Book
Don Quixote / Miguel de Cervantes ; a new translation by Edith Grossman ; introduction by Harold Bloom.
Chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780060188702 (alk. paper)
- ISBN: 9780060934347 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0060188707 (alk. paper)
- ISBN: 0060934344 (pbk.)
- Physical Description: xxxv, 940 p. ; 25 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Ecco, c2003.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Search for related items by subject
| Genre: | Historical fiction. Spanish fiction. |
Available copies
- 8 of 10 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 0 of 1 copy available at Castlegar Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 10 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar Public Library | FIC CER (Text) | 35146001504737 | Fiction | Volume hold | Checked out | 2025-04-08 |
- Choice Reviews : Choice Reviews 2004 June
Literary and critical interest in Cervantes and his masterpiece continues to thrive. Translations of the Quixote, now reaching the age of 400, appear with some regularity, including such recent ones as Burton Raffel's The History of That Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quijote de la Mancha (CH, Mar'96) and the "Penguin Classics" edition by John Rutherford, The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (2000). Grossman has previously translated works by such major contemporary Latin American authors as Gabriel Garcia Marquez (e.g., Love in the Time of Cholera, CH, Sep'88; The General in His Labyrinth, CH, Feb'91) and Mario Vargas Llosa; she also wrote The Anitpoetry of Nicanor Parra (CH, Sep'76). Turning to Cervantes and 17th-century Spain, she has now produced an excellent translation in crisp, clear English evoking the vital essence of the original Spanish in language, characters, time, and place. The great novel becomes more accessible in a version capturing nuances of style and phrase. Including helpful explanatory notes and an introduction by Harold Bloom, this translation joins such recent works as Maria Antonia Garces' Cervantes in Algiers (CH, Feb'03); The Cambridge Companion to Cervantes, ed. by Anthony Cascardi's (CH, Apr'03); and Barbara Fuchs' Passing for Spain: Cervantes and the Fictions of Identity (CH, Sep'03). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. Copyright 2004 American Library Association. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews July #1
"Unless you read Spanish, you've never read Don Quixote," boasts the publicity. Now is your chance-grab this new rendition by leading translator Edith Grossman. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2003 November #1
In 2002, 100 major writers from 54 countries rated Don Quixote the world's best work of fiction. Any new translation of Cervantes's immortal classic is thus a major publishing event, and when that translator is Grossman-the prize-winning interpreter of such contemporary Latin American giants as García Marquez and Vargas Llosa-it is a major event indeed. Grossman's goal was to make the 400-year-old book sound as if it were penned by one of her modern specialties. Using Martin de Riquer's scholarly edition, itself based on the princeps, she translates the text exactly, including the numerous gaps, such as the unexplained theft of Sancho's donkey. Grossman retains the original Latin, of course, but also such Spanish words as ínsula that convey a particular meaning. She modifies the famous opening line of the novel by inserting the word somewhere before "in La Mancha," thereby reinforcing the vagueness of the location. Unlike earlier versions, this Don Quixote doesn't use the antiquated speech of the novels of chivalry that Cervantes is spoofing, thus providing a more readable text. Footnotes, many derived from de Riquer, are kept to a minimum and are included only when an explanation is indispensable; Grossman wants the novel to be read first and revered through the clogging of scholarly apparatus second. The end result of Grossman's two-year labor of love is a Don Quixote that is contemporary without being irreverent, a status Raffel's 1995 effort approached. The older, more faithful standard translations, like those of Putnam (1949), Starkie (1964), and Jarvis (revised 1992) will remain in the canon and in print, as much for their reliability as their quaintness. Where Grossman succeeds is in being faithful to Cervantes's comic spirit and natural style; it is indeed a sign of freshness and spontaneity that this reviewer laughed as if for the first time at passages that he's read many times before. As the literary world prepares for the quadricentennial in 2005 of the publication of Don Quixote's first part and in light of other competing versions, now and possibly to come by then, this is the one to beat. Recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/03.]-Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2003 November #2
There would seem to be little reason for yet another translation of Don Quixote. Translated into English some 20 times since the novel appeared in two parts in 1605 and 1615, and at least five times in the last half-century, it is currently available in multiple editions (the most recent is the 1999 Norton Critical Edition translated by Burton Raffel). Yet Grossman bravely attempts a fresh rendition of the adventures of the intrepid knight Don Quixote and his humble squire Sancho Panza. As the respected translator of many of Latin America's finest writers (among them Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa), she is well suited to the task, and her translation is admirably readable and consistent while managing to retain the vigor, sly humor and colloquial playfulness of the Spanish. Erring on the side of the literal, she isn't afraid to turn out clunky sentences; what she loses in smoothness and elegance she gains in vitality. The text is free of archaisms the contemporary reader will rarely stumble over a word and the footnotes (though rather erratically supplied) are generally helpful. Her version easily bests Raffel's ambitious but eccentric and uneven effort, and though it may not immediately supplant standard translations by J.M. Cohen, Samuel Putnam and Walter Starkie, it should give them a run for their money. Against the odds, Grossman has given us an honest, robust and freshly revelatory Quixote for our times. (Nov.) Forecast: A somber, graceless jacket won't do this edition any favors, but the packaging of the paperback will be most important in determining future sales. In any case, this will be an essential backlist title. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
