The Complete Don Quixote

Don Quixote Adaptation by Rob Davis #1-2

by Rob Davis, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

“Those giants over there... they’re waving at us!”
“You’re mistaken, señor, they are windmills...”

The fantastic adventures of Don Quixote, his reluctantly faithful squire Sancho Panza, and their doomed quest to right the wrongs of the modern world, form one of the defining fables of what it means to be human: to love, to dream, to fail – and above all, to laugh.

“Rob Davis takes Cervantes’ timeless tale of tenacious heroism and delivers a seamless rendering worthy of its lauded source. His effortless line and lush colour palette perfectly capture the thrills, tragedy, and the humour of the original...” Publishers Weekly
“Makes this 400-year-old novel seem new.” The Times Literary Supplement
“Awash with sympathy and humour... A thoroughly loyal adaptation, full of enthusiasm for stories and storytelling.” The Guardian
Recommended: YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Nominated: Best Humour Publication and Best Adaptation Eisner Awards 2014

The fantastic adventures of Don Quixote, his reluctantly faithful squire Sancho Panza, and their doomed quest to right the wrongs of the modern world, form one of the defining fables of what it means to be human: to love, to dream, to fail – and above all, to laugh.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Classics, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Adventure

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2013

Reviews

[Panagiotis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο Δον Κιχώτης είναι ένα εμβληματικό μυθιστόρημα: θεωρείται πως έβαλε τις βάσεις για αυτό που λογίζεται σύγχρονη μυθοπλασία, είναι το εμπορικότερο ισπανόφωνο βιβλίο και ένα από τα εμπορικότερα όλων των εποχών. Το βιβλίο αναγνωρίστηκε στην εποχή του, πούλησε τόσο που βγήκαν απομιμήσεις, και για να μπουν τα πράματα στην θέση τους, ο Θερβάντες, δέκα χρόνια μετά την κυκλοφορία του πρώτου τόμου, κυκλοφόρησε τον δεύτερο.

Ο Δον Κιχώτης για εμένα η πεμπτουσία της λογοτεχνίας: αυτοαναφορικότητα, μοντερνισμός, στεγανά που τσακίζονται, γλώσσα που τσακίζει και γονατίζει τον αναγνώστη με το χιούμορ της. Και φυσικά φαντασία. Είναι τόσο ολοκληρωμένο, ένα διαχρονικό τούβλο, που έχει κάτι από την αύρα των μύθων. Σε κάνει να απορείς αν όντως υπάρχει ένας συγγραφέας που το έγραψε ή γράφτηκε κάτω από αινιγματικές συνθήκες, μιας άλλης διάνοιας. Η κόμικς μεταφορά του, λοιπόν, είναι κάτι που θα έκρινα με μισό μάτι. Ωστόσο από το εξώφυλλο και την αισθητική επιμέλεια φαίνεται πως μιλάμε για ανθρώπους σοβαρούς και όχι κομπογιαννίτες. Τα σχέδια είναι εξαιρετικά, αποδίδουν εξαιρετικά αυτό το γουέστερν στοιχείο της ισπανικής υπαίθρου, είναι φαιδρά και καλλιτεχνίζοντα ταυτοχρόνως. Το δε κείμενο ακολουθεί πιστά το ύφος του Θερβάντες, παρόλο που υπάρχουν παρεμβάσεις και καλλιτεχνικές πρωτοβουλίες.

Το βιβλίο τούτο λειτουργεί παντοιοτρόπως: συστήνει τον Θερβάντες στον ανίδεο, θυμίζει στον σχετικό αναγνώστη τι εστί Δον Κιχώτης, διαβάζεται αυτόνομα ως ένα άκρως απολαυστικό κόμικς. Είναι ένα κόμικς με την ποιότητα της σπάνιας λογοτεχνίας. Η μετάφραση, τέλος, είναι εξαιρετική: το μάτι δεν στραμπουλάει πουθενά, μεταφέρει τον πνεύμα του βιβλίου τιμώντας παράλληλα την ελληνική της ταυτότητα.

Πέντε αστέρια, για ένα άκρως καλοκαιρινό ανάγνωσμα!

[Maritina Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have heard of Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes,the famous hero who fell in love with chivalric stories so much, that he decided to be a wandering knight, well after the custom had died off in Spain, and his loyal, but naive, companion, Sancho.

But there's a possibility you haven't heard of its adaptation into a graphic novel by Rob Davis .

Now, I won't pretend that I have read the original book. However, I am familiar with the events, because of a cartoon series that came out in the 70's (I watched it in the 90's as a kid and I'd love to watch it again.)

And I think I can safely say that this graphic novel embodies everything that makes the original story great.

