Chatted with a friend who said he is starting to read Don Q. I suggested that I read along in Spanish and we can talk about it as we go. So I read the prologue and the first chapter in Spanish. Wow! It's tough to navigate the sixteenth century flow of this thing. I'll keep the Spanish version nearby for when I want to check the phrasing on something, but no way am I going to submit myself to this much Elizabethan (ˤIsabellan?) Spanish. (laughs)
So . . . I read the prologue and the first two chapters, this time in English.
First impression: I am impressed by how even though his language is archaic, Cervantes' purposeful ostentatious style wouldn't be out of place in our own time. This story is PERFECT for the screen and it surprises me that no one (rumored curse notwithstanding) has tried to make a film adaptation worthy of Cervantes' narrative vision. Where are the young maverick directors? (all putting in bids to work on Spiderman-6, I'm sure). C'mon!Second impression: Holy crap! Cervantes could very well be writing about the internet. It takes but a brief look-around to realize just how many Quixotes there are in cyberland.
The fact that this is a product of the sixteenth century makes me smile somehow. Psychology might not have existed yet as a scientific discipline but Cervantes (Shakespeare too) was obviously tuned in to this human domain.
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