Thursday, November 03, 2005
Still not fond of Don Quixote
Had really no urge to try forcing myself through it again, but 2 items changed my mind. Guardian rated it best novel ever and my cousin-in-law stated the Grossman's new translation was superior since she translated the tome into vernacular and not stilted english. Also having her translation on tape meant that it might be a bit easier to get through & frankly books on CD are great for dull stretches of any novel.
Popped in the first CD today - Don Quixote's a foolish madman enamored with chivalrous knighthood while folks make fun of him. Well that sums up the first CD - my complaint back in high school was that the first 100 pages seemed repetitious already & reading another 800 pages of what is basically a 1 joke novel was just too much to bear. Will give the novel another few CD's, but so far my impression from 30+ years ago hasn't changed.
Popped in the first CD today - Don Quixote's a foolish madman enamored with chivalrous knighthood while folks make fun of him. Well that sums up the first CD - my complaint back in high school was that the first 100 pages seemed repetitious already & reading another 800 pages of what is basically a 1 joke novel was just too much to bear. Will give the novel another few CD's, but so far my impression from 30+ years ago hasn't changed.
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I agree it's a little long-winded, but I found the obscure references to real people and events no one has ever heard of to be the biggest hurdle. Jumping to the footnotes to understand the context was too disruptive. Ignoring them altogether made is a more pleasant reading experience.
In any case, it would appear that the key to getting one's work considered among the greats is to write something of imposing length. Hugo and Tolstoy were not exactly known for brevity.
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In any case, it would appear that the key to getting one's work considered among the greats is to write something of imposing length. Hugo and Tolstoy were not exactly known for brevity.
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