The two main characters are very interesting and enjoyable to follow. Seeing how Don Quixote views the world is immensely interesting. Even his mental illness goes through several transformations.

He begins as someone who believes he's a star in his own chivalric story, but has some very real delusions and can potentially be dangerous if he believes he is threatened. But he also has a kind heart. In Sancho's own words, he has no maliciousness in his heart and has a child's soul.
And Sancho, he begins as someone who sticks by Don Quixote because he has been persuaded into believing that he can be the governor of an island, but eventually, he begins to love Don Quixote for his kindness, honesty and his will to defend the weak. One could say that, as the story progresses, he kind of takes part in his master's delusions.

The cast is completed by many side characters, some good, some bad, some we meet only once and some who make several appearances throughout the book. All of them have interesting stories to tell and they do feel like they have come straight out of one of Don Quixote's books.

Another thing that in my opinion adds up to the beauty of the book is the fantastic art style. It's both beautiful and unique and I also loved the side stories the characters narrate throughout the main plot. They feel like some kind of a break but they are drawn and written in a way that is refreshing. Some other details that also add up to its beauty, were the breaking of the fourth wall and the mention of real historical events throughout the story.

It does a great work at combining comedy, adventure and drama all together, and in my opinion in that sense, it captures the essence of the original.

There's another thing I'd like to mention. It has more to do with some of my personal thoughts regarding the story, I didn't know where else to put it in the review.

I've seen the original often being categorised as a satire. And I don't know Cervantes's style, works and life, well enough, to know what he was trying to "make fun of".

One could say that he was satirising books about knights and its audience (which would be very ironic, since he wrote one, if not the most, famous story about a knight). Or that the message was how real life is more interesting than fantasy books. I really do not know...

But I feel that the thing that we should make the most commentary on is, how the side characters react to the main hero's mental illness. Sure, they can't help him the way we could help him now, but some of the stuff they do, in the first half, are way too similar to what he does. And that reminds me of something Sancho says at some point, where he poses the question, of who's the actual "madman". He who lives in his delusions, or those who follow him?

And don't get me started on how he is being treated as a clown by some "good Christian people" both as a way to "cure" him and because some of them were just bored. Remember the duke and the duchess near the end, where they played multiple pranks on Don Quixote and Sancho, simply because they were bored? A part of me is still bitter about those people not getting a piece of their medicine.

I may be seeing the whole thing through modern day lenses, but I don't really think this makes their acts more justifiable.

Anyway these were just some of my personal thoughts regarding something I find worthy to be analyzed. It didn't stop me from liking the whole thing though.

If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)

[Kamakana · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you like this review i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

050218: it has been years (decades...) since first read (trans. smollett) but it is not likely i would forget this comic epic, and though i have a more recent, approved one (grossman) i have to read... i keep finding other books to read. then i saw this. amazed he cut it down, edited it, so far- yet retained much of the plot, characters, comic and tragic, aspects i recall. i understand how cervantes can occupy similar place in spanish literature as shakespeare does in english. i know book 2 has even more postmodernism/meta before there was modernism, but i still prefer book 1, in which don quixote is simply deluded rather than elaborately deceived... and here is to hoping there is a little bit of the sorry-faced knight in all of us as there is the naive but loyal fool in sancho panza...

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got interested in reading Don Quixote because of this Radiolab piece about Cervantes being the first author to employ metafiction. I love metafiction and unreliable narrators, but was I ready to commit to reading a bookstop of a 16th century book that may not even have a good translation? I wavered about it but then I found this graphic novel adaptation, and I think I made the right choice.

Davis seems to adhere to both the story and the meta story and uses whimsical, vibrant, and beautiful watercolors to depict this zany screwball tale. I realized that there was probably a reason Cervantes took so long to write his Part II because it definitely feels like the kind of trying-too-hard pale imitation of success that movie sequels often have today.

But I'm so glad I got to finally experience this classic and in such a delightful way. Recommended!!!

[Dov Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've wanted for years to read the prose novel ("original"--in translation) but alas, I am a slow reader with a very long to-read list. When I saw there was a graphic version I tried to put it on hold through the public library system but it wasn't there yet. A few months later a few copies had arrived, I put one on hold, and before I knew it I was holding this hefty, beautifully designed, artifact.

The cover is black with white and blue text (white on the back and blue on the front and spine) and at the center of the front cover is a framed (by black) image of our beloved Knight of the Sorry Face, riding his horse and ready for action. His horse looks less enthusiastic than he does and the angle of the image sets the two modes in wonderful and gloomy conflict. This design speaks to the multiple entangled layers of representation. Cartoonish comedy and serious(ly slapstick) commentary. Passion for ideals of heroism and the misery of having no ideals, or knowing that you are headed for a poorly chosen battle there is no way to come out of unscathed.

