Don Quixote

By: Tobias Smollett - translator, Miguel de Cervantes

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

Length: 36 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Don Quixote is one of the world's first novels and by far the best-known book in Spanish literature, was originally intended by Cervantes as a satire on traditional popular ballads, yet he also parodied the romances of chivalry. By happy coincidence he produced one of the most entertaining adventure stories of all time and, in Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, two of the greatest characters in fiction.

(P)1998 Blackstone Audiobooks

Truly Remarkable

This book is beset with such self-aware witticism that it makes today's comedian/writers look like Sancho Panza. That is, nothing is out of place, every situation serves its purpose, and all of the humor integrates into a single guffaw aimed directly at the heart of existence.
Throw away your face and get ready for a supra-genius.

An excellent translation masterfully read

Extremely well read book that may be a little long for modern tastes. I absolutely adored it.

Unlike The Hunchback of Notre Dame where length and boredom is due to descriptions of things, the length of Don Quixote comes because of the fun Cervantes is having with the reader. Cervantes is an amazing satirist. He skewers every sacred cow of his time and tears his contemporary pulp fiction writers apart.

I loved it. I listen while I exercise. It is a nice engaging book, but not so deep that I have to pause.

Funny, but way too long

As some of the others have said, I feel a little funny criticizing a book with a pedigree such as this one. However it took me a long time to finish this, and by a sheer act of the will.

On one hand, there are some REALLY FUNNY stories in here - stuff that had me laughing and chuckling on the way to work. Both of the characters just get better as the book goes one.

On the other hand, the book goes on - and on - and on -and on. It would have been much more effective if it was about half as long.

Once again, this is just my opinion. It is worth reading, for the literary background, but make sure you have a strong constitution.

Regarding the narrator - I thought he was excellent. Yes he does have British accent (in a Spanish Novel), Yes - he doesn't scream and yell in the battle scenes, but the voices are just great (especially Sancho Panza). There are a few mispronounced words throughout (Castillian and Marquis) however, I applaud the narrator for having the stamina to perform a work of this length so well - BRAVO!

The classic struggle to live a life of meaning

At one level it is the comical story of the misadventures of a man with a poor grip on reality. At a deeper level it is the story of a man striving to live a life of meaning struggling with the reality of the oppressive world that keeps him from doing so. Cervantes work stands the test of time and deserves its place in the list of most important and loved novels of all time.

Wish I hadn't seen Man of La Mancha before I read

What did you love best about Don Quixote?

The adventures and the humor. I was running during the (Spoiler!) scene when Quejada drank the tonic and threw up in Sancho's mouth. Had to stop because I was laughing so hard at the very calm, literary way Cervantes handled the situation. Loved the absurdity and how folks continuously exploited the protagonist for their own benefit. His naivete became absolutely lovable.

Would you recommend Don Quixote to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, though many of them would give up because of the sheer length of the thing.

Have you listened to any of Robert Whitfield’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way. Didn't have a week to spend.

Any additional comments?

The ending was disappointing, because I wanted it to be like Man of La Mancha. In retrospect, however, the ending was fitting to what Don Quixote had endured. Reasonable at last--cured of adventure. Sad, but pretty darned good ending.

A very long Story

It was a well performed story that can be a little hard to follow at times. Still a good listen if you are working throughout the day.

Entertaining but in archaic language

The narrator does a good job presenting this classic by Cervantes but the translation is quite archaic so that at times you really have to listen closely to get what the narrator is saying. This would have been much better if they had used a modern translation. That said, this is a great novel. It is a "best seller" that has kept its reputation for centuries and is well worth the effort to read (or listen to) in its entirety.

Entertaining and Imaginative

Don Quioxote is well worth listening to and Robert Whitfield does and excellent job as a narrator. His voices are engaging and the story is told with entertaining inflections that capture the tale and bring it to life. The novel Don Quioxote manages to combine kings, queens, castles and dragons with a sense of morality and civic responsibility in a style not unlike Dickens. Miguel de Cervantes creates characters that embody virtues that challenge some of the accepted concepts of that time, and as an author pontificates a little about his own observations much as Dickens does in some of his own novels. As a side note: There is also an underlying theme of the existance of God and acceptance of Catholicism on the part of all the main characters in the novel.

The Flummoxed Don Quixote

Don Quixote, written by: Miguel de Cervantes, Tobias Smollett (translator), and narrated by: Robert Whitfield. Renowned as the first novel of all time. This tale started the concept of narratives to entertain and put forward a set of thoughts and philosophies.

Don Quixote, in his dotage, begins to imagine himself as a knight obligated to go out into the world and where he finds a wrong; right it for the good of all mankind. He is a Christian soldier. Yet, truly he is inane as to understanding what is actually happening in the world around him and delusional as to what he finds as harm and what he believes he is seeing. You must know of his attack on windmills that he believes to be brutal giants.

By his side he has Sancho Panza, his squire; who although is with Don Quixote only for the riches he is promised, and himself not too much smarter than the delusional DQ, manages to be there to protect the foolery and add humor with his background comments as he finds himself flummoxed with his knight’s encounters. (Do you like that run on sentence?)

Story after story is repetitive; DQ, in an effort on behalf of chivalry and doing good in this Christian world, screws up and creates more danger than necessary. Yet, all works out well in the end and one cannot help but smile and smile again at the unforgettable Don Quixote.

Classic, yes, but way way way way too long

This is an impossible read - so I'm glad I had the opportunity to finally catch up with Cervantes thanks to Audible. Still an endlessly long listen, but the narrator, Robert Whitfield, did a great job and made it a joyous experience. As for the tale - well, that's the thing - it isn't a tale, it is seemingly countless tales. With his two books about the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, Cervantes delivered something undoubtedly monumental. It's full of good stories, woven into and around other good stories - and all of that while accompanying two very unlikely and greatly endearing heroes. Alas, it does get repetitive before long, the romantic tales, the damsels, the enchanters, the illusions, the jokes, etc. There's prose and poetry and proverbs to spare - but there's just so much of it that after a while you step back and all you see is a mountain of words. I guess that's about it, instead of a wonderful landscape you end up with a mountain. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone - definitely not as a read. If you want to take the time to listen to it, great - but even then I'd say enjoy book 1, or even half of book one and know that, in every so many ways, that which you will have listened to until that point, will simply continue in well-worded variations for another eternity.