[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 37 KB, 1114x946, DQWindmill.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2999530 No.2999530 [Reply] [Original]

Sup /lit/

I've been reading Don Quixote on my Kindle these last couple months, and I've been running into a problem.

The problem is that I feel like the book is incredibly boring, plotless, and virtually incomprehensible to anybody not familiar with the trappings of how Spain was back then.

I'm about 25% in and want to quit. Right now in the story, Don Quixote and Sancho are hiding in the mountains after having been mugged of their gear.

Is this shit going to pick up? Am I just an uncultured goon with ADD? Anybody feel the same?

>> No.2999541

Translation?

>> No.2999544

>>2999541

Yeah, some free one I picked up off the Kindle store. I was thinking reading the Spanish one might be better, but while I've been learning Spanish for almost a year and a half, I'm nowhere near the level needed to read it.

>> No.2999545

don quixote is one of my favorites. no book will please everyone though. if you're set on understanding the book maybe you can read various places online to understand why it's so popular.

the book is slow and if you're already 25% in and still not enjoying it don't know what to say. but quixote and sancho are two of the best characters ever.

>> No.2999553

>>2999541
actually this is a great answer. there is a translation out there has a more modern vernacular. maybe you could try it instead? forget the name of the translator. hopefully it's not the one you're already reading.

>> No.2999557

>last couple months
>25% in

What the fuck are you doing? One page a day? Why even bother at that point?

>> No.2999562

>>2999530

Just quit - my wife has a PhD in Hispanic Literature and she's never read the whole thing. She says it's total shit, only of interest because it's so old and seminal.

She reckons the Lazarillo de Tormes is better.

I don't know a great deal about it, but I take her word for it.

>> No.2999572

>>2999545

I'll say that there are stretches where I mildly enjoy it, and stretches where I feel like I zone out for pages at a time and miss absolutely nothing.

If there's an article out there that'd boost my appreciation, I'd be down to read it, because right now, I have no idea what I'm being shown.

>>2999553
Somehow, I doubt that. The translation is by John Ormsby, who in the beginning of the book, says his aim is to kind of replicate the Spanish language's nuances through English. It makes some of the dialogue so fucking convoluted.

>> No.2999573
File: 762 KB, 300x170, 1344924065156.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2999573

>>2999562
>PhD in Hispanic Literature and she's never read the whole thing.
I don't believe you

>> No.2999579

>>2999557

First off, the book is incredibly dense. 25% constitutes almost 30 chapters. However, since I've not too wild about the book, I've pretty much stopped reading. Do maybe a couple chapters a week.

>>2999562

That is pretty damning.

>> No.2999580

I listened to the unabriged english translation on audio book, about 40 hours or something in total I believe. I enjoyed it much more than I expected. Much of the text I found to be very annoying to read for some reason but whenever I read it spoken I found it far more easily comprehended.

>> No.2999582

>>2999573
I have a PhD in English Literature and I've never read Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. So, yeah.

>> No.2999584

>>2999582
That's sad.

>> No.2999587

>>2999572
i think the idea is that don quixote read a lot of books about knight errants and decides to become one. the book was written long after knight errantry was out of style. but the concept of chivalry is a good one in nature. so he's laughed at even back then.

quixote is exceedingly idealistic with his ideas of chivalry and is sometimes lost in "reality." or lost in between where fantasy and reality meet.

chivalry (idealism) can be replaced imo to anything purely in the intellectual realm like philosophy, ethics, politics, religion, whatever. and don quixote isn't what we are, but what we are forever potentially becoming if we're not careful.

if you look at antiheroes like ignatius from confederacy of dunces, yossarian from catch-22 and others they are all taken from don quixote imo.

and sancho is the "wise fool" for a variety of reasons.

>> No.2999590

>>2999579
>That is pretty damning.

True, I also believe everything everyone says on internet

>> No.2999592

http://oyc.yale.edu/spanish-and-portuguese/span-300

>> No.2999596

>>2999582
I have a hard time believing that too.
I would have thought that someone willing to go as far as getting a PhD in English would have at least read it out of curiosity by this point, even if it wasn't an educational requirement.

>> No.2999595

>>2999582

Me too. Although I did read Ulysses.

when I was an undergraduate, I pretended I liked it because it seemed the right thing to do. Yes, I am a bit ashamed of my spineless churlishness

>> No.2999603

>>2999596

Actually, a surprising number of people who've studied English to a high level don't rate Joyce. It's pretty old hat, and has lots of flaws. He was an experimental writer, and a lot of those experiments have no meaning now.

I guess not many physicists fuck about with Faraday when they do their PhD, even though field theory may well be the basis of their work (I have no idea what I'm talking about btw, I stopped studying physics at 16, so this is half-remembered nonsense from blokes in boozers).