There are stories within stories within stories in this tale, and each character is set in some relationship to Don Quixote--either trying to disabuse him of his chivalric notions or trying to bring him deeper into that world to ultimately 'rescue' him from it, or to be entertained by this famous, hapless (engaged and engaging) persona.

Don Quixote may be a fool, but he may also be the wisest man of all. His fantasies are powerful. They have a lot of real-life consequences and perhaps make real-life look a bit like a fairytale. Except that just when 'real-life' starts to look like a fairytale, Don Quixote messes that up too. The relationships between fictions and realities dissolve into each other because he refuses to put down his lance and, er, wash-basin?

This book had me laughing out loud from the start and the comedy at times became a bit painful because of its sheer brilliance and also its sadness. For this is a book in which everything is so worrisome it's funny and most things are so funny, they're worrisome. The mazes of intertextuality can start to feel like big spiderwebs, and the virtuosic absurdity can be heart-breaking.

Here is a little interview with Davis with an excerpt from the book. I can't compare it to the prose Don Quixote, but I do recommend it to those who enjoy graphic adaptations.

http://www.selfmadehero.com/news/2013...

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not truly a thorough adaptation of Cervantes’ masterpiece, this book is nonetheless a tour de force and -- as much as I can gather -- a pretty fair representation of the original. While my familiarity with Don Quixote extends only to the excerpts I was exposed to in grade school, Man of La Mancha, and other spin-offs, I’m pretty satisfied with how Davis has filled in the gaps in my cultural literacy. For those who won’t read past the first paragraph of this review, suffice it to say that I found Rob Davis’ efforts to be a readable stand-in for Cliff’s Notes. Adults should enjoy it (I did), but while initially intrigued by the comics format, the inherently episodic nature of the narrative could not hold the attention of my kids. Of course, that’s an ironic consequence of Davis’ trying to remain faithful to the 1605-1615 originals, not a fault of his artistry or editorial choices.

For the sake of the remainder of this review, let’s assume that Davis did Cervantes a solid, and his graphic novel is the genuine item, containing a reasonable translation of the ridiculous adventures of the dotty knight errant and his doughty squire: tilting at windmills, picking fights with noncombatants (especially at weddings), histing to the sorry tales of fellow travelers, and more or less rambling around the Spanish countryside. That being the case, what is there to say about Cervantes’ work? To begin with, the structure shares much in common with early oral history spoof compilations like the Decameron or The Canterbury Tales: each consist of lengthy strings of picaresque pearls loosely hung on a metafictional strand. However, Cervantes’ frame story is far more recursive than either of these two precursors. Don Quixote’s adventures are the fantasies of a madman (Alonso Quexana) as independently recorded and published by a moor (Cide Hamete Benengeli) popularized in Spain via the efforts of an anonymous Spanish translator commissioned by the author (Cervantes) and incorporating the commentary of a contemporary scholar (Samson Carrasco).

This intricate, narrative nesting is additionally complicated by the interaction of each of these pseudonymous personae with the characters and action of the book (Cervantes interjects occasionally from a local jail, thereby further undermining his authorial credibility), to say nothing of the de facto complicating distancing that arises from translation of the work into English and the idiom of comics. As can be seen from the following set of panels excerpted from page 291, the frame is a foreground feature of the book; Cervantes explicitly and repeatedly calls our attention to it.

So unlike Boccaccio or Chaucer, the author is not merely using the frame of oral tradition as an exculpatory narrative device or dodge, he’s establishing it as a core theme of his novel. Through the stories we tell we make and modify our reality. On the penultimate page, Cervantes issues a valedictory to his readers:

I exist only to tell this story and it’s because of this story that I exist. Should you return to the book in this or any other publication, by that I mean one that is concerned with the truth regarding the adventures of Don Quixote as told by Cide Hamete Benengeli, you will find me here saying much the same things in much the same way. Which of us lives within the book it’s hard to say. Is it Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, you or I who truly live in these pages?

Hall of mirrors sanity roll! Which is to say that Don Quixote should be read as a multifaceted satire: on medieval picaresque romances of course, but also on the credibility and validity of oral tradition, recorded history, and our conceptions of reality and rectitude.

Another thing worth mentioning here is the stylistic distinctions between Books One and Two. Don Quixote is split into two sections. Davis (or maybe Cervantes) tells us that despite the popularity of the original, 10 years separated the two works. In the intervening decade, some competitor published a defamatory knock-off sequel. In Book Two, Cervantes is not just returning to the well to continue or repeat his initial accomplishment, but to elaborate and distinguish it from impostors.

