Don Quixote

I didn't know much of anything about this book. If I had listened to it by itself, my take on it would probably be that it is funny, but way too long, and not much more. I enjoyed it much more than that because I decided to listen to a Yale course online (which is free) as I listened to the book. Each lesson gives the professor's take on the chapters assigned. I highly recommend this for those who aren't already very familiar with the book and its significance. You can google the audio course if you're interested, search Cervantes' Don Quixote with Professor Roberto González Echevarría.

I would never have thought I'd enjoy a book about a madman wandering around Spain in Shakespearean times so much, but I found myself looking forward to every listening session then smiling and chuckling throughout. The narrator brought the characters to life, the best I've heard.

I LOVED this book! I enjoy the classics, but had not read Don Quixote before listening to this Audible version. It is an absolutely wonderful book, is laugh out loud funny, and the narrator did an extraordinary job making all the characters come to life. Be prepared to use the bookmark feature often, you'll definitely want to go back to the funniest parts!

Thanks for offering Don Quixote - never would have made it through without Audible. A great book. Not a modern translation, but a great performance.

I'll certainly listen again. This is the best audiobook I have ever listened to. The performance by Roy McMillan is unbeatable. I cannot recommend this enough.

It's Quixote. The best novel in the world.

McMillan's performances of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are pitch-perfect. He understands the characters from within. The host of minor characters is also excellently done. McMillan is a versatile and wonderfully entertaining reader.

Quixote encountering his beloved Dulcinea in the shape of a village wench stinking of garlic.

Funny, endearing, engrossing

Don Quixote's encounter with the sheep is one of many that I have enjoyed so far, but much of the book is still ahead of me.

Hard to say as there are so many, but I loved the line where the Don was described as retiring to bed after one of their adventures to dream of his fair Dulcinea while Sancho Panza retired to his 'like a man who had been soundly beaten'.

The gentle satire makes me smile and occasionally laugh out loud. At the same time I am torn between feeling that something must be done to curtail the activities of this would be knight who is roaming around inflicting real damage on imagined opponents and a dread that he will be rounded up and diminished by the collapse of his illusions.

This is a great book, not just by reputation but in reality and I am grateful to Audible books for making it accessible to me. Cervantes has created a memorable character in the Don. He is both demented and truly noble, possessing a dignity that mysteriously is not touched by the absurdity of his actions and beliefs. His unfailing optimism and self belief in the face of constant setbacks is quite wonderful. I feel Cervantes has an enormous affection for him and for all the other characters of his world. It would be hard to imagine the book being read aloud better than it is by Roy McMillan. The subtle differences of class, attitude etc between characters when they speak are clearly expressed and the reader's tone conveys the humour in a tongue in cheek style that is never laboured.

This is one of literature's classic works, ushering in a new era of literature. Roy McMillan reads it excellently, rendering many of the regional Spanish dialects into an appropriate analogue from the British Isles: the goat herders have a Welsh accent, for example.

I took advice from one of the other Audible reviews, and listened in conjunction with Yale University's literature course by Professor González Echevarría, who places the book into the important context of the contemporary literary styles it references and parodies.

The two 'volumes' were published ten years apart, and are therefore quite distinct in style. The first volume in particular has rather too many side-stories irrelevant to the main plot. For this reason, an abridged version might be preferable.

The narrator did a great job making the story come to life.

It was just so long, and ultimately the half dozen interesting parts could not offset the dozens of boring parts. I found myself dozing as I listened.

No, the story was read superbly. The subtle changes in narrators intonation for each of the characters in the book made it very easy to follow who was talking at all times.

No, this is a long story and, although very entertaining, not always fast paced.

It is no wonder that this book remained a classic through the century's. Find out what makes our misguided hero so quixotic. Yes, that word originates from the main character of this book. Don Quixote's faithful sidekick Sancho Panza will keep you entertained with his wise words and plentiful proverbs.