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/lit/ - Literature

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2599355 No.2599355 [Reply] [Original]

Is this book still good today? I know a lot of lists have it as one of the, if not /the/, best book of all time.
Would that be based on how old it is, compared to its contemporary counterparts, or is it really something that everyone should read in the year 2012?

>> No.2599377

No, it was only good up until yesterday, today all of the copies of Don Quijote changed and now it's no longer good.

>> No.2599384

>>2599377
This.

Long boring novel about nothing.

>> No.2599389

Fucking great book. Definitely get the Grossman translation - it isn't totally without problems (http://www.h-net.org/~cervant/csa/artics-f06/lathrop2sf06.pdf)) but it's pretty damn good, and most importantly it's very very readable and organic.

Cervantes is brilliant satire and slapstick. You can breeze through the book very quickly despite it being like 900 pages.

>> No.2599396

If you don't speak Spanish, then don't even bother reading it.

>> No.2599413
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2599413

>>2599396
Sheddup ya mug. Or I'll moidah yaz.

>> No.2599414

>>2599396

Even if you speak spanish, don't bother reading it.

>> No.2599419

fucking amazing book. Part one is a bit dry but if you get to part 2 it kicks ass

>> No.2599457

There's worse shit to read.

>> No.2599464

>>2599413
No dude, here's the thing with Cervantes.
He made a huge change and really appropriate use of the Spanish language.
No need to read it in a different language when all of it's praise is because of that. But even then it has aged.

>> No.2599466

I fucking love this book, Cervantes is amazing.

>> No.2599476

It's one of the most influential works ever written for a reason.

>> No.2599480

>>2599464
Except the novel isn't praised solely for its prose/use of language, there's the phenomenal characterizations and literary techniques, two things that aren't lost in translation.

>> No.2599502

The story is okay, but the characters of Don Quixote and Sancho are totally brilliant.

>> No.2599503

>>2599464
It would be best if you knew the original language, I agree, but even Shakespeare is translated into other languages.

>> No.2599735

So is the Grossman translation the best in /lit/'s opinion? Is there a consensus on this?

>> No.2599740

>>2599735
yeah, sure, whatever

>> No.2599744

>>2599735
Yes. Contrary to Harold Bloom's neat forward, it's not super-high quality -- hell some of the sentences I remember are outright bad -- but overall it's quite good and it's the best.

>> No.2599757

>reading Don Quixote translated
>2012

a-shiggitydiggity

>> No.2599767

>>2599735
Yes, check the PDF earlier in the thread for a scholarly review from a Cervantes expert

He even covers Bloom's bewilderingly shitty non sequitur forward

>> No.2599790

It's a great book about a socially retarded guy who wants to become alpha. The language is dated and physical comedy isn't my thing, but it's very well crafted with nested stories and deep social commentary.

>> No.2600346

Mine is translated by John Rutherford.

Do I need to read it again?

>> No.2600355

Fuck that shit right in the ass!!!!!

>> No.2600858

>>2599396
>>2599757
fuck you language purists. Yeah, reading a work in its original language is always best but in every fucking thread about a foreign author:
>reading Borges in translation
>not learning French for Proust
>doesn't learn German to read Kafka
>English translation of Inferno
and onwards ad nauseum. Fucking stop with this shit, no one here will ever learn five languages. Yes, I mad

>> No.2600873

>>2600858
I'm tired of getting into this argument so I won't expand on it, but, as a guy who isn't negative about translated prose I do agree translated poetry is much, much more useless.

>> No.2600877

>>2600858
>Not knowing Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin fluently.

Every important literary work would be at your disposal.

>> No.2600891

>>2600858
Fuck off you ignorant anti-intellect American. Believe it or not, most people are taught multiple languages in their schools, instead of the shitty anti-evolution crap your taught in your country. No go tip your order a pizza and tip the delivery guy while clapping at the fact that you are going to eat.

>> No.2600896

>>2600877
>not knowing greek or sanskrit on top of those
>not mentioning asian languages
>fuck arabic
look at this septilingual retard

>> No.2600912

>my face when no one ITT knows mongolian or northern sami

>> No.2601278

>>2600891
C.S. Lewis said it didn't count as actually reading a work in the original language until you stopped translating it into your own. For example, the Greek word caïque does not mean "boat." It means a vessel that floats upon the water.

>> No.2601315

I didn't realize just how big the shit storm surrounding translations was.

Have to admit, reading stuff like The Stranger or The Metamorphosis (yes I'm casual) always made me wonder what I was missing out on by not reading then in their original language.

Sucks being American.

>> No.2601325

lol I'm Dutch and I learned 6 languages in highschool by age 16: Dutch, English, German, French, Latin, Greek

get to my level amerifags

>> No.2601331

>>2601325
Did you learn them? Or did you just learn to translate them?

>> No.2601357

>>2601331
>He's never met a Dutchman
They all speak perfect fucking English. Shit's crazy.

>> No.2601446

>>2601357
There is a long way from speaking perfect English in western Europe and learning Greek and Latin...
I mean we learned some Latin and Greek in Denmark as well, but I wouldn't be dumb enough to boast about it.

>> No.2601604
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2601604

Cervantes was like Kafka, but better. Read it.