Books One and Two complement, yet are distinct from, one another as day is to night. That’s literally, as in the respective times of day when most of Quixote’s misadventures occur. Book Two is the darkness to Book One’s light. Where the mad knight earns our sympathy in Book One as a lovable loser, Book Two’s series of pyrrhic victories render him an object of pity. Where Book One showcases La Mancha’s persistent (if misplaced) nobility in helping the oppressed (such as criminals intended for servitude), Book Two shames Quixote and Panza in granting their expressed desire for aristocratic favors. Book One asks whether fantasy is superior to reality, as living fantastically entails heavy physical consequences. Book Two answers that from the standpoint of mental health, fantasy is clearly superior to reality. Ultimately, stripping away the fantasy is fatal; the hero’s humiliating shift from experiencing the adulation of an affectionate, amused audience to suffering the laughter of a jeering crowd is what kills him. Kill the spirit, kill the person. The similarity in content, but difference in tone between the two books shows the narrowness of the margin between farce and tragedy.

However, you would be wrong to read this analysis and see heavy-handedness in Cervantes’ (or Davis’ or “Benengeli’s”) approach. The author is deliberately ambiguous about his message. As Quixote gives way to Quexana, he repents, he renounces his prior devotion to delusion. He and his friends/protectors each present strong counterarguments in favor of maintaining perspective, moderation, lucidity. Cervantes ultimately refuses to definitively resolve the dilemmas he presents, craftily promising us that they will remain for us to grapple with anew… each and every time we revisit Don Quixote’s world.

About Davis’ chosen artistic technique (deliberately sketchy line reminiscent of Picasso, clever mood-driven coloring, preference for comic onomotopoetics to visualizing beatings), I’ll simply point to the author’s own fascinating discussion of his methodology and the online examples of his work. In lieu of an extended parsing of Davis' visuals, I’ll conclude my review with an afterthought about adapting Don Quixote. I mentioned Man of La Mancha, earlier. If Davis does justice to Cervantes’ original creation, you’ve got to hand it to Dale Wasserman, Mitch Leigh, and Joe Darion for their damned brilliant musicalization of the story. They didn’t just compress the work into a coherent stage production, they improved upon it through a myriad of subtle structural changes: creating a single throughline with compelling character arcs, while retaining the most memorable episodes, characters, and even the prison-based narrative frame.

For example, the pathos that sees jailhouse prostititute Aldonza’s transformation into Dulcinea (which must be a compression of disparate characters as Aldonza does not appear in the graphic novel; rather, Dulcinea is presented as a near-anonymous Dorotea del Toboso in Cervantes) is not only the stuff of strong drama, but draws out integral themes of the book. In a cruel world, a strong persona is the best defense. “Blows and abuse I can take and give back again/tenderness I cannot bear!” Recent research has argued that people suffering from depression tend to have a much more accurate self-perception and awareness of the world around them. Ignorance truly is bliss…

What to make of the possibility we live in a world in which happiness and reality are in opposition to one another? That way lies madness. As Cervantes leaves off, “Is it Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, you or I who truly live in these pages? I don’t know. Anyway, until next time… Adieu.”

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mit der Geschichte des Don Quixote werde ich wahrscheinlich nicht ganz warm, aber die Kombination dieser mit den Rob Davis' Zeichnungen hat mich bestens unterhalten. Der moderne Ton (sowohl in den Bildern als auch teilweise in der Sprache), die klaren Linien und bunten Farben, die Gestaltung der Geschichten in der Geschichte, das alles hat wunderbar gepasst.

[Paula Fialho Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A minha opinião: https://youtu.be/vceZFDbJ61k?si=nUX5d...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Quixote is on my "someday I will get around to reading this book" list, but it is a) really long and b) from the beginning of the 1600s and so I know reading it is not a minor undertaking. In the meantime I decided I'd at least learn the plot of the novel by reading this graphic novel version, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

I can't compare the graphic novel to the original to know how much was changed or left out, but it definitely covered a lot of ground in its 300 pages and gave me a good sense of the storyline of Don Quixote, including lots of side stories the characters tell to amuse or impress each other, and the meta-story of Cervantes insisting that he is not the author of a fictional tale but the adaptor of a history that had been written in Arabic. The artwork feels simple and cartoonish in the way it exaggerates people's physical features, but is actually quite detailed. The art style is very well matched to the narrative style, with its blend of serious self-importance and barely-hidden humor.

I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel version. It's not a replacement for reading the actual novel, but I definitely know more about Don Quixote now and still hope to read the novel at some point.

