My paperback copy of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha has lost its front and back covers and is filled with scribbled notes from college days. I don't want to think about how long ago that was, but the price of $3.75 marked on the front page takes me back a while.
A friend and I have recently challenged each other to read a certain number of chapters of El Quijote and discuss them every week by email. We have a trip planned to northern Spain and Portugal later this year (husbands included) and thought what better way to prepare for the journey than to read the classic novel by Miguel Cervantes?
El Quijote was published in Spain during the first part of the 17th century. Wikipedia heaps kudos on the novel with descriptions like "the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age..., ...a founding work of modern Western literature..., ...it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published." Credentials established, right?
So what makes a novel a classic? From an ordinary reader's viewpoint, I believe it has something to do with making a connection between the novel and one's daily life, even if they are centuries apart.
I''m only on Chapter XX on this my second reading, but already I am finding bits of wisdom dispensed by both Don Quijote and his squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel the Spanish countryside in search of adventure.
Don Quijote, the dreamer, often puts his optimistic thinking in terms of pithy proverbs. He assures us that when one door closes in life, another will open ("Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre" Chap. 21). He also reminds us that time and death will erase all memories and pain ("No hay memoria a quien el tiempo no acabe, ni dolor que muerte no le consuma" Chap. 15). He states philosophically that neither the good nor the bad in life will last ("No es posible que el mal ni el bien sean durables" Chap. 19). And another helpful thought he gives the reader is that something is better than nothing at all ("Más vale algo que no nada" Chap. 21).
Don Quijote is a careful observer of personalities. He believes that a person is known by his deeds ("Cada uno es hijo de sus obras" (Chap. 14) and that for a man to think of himself as higher than other men, he must do more ("No es un hombre más alto que otro si no hace más que otro"(Chap. 18). His observation on love relationships still rings true today, even though I would say that he could be speaking about either sex when he states that women naturally reject those who love them and love those who hate them ("Esa es natural condición de mujeres: desdeñar a quien las quiere y amar a quien las aborrece"(Chap. 20).
Sancho Panza inserts more worldly thoughts into the narrative by pointing out that it takes a long time to know what a person is like ("Es menester mucho tiempo para venir a conocer las personas"(Chap. 15) and warns us that nothing in this life is safe ("No hay cosa segura en esta vida" (Chap. 15). He also warns us that greed will bring disaster, ("La codicia rompe el saco" (Chap.20).
Proverbs and wise sayings are found more frequently in everyday use of Spanish than they are in English. I'm planning to memorize a few of my favorite quotes from El Quijote and sprinkle my conversations with them when we are in Spain. Do you suppose a few well placed proverbs will make up for my very badly trilled r's? I certainly hope so!
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