IT IS DONE: Review of DON QUIXOTE

I have finally finished the book DON QUIXOTE, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600's. I started out reading this in book form, but jumped to my Kindle to finish, since I had to return the book back to the library. As I was reading the book I asked myself the question who had time to read or write such a lengthy book. But then I remembered we are talking about the 1600's. What we know about the writer according to BIO, is that he was wounded in battle with the Turks, who come up on several occasions in this book. Also, that he was imprisoned for 5 years before being ransomed out. Again, this theme appears several times in this book.

I think about what we do today that keeps us from reading and exploring. We have so many connections through electronics that we tend to keep busy playing on computers and phones,instead of exploring the world or reading about adventures. Through history we have the production of newspapers and magazines, but then we added radio, television, and a myriad of electronic devices  Who has time to sit and read a thousand page book? I found it to be a great difficulty to read, as I had many other things to do. I forced myself to finish because it deserved to be finished.

How would I rate this book, 5 stars, because I have to consider the time, the tumult and the life of Cervantes. I think that he certainly had a sense of humor, especially when he talks of burning books, except those he had written. Or when he introduces us to Sancho an unlikely companion to Don Quixote, who imparts to us several words of wisdom throughout his time with the knight-errant. As you read you will come across a few phrases that we still us in modern times, one saying is " the proof of the pudding is in the eating", which many times gets translated into the 'proof is in the pudding."

I enjoyed this book, but it was again too long form me to finish in the original time I had allotted to this book. Though I said I was tired of the adventures in my last blog, now I will miss the characters. In effect, I read two books. The first part was written around 1605, though I have seen some say 1602, the second part was written about ten years later. Probably at the insistence of friends and families and publishers. Or as may be alluded to in the second book, that people were making up Don Quixote adventures and trying to sell them.

If you have the time, it is well worth the read.