[PinkAnemone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Quixote ist Weltliteratur. Jeder kennt den Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt und seinen Gefolgsmann Sancho Panza. Wer den Klassiker schon immer einmal lesen wollte, aufgrund des Seitenumfangs aber gezögert hat, der bekommt jetzt eine Alternative. Die Graphic Novel von Rob Davis hält sich eng an die Vorlage von Miguel de Cervantes. Kapitel für Kapitel wird die Geschichte des Adligen Alonso Quexana erzählt, der zu viele Ritterromane gelesen hat. Fortan nennt er sich Don Quixote de la Mancha. Auf seinem treuen Pferd Rosinante zieht er aus in ein witziges, sympathisches und verrücktes Abenteuer... (Klappentext)

♘♘♘♘♘

"Aus seinem verfallenen Verstand entwuchs die kurioseste Idee,
der je ein Narr anheimgefallen war.
Statt ein Buch zu schreiben, wie er es liebte,
würde er selbst zu einem werden."
(S. 11)

Don Quijote (Don Quixote in alter Schreibweise) ist ein Klassiker aus dem Jahr 1605 des Spaniers Miguel de Cervantes. Wie bei Klassikern üblich, gibt es bereits einige Adaptionen im Bereich Film und Fernsehen und als Kind sah ich mir immer wieder gerne die Zeichentrickserie aus den 80ern an (jessas, bei Filmen und Serien ist es wie mit Kindern - an ihnen merkt man wie alt man eigentlich schon ist).
Dies ist eine ganz neue Art der Klassiker-Adaption und zwar im Comic-Format und ich muss sagen, ich bin begeistert. Aber erstmal kurz zum Inhalt für diejenigen, die diesen Klassiker nicht kennen, bzw. eine kleine Auffrischung benötigen.

In Spanien, in einem Ort in La Mancha, lebt ein verarmter Edelmann namens Alonso Quexana und seine Leidenschaft waren Bücher über Ritter und deren Abenteuer. Er las von morgens bis abends und kämpfte so Seite an Seite mit ritterlichen Helden gegen Drachen, Riesen und Unholde. Durch dieses intensive Eintauchen in literarische Abenteuer lockerte sich eine Schraube in Alonsos Gehirn und er schnappte über. Er wollte nämlich nun selbst zu einem Ritter werden, Abenteuer erleben und gegen Drachen und Unholde kämpfen.
Gesagt, getan - er legte sich die verrostete Rüstung seines Großvaters an, schnappte sich den alten Gaul aus dem Stall, taufte diesen kurzerhand auf den Namen "Rosinante" um und er selbst nannte sich ab nun Don Quixote de La Mancha. Und so beginnen die Abenteuer von Alonso...öhm..ich meine natürlich Don Quixote.
In seinem Wahn wird diese Reise durch die Umgebung seines Heimatdorfes wirklich zu einem Abenteuer. Ein Wirtshaus ist in seinen Augen ein Schloß mit silbernen Turmspitzen, der Furz seines Pferdes wird zum Begrüßungshorn der Schloßritter, er lässt sich vom Wirt, in seinen Augen der Burgvogt, zum Ritter schlagen und legt sich schließlich auch einen Knappen namens Sancho Pansa zu, der natürlich nur ein kleiner einfältiger Bauer aus dem Dorf ist.
Auf seinen Abenteuern zeigt unser Don Quixote durchaus Mut und er stürzt sich nur allzu gerne in den Kampf. Natürlich bekommt er dabei auch immer wieder eins auf die Mütze, aber dadurch lässt sich ein Ritter natürlich nicht aufhalten, und so zieht dieses Gespann durch Spanien, um es vor dem Bösen zu retten.

">>Himmel, hilf! Ich hab's Euer Gnaden doch gesagt!
Herrje, es sind Windmühlen...
Das kann auch jeder sehen, der nicht selbst welche im Kopf hat!<<"
(S. 11)

In diesem Klassiker wird der Konflikt zwischen Realität und Ideal und das Spiel mit Illusionen hervorragend porträtiert und auf sehr unterhaltsame Weise an den Leser gebracht. Ob das Original auch so unterhaltsam ist kann ich leider nicht beurteilen, doch diese Comic-Ausgabe ist es definitiv.
Der Originial-Klassiker erschien in zwei Teilen, der 2. Teil erschien 10 Jahre nach dem 1. Teil. In dieser Comic-Adaption sind beide Teile enthalten.

