Review - Don Quixote

I have a feeling I would have liked Don Quixote a lot more in some other translation. I've wanted to read it for a while, but this translation (Wordsworth edition, P. A. Motteux) just didn't work for me. I didn't actually finish the whole thing, because I really, really didn't like the translation. One day, I will find a translation I prefer and have another attempt at it.

I don't really feel like I get to write a proper review about the book now, but I'll jot down the impressions I got. I did get about halfway through, at least. The translation was a problem for me because it was very dry and dated. I feel like when you're translating books, the point is to make them readable to a new audience. Obviously, Cervantes shouldn't read like Stephen King, but to make the book accessible, it shouldn't read like a textbook. I feel like maybe the translation is too literal. It doesn't help that in this edition the writing is tiny and cramped together. I had a look at the Penguin edition at one point, and I seem to remember it being easier to look at, and the translation a little easier -- although of course I only read a couple of pages.

In terms of the story, I love it. It's become so much a part of cultural background that it's a little ridiculous not to ever try it. I mean... "tilting at windmills", anyone? It is funny how early in the book that most famous part happens. I found the book rather tedious to begin with, but it was actually somewhat easier when I got to the story of Cardenio -- partly because I've read a book just recently that focused on the Cardenio story and Shakespeare, and that had been what prompted me to actually buy Don Quixote. At that point, I feel, the story does get easier, but I really couldn't cope with the translation anymore.

I love some of the scenes and ideas, and Quixote's delusions, but it's kind of difficult for me because I get so embarrassed for delusional characters. It makes me rather uncomfortable. I also have a bit of difficulty with books that meander about and have so many stories-within-the-story, without much of a driving plot themselves, but my main problem was that I couldn't get into it and reading it felt like an awful drag.

Musing: books - To Be Read

My to be read shelves are kind of epic. After bottle_of_shine posted hers, here, I thought I'd follow suit. Which resulted in me first embarking on an epic reorganisation of my shelves, and then in me wondering how accurate my to be read list is. So I'm going to redo the list too. I'll post the list I've got right now for a start, but edit in the new list once I'm done.

These all include books to reread and books I keep around on my shelves anyway, so it's not all "to be read", but... most of it. Everything on the list is what I intend to read sometime soon.

( Photos! )

Would you believe that August 08 saw me bringing just fifteen or so new books to university with me? And that I didn't buy any new books over Lent? And that this isn't quite it, because there are some books waiting for me back at home? Aaarrrghhh I'm crazy. Every time I want to buy a new book, I should come back to this page and stare at it.

( List )

Edit: Oh, of course, this doesn't include my ebooks, which are less organised due to computer problems, and which are not my priority.