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

A MUST READ CLASSIC

A must read classic says it all

Don Quixote (revised sorry)

To only see Don Quixote de la Mancha as merely a book of humour, simply a manifestation of belly-laughs (which it does provide in abundance), would be seeing just the very fringe of its brilliance. What would be missed? Missing would be Cervantes as one the shrewdest observers of human nature ever.

Don Quixote seems a book running full-tilt at phantoms that have no existence, save in Quixote and even Sancho's imaginations. But the truth is, this book touches at the imaginings, and mines at the characters of us all. Don Quixote opens the window to all experiences, real or imagined, of existence -- our existence. Sancho is the first filter, the first critic of that experience, seventeenth-century Spain the second, and we, dear reader, the third. In this last taking we become the co-dependant Quixote and Sancho looking through the mirror; measuring the world amongst the impractical, the idealistic, the fanciful, and the truest of all illusions -- reality.

Still not said is the Cervantes' plays within plays, adroit social comment, and the author's cutting jibes at pretense. (And of course his broadsides at the pretenders to the True History of Don Quixote.) These departures present themselves carefully -- although sometimes abruptly -- as soliloquies, cutting criticism, contemplative moments, sonorous stories, and even as novels. In this, Cervantes is always intentional in leaving us wedded to the Adventure, while implementing these punctuating asides to incite and motivate our viewpoint.

Perhaps the greatest book ever written.

As to the reader of Don Quixote, Robert Whitfield? I would listen to him read the phonebook. Perfection!

Excellent

I was a little apprehensions about the length of this "book" and due to some of the comments about the narration. After having given it one listen I can attest to the quality of the narration and to the fact that it uses a good translation (Tobias Smollet) which I thoroughly enjoyed especially due to the "Shakespearean" quality of the text. The narration is very well done using different voice characterizations and a variety of British accents to differentiate each character. Very funny. "You are in the right, friend Sancho."

One of the top ten books ever.

Written in the early 1600s, Miguel Cervantes' novel about the delusional knight's adventures has become a classic staple of historic literature.

Don Quixote is a middle-aged man who, having read too many chivalric novels, actually believes he is a knight and sets out on his adventures. He is aided by his trusted squire, Sancho Panza, to whom Don Quixote has promised an island over which to rule once he completes his adventures and wins over his only love, Dulcinea.

The adventures which follow are exciting and entertaining. Don Quixote charges at windmills, mistaking them to be giants. He mistakes a country wench to be Dulcinea who has been enchanted by an evil magician's spell in order to look like a country wench. In short, he can't distinguish reality from his fantasy.

This novel is long, and unless you're a classic literature buff, you can get away with the abridged version. What makes the book such a classic is the complexity of the characters. Don Quixote isn't insane all the time--there are times when he seems to know more about reality than he lets on. Sancho Panza seems like an idiot for following Don Quixote around, yet Sancho goes back and forth between criticizing his master's idiotic notions and adoring some of them as well.

Moreover, the source of Don Quixote's madness is his obsession with books on chivalry. Yet this book itself is a story about a chivalric knight. By taking this story's message to heart, aren't we committing the same errors as Don Quixote did with his novels?

I liked Robert Whitfield's narration, especially his depiction of Sancho Panza. He made it easy to follow despite a large cast of characters.

As enjoyable as Moby Dick, but with less whales.

If you haven’t read/listened to Don Quixote, it is worth the time to do so. Fighting windmills is over and done with right away, leaving a whole lot of adventure (and even more rhetorical digressions) for you to discover. I felt like I was listening to Moby Dick meets the Divine Comedy. I didn't get most of the inside and political jokes, and with an audiobook you don’t have footnotes. But I did the same with Dante, and didn’t really feel cheated. You don’t need to know who someone is, I think, if they are insulted with enough wit. I also learned that “At night all cats are gray.” Words to live by. I think I want to buy a copy in Spanish so I can look at some of Sancho’s quotes. Had Frodo taken Sancho instead of Sam, he’d have been in big big trouble. (Just had to point this out. It kept occurring to me all through the story.) I’m very glad I spent the time to listen to Don Quixote. I would complain about the ending, but considering that the day, age, and powers that were, I’ll leave well enough alone. The narration and accents were wonderful, and really helped keep my attention during some of the digressions.

Just remarkable

I was a little hesitant to invest 36 hours but am certainly glad that I did. The book is just remarkable. In places (mainly from Sancho) it is laugh out loud funny. Published some 400 years ago it is the most modern of novels, both self referential and in the second part attacking a false sequel.
The narration is excellent with clear, differeing voices for the main characters.

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.

