On Reading Don Quixote (Cervantes)

Reflections on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman

--

[colegio]

Loved your explanation of Don Quixote. Your way of presenting a topic is food for the soul because it encourages a deeper reading of the masterpiece! As a side note: I taught online as well for close to two years! Five classes a day, and it definitely was exhausting and not at all comparable to live instruction in which there is a much needed human interaction! My students also refused to turn on their cameras, nor did they participate. You are right, the best we could do was to be a resource to those students who really take their education seriously!

I look forward to viewing more of your videos! Your knowledge, presence, enthusiasm and expertise are most appreciated and valued deeply!

[javiphilosophy]

It's so nice to see you again Davood!

[mikegseclecticreads]

Glad to see / hear you're feeling a little bit better, wishing you a speedy recovery!

Beautiful discussion of this book. Very interesting what you said about how the "aura" of reading a classic can sometimes get in the way of our enjoyment. (And how it can even ruin a book for us if it's we perceive it as not good enough to deserve all its praise.)

I've only read some very short excerpts of Don Quixote in high school Spanish class. I always found it a charming concept though.

[javiphilosophy]

It's interesting that Don Quixote for some people can't be both or that he must be either/or : insane or intellectual. I see this man as someone who embraces his "childlikeness" and his intellectual side. It's as if one can't be both or that one must choose. To enforce such a strained dichotomy misses the point and that's why I like all of your points about "being in the language of Don Quixote" and embracing the entertainment first. Just seeing your enthusiasm about this book, I feel that it solidifies my point about childlikeness. Childlikeness often times does not want to be reduced or captured because that means you are already missing the point.

[tysonwoolman]

My electricity went out and I missed this!

[joelharris]

🥸This is easily one of the best critical takes on Cervantes's "Don Quixote " I've seen on YouTube that doesn't get bogged down on the intricacies of plot, but instead focusses on the craft of writing, the centrality of language and literary criticism and some of the sociocultural context of the author's time in 1600s. Too bad it wasn't longer. Just scratching the surface