looser (Don Quichote) and ask themselves: what draw me into it´s net?

I haven´t discarded that hypothesis yet.

Have a great day!

I apologise for resurrecting such an ancient thread, but does this argument strike anyone else as asinine and utterly ridiculous? It is true that Quixote is a deluded man, his brain utterly 'turned' by tales of gallantry. If you object to such a character, well and good, there is Sancho Panza who is not deluded in the least.

As for the 'looser vibes' that apparently threaten all who dare to crack the spine of this mighty tome, I think JR is being paranoid. I have read Mein Kampf, I have no burning desire to 'cleanse' the world of Jews, homosexuals or gypsies, nor do I wish to end my days in a subterranean concrete bunker. No book, no matter how vile its philosophy, is dangerous in and of itself.

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Actually, Don Quijote was the last knight book (in the sense that, after the Quijote was published) it made Knight books almost non-existant. But the Quijote was much more than that. It marked the begining of modern literature by establishing the genre that governs the literary world to our day, the novel. The structure, the characters, the action, the themes...The way Cervantes shaped these things became the model in which future writers would shape their creations.

Sancho Panza was not entirely rational. In fact as the book progresses Don Quijote turns less and less crazy while Sancho becomes more and more delusional.

Some say that Cervantes masterpiece is the greatest book ever, I wouldn't agree. I sometimes find it too dull, too slow. However it has some of the funniest episodes I've ever read. One of the great feautures of the book is the validity its characters still posses in our age. I have seen plenty of Quijotes, Sanchos, priests, lawyers, Maritornes, Marcelas, etc. throughout my life. I've had a good laugh with them too. The way in which the Quijote opens you to funny aspects of life that you wouldn't have grasped otherwise is amazing.

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  • 9 months later...

I read Don Quixote (in the original Spanish) for a literature class. I hated the novel. I admit it is very well written, but Cervantes's point for writing the novel was to show that the pursuit of any kind of value is foolish and that the achievement of values is impossible (Don Quixote's insanity is a metaphor for the general pursuit of values). Also, I've heard both Don Quixote and War and Peace claimed as the greatest novel.

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  • 1 year later...
Don Quixote is perhaps the best novel ever written (imho) One may argue "Atlas Shrugged" was better or "The Fountainhead", but everyone has to admit that this really started the trend of novels. :nerd:

Don Quixote was the biggest waste of my time ever! It is just a series of little events strung together and everything just fell drastically apart in the last few chapters, like Cervantes was drunk. It is a rambling mess and undoubtedly one of the worst books I've ever read in my life -- I had to read it for a lit class I was taking, otherwise I would never have. NO ONE would admit that Don Quixote started the trend of novels -- where did you get that from?! Don Quixote and Moby Dick should be stricken from all classrooms.

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Don Quijote was to the old literature of chivalry about what Blazing Saddles was to the movie Westerns (i.e. it did such an admirable job of making fun of it where it had become ridiculous and formulaic that no one could really make them anymore).

Don Quijote generally appeals to those who feel out of synch with society around them, and misunderstood by society. So it is a favorite among artists. It invariably tops book lists when the people surveyed are writers (a group that generally feels they are misunderstood by the rest of society).

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Don Quijote was to the old literature of chivalry about what Blazing Saddles was to the movie Westerns (i.e. it did such an admirable job of making fun of it where it had become ridiculous and formulaic that no one could really make them anymore).

Don Quijote generally appeals to those who feel out of synch with society around them, and misunderstood by society. So it is a favorite among artists. It invariably tops book lists when the people surveyed are writers (a group that generally feels they are misunderstood by the rest of society).

By golly you are right. It was a satire! Thank you for that insight. When I read it (long ago), I took it at face value.

Bob Kolker

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  • 5 years later...

AR mentioned Don Quixote in Objectively Speaking: AR's answers.

On a related note, I wrote a series of essays on Don Quixote which incorporates some of Dr. Bernstein's, Dr. Peikoff's, Dr. Smith's, Dr. Kenner's and Dr. Locke's ideas. Specifically, on crime-and-punishment, justice, heroism, and love.

For people interested in ascertining the exact objectivists sources that I use please refer to my full bibliography at www.don-quixote-explained.com. There you can also read my book proposal, sample essays, and sample study guide to see how I have included their ideas.

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  • 1 year later...

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