Excellent

An excellent narrator and an excellent novel. Contrary to the statement concerning the received opinion about philosophical and literary merits in Wikipedia, the first part is better than the second, unless you really really like the idea of jokes being played on Don Quixote at his expense. I find audio books an excellent way of finishing really long books that I have never managed to read to completion on the printed page. Cervantes makes Don Quixote pay for his misguided love of chivalric tales with more beatings than the human body could realistically stand. This sadism is presumably the result of Cervantes' feelings regarding this literary genre. But ironically, in the novel nearly everyone else gets caught up in Don Quixotes' madness, and the common Romantic reading of the book is to find Don Quixotes' behavior admirable. The book is heralded as a eulogy to chivalry and Quixotic enterprises when the intent was to ridicule and quash. One can admire doomed enterprises for a worthy cause - but Quixotes' undertakings are all misguided and/or cause more harm than good. It's a pity another emblem for such things cannot be found.

A Shakespearean Novel

If there had been a novel written by the same author who wrote the Shakespeare plays this would be it. Above all novels this one stands as a supreme example of human artistic accomplishment. The performance by Robert Whitfield in this recording is very well done. His voice truly becomes the character of Don Quixote as you imagine him on his fantastic adventures, and his rendering of Sancho Panza is hilarious. Highly recommended!

Very amusing; well read

I am pleased the reader is English, but for Americans this may not be as pleasing. I really enjoyed the interpretation and characterisation of the voices. It added much to the humour of the story. I never managed to read the book, but now dip back into it to read back favourite passages. This was my first foray into audio books and I declare it a huge success.

Much stranger than I thought

This is a good rather than great reading of a fascinating text. We all think we know Don Quixote, but the novel is much stranger than I expected, full of meandering digressions and stories within the story. I usually like digressive fiction (hell, I write it!), but here I was desperate to get back to the main narrative of Don Quixote and Sancho. I haven't the space or the time to give a detailed critique of the novel, but I can say that it's one of those that I'm very glad to have read, rather than one I've loved reading. The translation here is the one by Smollett. It's (of course) very old fashioned, but at least you are getting two great writers for the price of one.

A long listen, but an utterly worthwhile one

Where does Don Quixote rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would rank Don Quixote highly among the other audiobooks to which I have listened. While the story at time goes off on massive tangents, the characters and their classic encounters make this an essential listen. The story has a bit of everything; it is by turns a comedy, a romance, an adventure, a drama, and ultimately a poignant tale of friendship. This translation, by Tobias Smollett, is written in a robust and lyrical style. I felt this suited the narrative, though I understand it may not be to everyone's taste.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sancho Panza. The only real choices here are Sancho or Don Quixote himself, and of the two, Sacho is by far the better character. He is the real heart and soul of the story.

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

I have never listened to Robert Whitfield before but I was most impressed with his performance. I loved the voices he gave to the main characters and his performance was delivered with great energy and wit.

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

It's as big as the bible, so no! However - and this isn't a criticism of the audiobook, but of the book in general - there are vast sections of text which could be lost and it would only benefit the novel.

Any additional comments?

Overall, this is a great book, and deserving of its place in literary history. However, there is no denying that it is far too long in places. For this reason I have only given it four stars for story, as it really did try my patience at time. However, once you get past that, you are in for a real treat.

Superbly subtle

Robert Wingfield is a gifted reader .He manages to convince as various characters . This is especially true of the voices of Don Quixote and Sancho Panzo. Tobias Smollet' s translation reads like good English , encompassing the stilted ornate language of Don Quixote and the demonic. Note I have no knowledge of Spanish .As for a critique of this classic I will leave that as read .It is actually laugh out loud funny .

Audible reading of Don Quixote

“This is an excellent reading and translation. Wonderful. I laughed outloud many times.”

The Knight of the Rueful Countenance.

A Ripping Good Yarn!

Was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this simple tale that was yet insightful and thought provoking.

This felt like running a marathon hard but rewardi

There are lots if interesting bits in the book but it's also very repetitive in parts. the invention of editors came far to late for this book.

A classic no doubt but tedious.

A very long long story into the minutia of chivalry across medieval Spain becomes extremely boring.
Great narration nevertheless but hard going considering the amount of other books i could rather be reading.
Some books are lauded at the time of their writing but to call this a must read in the 21st century is a bit of a stretch.
I enjoy books that change me, educate me, help me to grow or analyse life. Unfortunately this doesn't even provide the wealth of a history book because its rather banal.
A middle age monty python. It was good in its time but doesn't age well.
I put it into the Beowulf category. It was a "first in" and "biggest selling" category but its relevance has waned.

Tilting at Windmills

For a 16th Century novel this feels very fresh, showing that humour and pathos are timeless. This is a very long novel, that I really enjoyed, however it does meander so for some that might be off putting. If you want to understand what quixotic means this is for you; is it foolish to pursue unrealistic dreams.? Or is there something heroic about it? Do we need this fantasy to keep us motivated?

Amusing

Enjoyable story, characters are great. The story I knew so little about. Started to drag for me as each encounter was like the last. A little too long.

MAD OR SANE, DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO ARE ENCHANTING

I loved this book as it was always on my bucket list to read. SUMPTIOUS.