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/lit/ - Literature

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4738519 No.4738519 [Reply] [Original]

Any prerequisites I should read before reading Don Quixote?

>> No.4738521

It can pretty much be read in a vacuum honestly.

>> No.4738527

>>4738521
Really? That's surprising. I figured it would reference all kinds of literature.

>> No.4738542

>>4738527
If you get the Grossman translation it will give you footnotes explaining all the references to contemporary/popular chivalric romances and stuff like that. And I'm not really sure how many people, even super dedicated ones, hell, even scholars, bother reading a bunch of (for the time) schlocky chivalric fantasy books for the sake of better understanding Cervantes' parody.

>> No.4738548

>>4738542
Gotcha. Are the references pretty much confined to contemporary chivalric tales, or does it reference serious works also? (contemporary or previous)

>> No.4738595

>>4738548
Don Quixote was one of the first modern novels ever written. You're good to go, anon.

>> No.4738608

>>4738542
>nd I'm not really sure how many people, even super dedicated ones, hell, even scholars, bother reading a bunch of (for the time) schlocky chivalric fantasy books for the sake of better understanding Cervantes' parody.

The rabbit hole is deep...

>> No.4738639

My copy has that cover! It's a great cover, too
>>4738527
>Oy vey, buy this new version by g-d's own chosen!

Fuck that the copy I have has footnotes and cost me 3 bucks at the used shop.

OP just read it. It's hilarious in a slapstick sort of way, and has a constant underpinning of tragedy. Amazing book./

>> No.4738645

there's no real prerequisites to it, but it would't hurt to be at least slightly familiar with the basics of baroque and renassaince, humanism, the italian novella, the spanish siglo de oro and its literary antecedents (pastoral, chivalry [in the french tradition and the spanish tradition], novela morisca), the social composition of spain (from pecheros to hidalgos to the royalty), lutheranism, the council of trento and some other stuff. i wouldn't really say that recognizing the specific references to chivalry books is necessary, but recognizing references to ovid and the likes would definitely help.

however, you could probably just jump into it

>> No.4738683
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4738683

>>4738519
>tfw spanish speaker
>haven't read this book
I wonder how many great books in spanish I'm missing

>> No.4738687

Don Quixote
Labyrinths
2666

>> No.4738689

>>4738687
meant to quote>>4738683

>> No.4738688

>>4738639

>>Oy vey, buy this new version by g-d's own chosen!

It's the best translation out there. Not only are the footnotes the most thoroughly researched but none of the others capture the colloquial charm in the same way.

Fuck off back to /pol/ you vacuous cunt.

>> No.4738697
File: 2.61 MB, 285x253, 1394679011116.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4738697

>>4738687
>2666
>when anything from calderón or tirso to rodrigo rey rosa could have been mentioned
when will the bolaño fad die?

>> No.4738701

>>4738697

Christ, this.

>> No.4738748

Make sure to get the Pierre Ménard version.

>> No.4738753

Read this a few months back and loved it. You're good to go, and enjoy the ride.

>> No.4738761

>>4738688
If you seriously promise me this, I will look into it. I said that half-seriously just due to the fact she's obviously jewish, still living, and touted as the best.

>> No.4738783

You don't need to read anything before most good editions of classic works. If you're reading a good translation or a well-edited book, they will fill in all the gaps for you.

>> No.4738789

>>4738761
She's not considered to be the best, but good enough. Really her biggest strength is that the book is meant to be read quickly and colloquially - anyone who has suffered through Victorian Cervantes has probably fucked their enjoyment of it. It's a book that is sensitive to tone. Not many authors can pull off a Burton and make 13th century Persian sex jokes sound good in 19th century formal English.

>> No.4738801

Learn Spanish.

>> No.4738960

>>4738789
Reading the Nights right now, shit it true, I can't believe he managed to make this as good as it is.

>> No.4739383

Lazarillo de Tormes and Golden Ass and Ovid