Reviews with content warning for Violence - El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha

A man with visions of grandeur, after reading fictional stories about lone vigilantes, convinces himself that he too is a freedom fighter. In doing so, he goes out into the world, killing and proclaiming his righteousness, and shifting any narrative to make it so that he is the true hero. No, it is not the modern midwestern USA, it is Don Quixote. Which actually was a wonderful book, and I can understand why something so modern-feeling despite being 400 years old is considered the first modern novel. Somehow a story that is 1000 pages long didn't drag, and going into very long classics such as this you run such a risk. Filled with strange melodramatic stories, wonderful varied characters, and good nature, I highly recommend it. Oh yeah, except all the rampant Islamophobia, but I guess that's to be expected. 9/10.

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the original version of 'he plays too much video games'.

In all seriousness, this was actually worth reading despite its length. The story was really funny and clever, and I loved reading about Don Quijote's shenanigans! Being shorter would have made the book better, though — I would delete all the unnecessary character stories that didn't involve Don Quijote (towards the end there were quite a few of these instances).

Obviously this books comes with some misogyny and racism (I mean, what would you expect from 16th-17th century Europe?) but there were some surprisingly modern takes as well; here are my favourite ones:
1. women don't owe men sex or any other kinds of attention
2. prostitution would be safer if it was practiced under legal conditions
3. capitalism is bad

it was a fun ride, but I'm also glad that it's finally over.

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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adventurous funny

2.25

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mihai26's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was such an incredibly hard book to finish. I can understand and appreciate the metafiction parts, but besides that, I could not stand the plot or the characters. It is filled with too much misogyny and racism, the story did not spark any emotions, neither the tragedy nor the comedy parts. I acknowledge the time this novel was written in, but it is honestly not worth any reader's time unless you are studying literature.

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pennepasta's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm pretty sure that this book was just one big fever dream because I cannot tell you what half of the stuff that happened was even about. The characters are funny and entertaining with a dark undertone to the entire novel and despite being extremely difficult to understand, it was a pretty good and funny novel.

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flaweddimension's review against another edition

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This book is hilarious but I didn't like all the beatings. So many beatings. With some mutilation on the side.

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