Hier sind nicht nur die Abenteuer unseres Protagonisten Don Quixote skurril und witzig, sondern ebenso die Randfiguren, wie z.B. Sancho Pansa, eigentlich Bauer und mit einem wahren Mannweib verheiratet, wird durch Don Quixote zum Knappen befördert und glaubt am Ende selbst an all diese Abenteuer; ein Pfarrer, der sich in Frauenkleider schmeißt, um Don Quixote zu täuschen und ihn gemeinsam mit dem Barbier nach Hause zu holen, und viele mehr.

">>...natürlich gibt es Riesen, ich hab davon gelesen.
Steht es geschrieben, ist es auch wahr, oder nicht?<<"
(S. 123)

Die Sprache wurde leicht modernisiert und angepasst und dadurch sind die Dialoge zum Schreien komisch. Dies alles wird durch die stimmungsvollen Zeichnungen im Old-School-Stil bereichert, welche einem in die Geschichte eintauchen und zusätzlich schmunzeln lassen. Ein besonderes Schmankerl hat sich Rob David einfallen lassen, um den Klassiker zusätzlich unterhaltsamer zu machen. Er lässt nämlich den ursprünglichen Schriftsteller dieses Klassikers, Miguel de Cervantes, zu Wort kommen. Dies sorgt zusätzlich für witzige Unterhalten, denn dieser ist nicht immer mit allem einverstanden.

Fazit:
Gegenüber Klassiker-Adaptionen bin ich immer äußerst skeptisch, aber diese ließ mich wirklich begeistert zurück. Ich habe mich köstlich amüsiert und dieser Comic hat mich darin bestärkt, mich doch einmal über das Original zu trauen. Bei diesem hat mich bisher der Umfang ziemlich abgeschreckt. Wenn dieser jedoch auch nur halb so amüsant ist wie diese Comic-Adaption, ist er vermutlich spannender und leichter zu lesen als gedacht.
Mit diesem modernisierten Klassiker hält man also eine tolle illustrierte Adaption in den Händen, welche nicht nur durch die Story, sondern vor allem auch durch die Zeichnungen besticht.

© Pink Anemone (inkl. Bilder und Autoren-Info)

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Done!

[Hitessh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rediscovering Don Quixote: A Graphic Novel That Captures the Madness and Tragedy"

I first read The Adventures of Don Quixote back in school. It was just one chapter among many, but my teacher narrated it with such enthusiasm that it lingered in my mind, planting a deep determination to read the entire book someday.
Last year—or perhaps the year before—I read one of the briefest versions of Don Quixote. And this year, I stumbled upon a graphic novel adaptation by Rob Davis. This book is a brilliant combination of two volumes of The Adventures of Don Quixote, featuring, of course, the ever-loyal Sancho Panza.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza hardly need an introduction, but for those unfamiliar, here’s a brief one:

Don Quixote is an old man with nieces and a few friends who look after him. However, his obsession with books on knights and chivalry has left him somewhat... lightheaded. Lost in his fantasies, he starts believing himself to be a knight-errant destined to rid the world of oppressors, demons, and tyrants. One day, he mounts his aging horse (even older than the Don himself) and sets off on his grand adventure.

Sancho Panza, a simple village man, gets swept into Don Quixote’s quest, becoming his squire in exchange for the promise of an island to rule. Together, they embark on a journey filled with absurd adventures, often becoming the laughingstock of those they encounter.

This graphic novel is one of the best adaptations I’ve come across. The storytelling is fantastic, making it a true delight for anyone who enjoys illustrated classics.
The first volume is great, but the second one is even better. While the second volume is meant to be funnier, it ultimately delivers a tragic and thought-provoking climax. The first volume focuses on the duo’s foolish misadventures, but the second highlights the cruelty of others—how people intentionally create trouble for Quixote and Panza just for their own amusement. By the end, I truly felt sorry for both of them.
I absolutely loved this book. Every page was a joy to read, and I would happily revisit it again.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Complete Don Quixote” written by Miguel de Cervantes adapted by Gerald J. Davis. This fictional story takes place in central Spain more than 400 years ago. It follows the “deeds” of a broken old man, that goes by Don Quixote, deranged by tales of chivalry and his dunce of a squire Sancho. This book has many misadventures that include everything from Don fighting windmills to reuniting lost lovers.

I Rated this 4 stars because it is a pretty good book. The story can be boring at times, but there are many more entertaining parts then boring. The art style is very eye catching and portrays the emotion very well.The illustrator also did a very good job with the landscape.The humor is ok at best. Sometimes it can be funny but the humor mostly consists of physical humor Which I personally don't find funny. The character development for don and Sancho is very good but I wish there had been more development for some of the side characters. I like how characters from earlier in the story that seems unimportant will come back later and become an important part of the story. The book definitely has parts that are more memorable than others. I seem to remember the beginning and end more than the central part of the book.

