Apparently about 8 or 9 years after the successful publication of the book, an unidentified author wrote and released an unapproved sequel to the story. I found out that the English volume contained two "Parts." Evidently the first part was published by Cervantes in 1605 and the second part was published as a sequel 10 years later in 1615. So I dove headlong into reading Don Quixote. I was shocked and at that point decided that I'd do better to tackle the book in English rather than returning to the Spanish knowing that it would take me at least double or triple the effort to read that many pages in Spanish given the slightly antiquated language and abundance of unfamiliar terminology. I recently picked up an English copy and found it weighing in at just under 1000 pages of text with another 50 or so pages of end notes and about 20 "roman numeral" pages of introduction prior to the story. What I didn't know was that the Spanish copy I had purchased had been very significantly abridged and summarized and was not a true representation of the overall heft of this story. The copy I had purchased was only about 130 pages so I figured I'd read about one-fourth and promised myself that I'd eventually go back and finish. Interestingly, I felt like I had read a sizable portion of the overall book. At that time I only made it through about 30 pages.
Show More way to reinforce my language studies. It is this brilliant trick, over which I suspect Cervantes is still laughing somewhere in the ethereal land of deceased authors, that delighted my twenty-first century palate. Beginning with an Aristotelian book burning and proceeding to warp the distinction between fiction and reality, Don Quixote the novel embodies those characteristics that we have so simply reduced to the word 'quixotic'. Although Don Quixote the man lacks the capacity for honest self-examination, the text achieves another superior level of existence via its self-awareness. However repetitive, this storytelling device highlights the surprisingly modern metafictive elements of the novel. Show More move in a straight line from plot points A to Z, then you should reconsider spending your hours on the famous "knight errant," for as he wanders into various adventures, so does Cervantes, who rarely allows a chapter to pass without another side story featuring pairs of starcrossed lovers composed unfailingly of beautiful ladies and brave but unfortunate gentlemen.
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