JRoberts Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argive99 Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I. Kant Posted August 4, 2004 Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 (edited) 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. Edited July 29, 2005 by ASelameab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxygen Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixed meters Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Day Drunk Posted July 28, 2005 Report Share Posted July 28, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrs Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 ... there is Sancho Panza who is not deluded in the least. If Sancho Panza is rational, then why is he playing squire to a mad man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangelove Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 *reads a few of the above posts* Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I thought "War and Peace" claimed to be the "greatest novel ever". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michero Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 but everyone has to admit that this really started the trend of novels. Actually I think the general consensus is that Robinson Crusoe started the novel trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexican Capitalist Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaszloWalrus Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicoflaco Posted November 4, 2007 Report Share Posted November 4, 2007 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaszloWalrus Posted November 4, 2007 Report Share Posted November 4, 2007 In Ayn Rand Answers Ayn Rand calls Don Quixote one of her three least favorite novels (the other two are Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punk Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert J. Kolker Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emre Gurgen Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theestevearnold Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 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? Don Quixote is a mockery of Romanticism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylab72 Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 And it gave us such a beloved trite saying. So, don't go tilting at windmills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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