Don Quixote Book 1 and 2 by Miguel de Cervantes Review

Don Quixote Book 1 and 2 by Miguel de Cervantes Review

These books are know far and wide. I do not need to tell you they are good. You already know the caliber of Don Quixite's lance. Don Quixote is a misunderstood character. Many editions, summaries and translation have dwarfed his true message. For our purposes, the English version has been quite misunderstood. I remember that the Dean of History called Don Quixote a religious book. However, how can Don Quixote be religious if he spent most of the books attacking monks? Plus, he did not care about being excommunicated from the church. He practically said that knights were above the church.



The entire book is a satire to everything that is spanish. DonQuixote stands for the sinking nobility. We are familiar with his role playing game. Cosplaying is quite popular, even today. Among other interesting things is Don Quixote fraternizing with criminals. His treatment of them bears semblance to the behavior of Jesus. Thus, he is also a satire to Jesus Christ.  This book also critiques the ill treatment of Crazy people. In book 2, Don Quixote's family tells him a story of a nutcase. The man really was not crazy. However, his family had payed madhouse to keep him locked up. They wanted his inheritance. When he said sarcastically that he was Poseidon, the owners of the madhouse refused to release him.

In those days, mad people where toys of the noblemen. Many a times people planned pranks against Don Quixote just to hear him rave. This book also fostered an interesting ploy. Whenever Cervantes wants to say something against the church he has Don Quixote say it. This technique became popular in writings before the coming of Martin Luther. Oh, and F.Y.I. Don Quixote really was not crazy. When he took off his armor at the noble's castle. He saw that his sock had a hole. This reminded him of who he truly was.

For these many reasons, you have to read this book very carefully. This book became a prototype for all future spanish novels. It has too layers. On the surface its hilarious. Beneath this satire lie very important social issues. It takes many important subjects like the nature of salvation and what is true insanity. Needless to say, what Cervantes considers true insanity is to let oneself die. That is the last lesson give in Book 2 of Don Quixote. For this reason, I read this book many times. Each time I read it I discover something new. Truly, this book still is 5 star worthy.