The book “The Complete Don Quixote” is an interesting read. The setting is interesting and has illustrations that really portrays it better. It has many jokes and gags to keep the reader entertained. I’d recommend this book to someone that has 3 or 4 hours to spare, and to readers that enjoy physical humor. I’m very glad that my teacher recommended me this story because it was very interesting.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó, es una historia ridícula, en el buen sentido, y a veces me exasperaban las decisiones de Don Quijote.

La segunda parte ya no me daba risa, sino que la leí con mucha pena (condes y la rctm). Y más pena me dio el final, siendo que ya sabía en qué terminaba.

Había leído otra versión del Quijote, cuando estaba en el colegio, hace como 15 años, así que prácticamente fue como leerlo de nuevo. Esta edición es de muy buena calidad y muy bonita.

Siento que fue una buena decisión de mi parte optar por leer esta novela gráfica, porque si no, me quedaba con el recuerdo del Quijote de hace 15 años. No creo que lo vuelva a leer, pero nunca se sabe 🤭

[Ra Cúnigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una pasada. Es increíble tanto como novela gráfica como adaptación del Quijote. No renuncia a ninguna capa de sentido ni significado en la adaptación, mientras mantiene un ritmo propio e interesantísimo. Quizá la única pega es el tratamiento del episodio de Ricote, exento del patetismo que posee en la novela original.

Muy muy recomendable tanto para amantes del Quijote como para una primera aproximación a la obra.

[FELIX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno, un buen entremés si quieres volver a leer el Quijote, muy bien adaptado al cómic.

[Tonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

No he leído nunca una novela gráfica que refleje de manera tan fiel la novela de Cervantes. Con una pequeña dosis de humor extra, me parece un tesoro.

[Mark Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

SLJ review:

CERVANTES, Miguel. The Complete Don Quixote. 288p. SelfMadeHero. 2013. Tr $27.50. ISBN 978-1-906838-65-2.

Adult/High School-Like Moby Dick or War and Peace, Cervantes’s The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha is a novel known more by reputation than for its actual text. And while all three novels are still eminently readable for teens and adults alike, their length and high cultural status mark them as too intimidating for most. So Rob Davis’s graphic adaptation of Cervantes is welcome both as a possible entry for readers interested in the original and as an exciting graphic novel in its own right. Davis manages to maintain virtually all of the main plot, structure, and humorous underpinnings of Cervantes while using the graphic format to layer on even more jokes-for instance, adding yet another level of metafictional trappings to an already deeply self-referential work, and freely varying his illustration style to highlighting the comedy of the constant interruptions from characters telling chivalrous stories. And, indeed, the artwork throughout is magnificent, focusing primarily on detailed but caricatured faces and making great use of deep tinting to differentiate place, time, and tone. Teens who have only vaguely heard of Don Quixote will delight in what remains a paradoxically modern tale, and those who have ventured into Cervantes’s text may find a whole new appreciation for aspects of the original.-Mark Flowers, John F. Kennedy Library, Vallejo, CA

http://blogs.slj.com/adult4teen/2013/...

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a total delight!! Don Quixote is a book I've been wanting to read for years. Then I read a review in the Times Literary Supplement of this version, which is a graphic novel absolutely true to Cervantes' amazing story (which he wrote from jail in Seville in 1605.) This adaptation, published in 2013) was written and illustrated by Rob Davis, a British guy who clearly is most clever and perceptive himself.

Most everyone knows the surface story of the deluded Don Quixote and his faithful squire Sancho Panza as they tear about Spain tilting at windmills and trying to bring back days of knighthood chivalry, where every woman needs rescuing and magic is abroad in the world. What I hadn't appreciated is that there are stories within that story, and a meta-story above it. I think if I knew more about Spanish history, I'd see the parts where Cervantes was doing a Jonathan Swiftian critique of contemporary politics and human fallibility.

The dialog and the illustrations are truly wonderful. and the story itself is meaty and funny and sad and just so so human.

This edition contains both volumes. There is one out there that is just Volume One. You need both volumes to get Cervantes' whole point. I bought the book at Foyles in London.

[Jeremy DeBottis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Don Quixote is fantastic. It's funny, meta, smart, imaginative, and lovable, this version is wonderful. I've read an entire translation, and even though it's such a great story the full translation can be exhausting. This is not at all exhausting, and keeps your attention throughout.

The art in this book is pitch perfect for the story. The characters have slightly exaggerated features that jump off the page in a way that makes them seem like more detailed drawings of Picasso's famous silhouette painting. It maintains a simplicity that allows for the story to flow without unnecessary detail being a distraction.