>> No.2999604

I have a PhD in not giving a fuck and I haven't read nothing

>> No.2999605

>>2999590

Is it that hard to believe though? There are so many classic books out there that you could read thousands throughout your lifetime and never get to every single one.

>>2999587
That's a pretty neat way of looking at it. That chivalry is a good idea, but when you're only following the system to a tee, you lose touch with reality. It's a good point, but if that's the only theme, then it's point was made in the first chapter and his since been reused and reused.

>> No.2999606

>>2999590

I'm not saying she hasn't read *any* of it - obviously she's read enough to write the odd essay as an undergrad. Same as a lot of English undergrads read The Joyce Reader and then blag their way through seminars. Excerpts are your friend as a student.

>> No.2999623

>>2999603
That seems odd to me. He's a good writer even if you get away from the experimental prose.
I guess that's all the more reason that I should keep reading great books instead of paying a university to tell me what to read.

>> No.2999627

>>2999623
> He's a good writer

I disagree. He was an average writer who's legacy is continued because what he was doing was so ground-breaking at the time.

Beckett is a far better writer - the student outstripped the master. Big time.

This is, of course, opinion, but that won't stop the sperglords weighing in to defend their dead BFF.

>> No.2999646

>>2999627
What's impressive isn't even the ground-breaking part, though: he's just had a stellar understanding of how the human mind works, which allowed him to make utterly believable characters.
Simply listening to Poldy think was the best part of Ulysses for me, because it was so close to a real human's thoughts.

>Beckett is a far better writer - the student outstripped the master. Big time.
I really like Beckett too. I don't know if I could say if he was better, but that's just a matter of preference.

>> No.2999650

>>2999627
>This is, of course, opinion, but that won't stop the sperglords weighing in to defend their dead BFF.

oh shut the fuck up, like you wouldn't do the exact same thing for beckett

>> No.2999664

>>2999650

>, like you wouldn't do the exact same thing for beckett

Why would I bother? Seriously? If someone doesn't like something I do, then I can usually restrain the rage.

>> No.2999678 [DELETED] 

>>2999664
> If someone doesn't like something I do, then I can usually restrain the rage.
Unless it's them not liking you not liking Beckett and the tourettes kicks in.

>> No.2999692

>>2999605
but you won't know how don quixote resolves his battle between fantasy and reality unless you finish it.
if you really want to know it's his death. that's like deep, man.

>> No.2999736
File: 2 KB, 152x260, bones.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2999736

Once while thinking about drowning my ambition in mediocrity with a graduate degree, I scanned the guide book for the English GRE. One small paragraph was devoted to Joyce, where half a sentence said, "and Finnegans Wake, where the story of Humphrey Chimpden Earwick, an Irish innkeeper, is told through one night of dreams."

I don't think english phds should be required to read Finnegans Wake, but the lack of interest (at least in the grad students I've met) shows that their commitment to the field they study is quite feeble. Going through the academic motions and forking over $200k for a piece of paper that says feehpee is not something an interesting or original mind would do, though, so what can you expect?

>> No.2999737

>>2999596
>I have a hard time believing that too.
Thing is, in academia, we actually have a rather narrow field of research. If contemporary literature isn't in said field, you're only reading such works on your own or as part of a course rather early in your studies. The books from Joyce I've read were for my own enjoyment (and I'm afraid I didn't enjoy them all that much).

>> No.2999749

>>2999736
>Humphrey Chimpden Earwick, an Irish innkeeper
The guy isn't even bloody Irish.

>> No.2999752

>>2999736
agree with most of what you said, only nobody forks over $200k for a PhD in the humanities. In fact, most PhDs actually get paid to study, through various grants and schollarships. In fact, that is one of the reasons most people start a PhD: "Hey, I just finished college, I'm broke with no direction in life and I don't wanna flip burgers. What do I do? Get paid to act like an intellectualoid hipster cunt? Sure!"

I actually heard stories like that from grad students.

>> No.2999753

>>2999749
>The guy isn't even bloody Irish.
Earwicker isn't his real name, either

>> No.2999756

>>2999752
Your friends are smarter than mine. i actually know clowns who entered programs w/o full funding

>> No.2999757

>>2999752
Being paid to study is pretty much a dream job for some people, you know.

>> No.2999773

I read the book in spanish which I think must be better than the english version. I haven't seen the english version though.

>> No.3000335

>>2999582
You and you're wife are fucking mediocre people

>> No.3000373

>>3000335
>you and you are wife

>> No.3000388

>>3000373
But what if the guy is also his own wife?

>> No.3001165

OP here, totally ashamed at the whole "how cultured am I dickwaggery BUT

>>2999692

I read the spoiler for this and it kinda sparked my interest enough to keep going. Just because it shows that the plot will actually go somewhere.

>> No.3001588

>>2999530
The book is famous becase of its psychologism. I enjoyed reading it and had a good laugh sometimes. If you don´t like it, leave it. I recommend you reading the book in spanish; it´s vastly superior than any translation.

