Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
I hated the Duke and Duchess! It's kinda sad how Don Quixote snaps back to his logical self at the end and like his knight-errancy felt like a mask he put on in a way to just go wild and do everything he ever wanted. I looooved Sancho Panza because honestly, what a guy. I don’t know how he put up with Don Quixote for so long (I mean I do, like they were both meant to be partners). I loved his loyalty and dry humour and the way he's like this self-serving, somewhat clueless companion starting off who just wants his island but kinda ends in a wholesome way as a surprisingly wise and genuinely caring friend. That bit where he governs the island? Absolutely chaotic but also kind of brilliant. He’s sitting there, dishing out justice with all this common sense, even though it’s painfully obvious he’s way out of his depth. I loved how, by the end, he’s not just following Don Quixote out of greed or curiosity and it’s pure friendship. Even when Don Quixote starts to lose his spark, Sancho’s still there, trying to cheer him up.
And Don Quixote himself. He’s ridiculous, yes, but also kind of amazing? The way he commits so fully to his dream of being a knight-errant, even when the entire world is like, 'No, mate, this isn’t how things work anymore,' is both hilarious and heartbreaking and I loved him for it. Maybe because I binged through a lot and spent a long time the ending—ugh, it really got to me. Seeing him come back to reality, give up his dream, and just sort of… fade away—it was hard to read. It’s like watching a flame go out. And the fact that Sancho, of all people, is the one begging him to go on just one more adventure?
The windmills, the love letters to Dulcinea (who doesn’t even know she’s involved in any of this ), the disastrous ‘rescue’ attempts like there’s so much chaos, and it’s all so funnyyyyy. But what I really appreciated was how Cervantes layered all of it with meaning. Take the part where Don Quixote fights the Knight.... like that’s where it all starts to unravel. He’s defeated and forced to abandon his knightly quest, and you can feel his spirit breaking. For all his delusions, there’s something so pure about how he views the world, and seeing that crushed is just… a lot.
The meta stuff was also brilliant. I did some reading on the side earlier on about some background stuff and like Cervantes just casually roasting other writers, the fake sequel, and the fact that the characters know they’re being written about? Genius. It added this extra layer of playfulness to the book that I didn’t expect but absolutely loved!! Maybe there had been parts that did feel draggy but of the chonky books I've read lately, I didn't mind the length of this one.
