Don Quixote: The Ormsby Translation, Revised Backgrounds and Sources Criticism (Norton Critical Edition)

FROM OUR EDITORS

This classic book, published in 1605, is the first and greatest of all modern novels & an adventure tale that brings to life two of literature's most beloved characters, Don Quixote & Sancho Panza. A timeless and rewarding reading experience.

ANNOTATION

Retells the adventures of an eccentric Spanish country gentleman and his companion who set out as a knight and squire of old to right wrongs and punish evil.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

While Don Quixote thinks of himself as a brave knight, his trusty sidekick, Sancho Panza, finds out the truth as they battle real and imaginary enemies.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

As in Williams's Greek Myths for Young Children and Joseph and His Magnificent Coat of Many Colors , engagingly busy, ornately bordered, comic strip-style artwork gives new and buoyant life to a familiar story. The characteristic understatement of her text, juxtaposed with the humorous mutterings of a quirky cast (delivered in cartoon balloons), breezily chronicles Quixote's hapless quest to ``right all wrongs and protect all damsels.'' (Though Williams's rendition seems appropriate for the intended audience, literary purists may object on principle to the abridgement of such a venerable classic.) Here the would-be knight is rendered as quite the buffoon, as he prepares to tilt at windmills he mistakes for ``giants'' and battle two ``armies'' that are actually flocks of sheep. Time after time, Quixote and sidekick Sancho Panza are badly battered (the former is shown losing his ear and some teeth), but always brush themselves off and continue ``on their way in search of new adventure worthy of so famous a knight and his faithful squire.'' A fun way to become acquainted with this masterpiece. Ages 7-up. (Mar.)

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

As she has with other stories, Greek Myths, Sinbad and Robin Hood, Williams creates another comic strip version of a well-known tale. The "official" story run along with the cartoons while comments and asides are presented within the cartoon frames. This particular tale, about an eccentric country gentleman who imagines himself a knight who must right wrongs, may be a little difficult for the publisher's suggested age group (5 and up). It will probably work better for older elementary kids and reluctant readers. 1995 (orig.

Library Journal

Cervantes's masterpiece Don Quixote , Henry Fielding's favorite novel, was also much admired by Fielding's contemporary Smollett, who published a vigorous, highly readable translation in 1755. Eighteenth-century collections will be enriched by this edition (not reissued since the 19th century, and never published in America), which includes Smollett's life of Cervantes, his note on the translation, and his annotations to the novel. The foreword and introduction by Fuentes, however, are disappointing; concentrating on Cervantes and his times they tell us almost nothing about the raison d'etre for this edition, Smollett's translation. Smollett's pungent, jocular prose is ideally suited for his task; his translation makes a delightful alternative to the various attempts to render Don Quixote into modern English. Peter Sabor, English Dept., Queen's Univ., Kingston, Ont.

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