>>3000335

He doesn´t have a wife nor a PhD.

>> No.3001662

>>2999530
Quit. Pick another book. Come back when you are ready.

>> No.3001665

>>2999530
It was one of my favorite books, blew my mind the way it play with Quixote's crazyness.

People love fiction works because they can relate somehow, some aspect of the story that rings true to them.

If you find boring simply leave it behind, maybe in the future you'll enjoy, maybe not..

There's way too many books to read so don't waste your time with the ones you find boring, just because other people like it. People are different.

>> No.3001674

I've read it in Portuguese, maybe it's the similarity of the language or the noticeable care put in the translation... I fucking loved it translated version... tried the original in Spanish but I can't really say it's my favorite language so I just kept the translated memories

>> No.3001680

how can this book be boring

it is really funny


ur jus a pleb 0/10

>> No.3001839

>>2999530
Read the Grossman translation. Also, Don Quixote is nothing more than a very High Comedy. Many, if not most, of the chapters are just absurd and hilarious. If you don't have a comic sensibility, then, yes, you will be disappointed by Don Quixote if you're expecting some heavy philosophical digressions, even though the book is wonderfully philosophical in its own charming way.

Last, but not least, you're not entitled to love it, anyway. If it's not clicking, move on, maybe it will some day.

>> No.3001881

>>3001839
>Read the Grossman translation
this x 1000

>> No.3002001

I thought it was a surprisingly easy read considering how long ago it was written.

>> No.3002058

OP here. Guys, I recognize that the book is a comedy, but I'd hardly say it's funny in a laugh out loud capacity. It can draw a smirk out me sometimes, but it doesn't really help that 9/10 times the comedy is simply the physical humor of Don Quixote getting his ass kicked.

But whatever, I guess I'll quit. Before I was reading Don Quixote, I was four books into reading every Vonnegut book out there. I knocked a Vonnegut book out every two weeks and Don Quixote has been so boring that it has effectively stopped me from reading together. Guess it's back to Vonnegut and actual literary substance.

>> No.3002069

>>3002058
>>Vonnegut
>>Literary

Oh wow

>> No.3002113

>>2999757

It's the only reason I did an English PhD - the university were offering me 12k a year, tax free and all I had to do was publish the odd review and give a paper every now and then.

As the other guy said, it was a fuck-sight better than flipping burgers or going to work on a British Gas helpline like most of my friends did.

>>3000335

Perhaps so, but we're educated so we know the difference between "you're" and "your"

>> No.3002131

>>3002058

Yes, drop one of the greatest novels ever written and go read some trash. That's a good idea.

>> No.3002141

>>3002131

Don Quixote is trash without substance. HURR HUR, LOOK AT DON QUIXOTE GET BEAT UP AGAIN HAHWHAHWHAW

All of Vonnegut's works are brilliant anthropological works that cover humanity and it's problems in a way that makes Don Quixote look even more trivial than it is.

>> No.3002149

>>3002141

lol

>> No.3002154

>>3002141

Damn, 15 year olds get upset when you say anything negative about Vonnegut. I forgot how ravenous teenagers were for his untalented cock.

>> No.3002160

>>3002141
I like Vonnegut but you are still full of shit.

>> No.3002220

>>2999587
I am in the middle of book 2, and I think it does a great job contrasting Don Quixote's idealism and Sancho's practicality. Don Quixote needed Sancho to practice his ideals, and Sancho on the other hand needed ideals to practice. The point is that neither could do without the other, nor can there be an imbalance between the two. Every person is either a Quixote or a Panza.

>> No.3002223

I get it now. Everyone who thinks Don Quixote is good is like Don Quixote themselves. They see a wash basin(the book itself) and see the helmet of a renowned knight errant.

Meanwhile, the people who think it's shit are like Sancho. They know better, but they hear the nonsensical ramblings of Don Quixote and think because they're so convinced of what they're seeing that it must be real instead.

I will not fall victim to the same mistakes that Sancho did.

>> No.3002230
File: 59 KB, 278x400, seriously.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3002230

Yes, of course if you are not enjoying a book just stop and come back to it when you feel like it. Very few people is gonna bash you for being apathetic or disliking Don Quixote and the people who would is not worth of your time (and probably won't tell you in your face either).

I find boring this role play of people liking Ulysses because personal conditioning, urge to give a freethinker/edgy image, peer pressure, etc or doing the complete opposite: disliking it for the same reasons.

>no, you cannot honestly enjoy Joyce's gibberish!!
>no, you can't understand Ulysses let alone Finnegans Wake, stop trying so hard!

Back on topic, I remember reading Quixote (first part) back when I was 17 and liking it a lot because it was part of the high school curricula but then it's not something I would say it's a personal favourite. Maybe you could find an annotated version if there is one, it's something that keeps my mind busy and focused in some cases.

>>3002141

>this guy