Perhaps the best aspect of this volume is the emotion it conveys. The simple line work gets across the characters' feelings in a smooth manner that at times will fill the reader's heart with joy and laughter and other times with pity and sadness.

Spoiler alert: The very last page has an almost daydream like drawing off Don Quixote and Sancho Panza walking away from the page in what may be the greatest image of the two i e ever seen (sorry Picasso). If you read the entire story and pay attention to the characters interactions and expressions the last page will without a doubt excite you.

This is art. Read it.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't say enough good about this book. It's beautifully conceived and drawn, a great adaptation of *both* books, clearly designed for adults, but it made for a perfect bedtime reading with my 8-year-old daughter. She cried at the end, but now wants me to read her the real book, in the wonderful Edith Grossman translation. Let's see how that goes...

In the meantime, you really want to read this one. Trust me on this.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! The visual aspects are appealing to me, from the colors used to the setup of the panels. The translation/adaptation is easy to follow. Even the heavy paper it is printed on seemed perfect for the story.

[Steve Stivaktis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Greek translation of this work, so I can't judge the original adaptation, but I deeply enjoyed the flow and the wonderful art and colours of the book. Strongly recommended to any lover of pleasing art and classics.

[Lucas Lysne · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have not read the original Don Quixote, though i've made very intention to. So the next best thing? While i have not read the original, there are points where the story feels somewhat lank, not unlike our sorry-faced knight, as if things are missing, skeletal. But overall, i get most of the impression of the virtual Don Quixote that had been spun up in my mind before reading this. The valor and sense and virtue to be found in the midst of madness. As far as the comic form goes here, there are some interesting form elements, including some subtle one's addressing the metatextuality in the second volume, but nothing completely novel as graphic work goes. Still many a beautiful rendering, especially the subtle values of night scenes. Makes me want to read the original more now, certainly. A great adaptation, especially if you're daunted by the sheer size of the original.

[Neyly]

Graphic novel

I always rate the books I read so why do I abstain here? Simply put, I don't know how to rate this book. My guess is that Rob Davis (Adapter) deserves 5 stars but I bumped into the uncomfortable fact that I found Don Quixote - the storyline - confusing, boring, and somewhat silly (as opposed to humorous). I haven't read Cervantes' Don Quixote and am no longer interested in doing so. I don't know whether that's a good thing or bad. Maybe the graphic novel spared me muddling through a long book but maybe - just maybe - the novel itself would have added missing depth. Whatever, I'm glad to be done with it. (And yay! for Rob Davis - the artwork is superb.)

Recommend: Only if you've read and liked Don Quixote.

[Halcyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not yet had the honour of reading Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, but thanks to this graphic novel adaptation I managed to pick up on the overall spirit of the huge 1,000+ pages classic just fine.

I am planning on picking up the brick that is Don Quixote some day, but not just yet. I do now know, however, that I'm sure I'll enjoy crazy Don Quixote and his loyal squire Sancho Panza very much indeed.

For those of you who find yourself in the same situation as me, feeling quite a bit intimidated by these huge classics, do check if there's a graphic novel adaptation around for you to check out first, if you want to. You hopefully won't regret it.

Happy Reading!

[Rubén Ruleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primer acercamiento (salvo por la serie de dibujos de mi infancia) que he tenido al clásico de los clásicos, pero no será el último puesto que de este año no pasa que me lea el original de Cervantes, y todo gracias a esta maravillosa adaptación.

Un dibujo y narración entretenidísimos que explotan al máximo los recursos plásticos y metaliterarios del cómic para no sólo contarnos la historia de Quijote y Sancho, sino mostrarnos todos los aspectos puramente literarios de esta obra, por los cuales es una de las grandes obras de la literatura universal.

[Allison Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started to read the full text of Don Quixote, as a book I had never read but hear referenced a lot. I was surprised by how much I liked it, but it’s extremely long and I just couldn’t keep going. I had taken this graphic novel version out of the library at the same time as a just-in-case once I saw the size of the book, and I switched over after about 200 pages. This version felt like I was getting the story without the pages and pages of poetry and footnotes. The artwork really enhanced the story. Highly recommended if you’ve ever wanted to read the original but are intimidated.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολύ καλή μεταφορά, χιούμορ επιπέδου και σκίτσο spot-on στο στυλ της υπόθεσης. Αγαπάω Σάντσο Πάντσα και τις σκηνές που μετά τα τσουβάλια ξύλο που τρώνε κάθονται ξαπλωμένοι στο έδαφος και φιλοσοφούν.

Ο πρώτος τόμος πολύ πιο δυνατός από τον δεύτερο όπου δίνεται η εντύπωση ότι έγινε μόνο και μόνο για να τελειώσει η ιστορία. Πιο άνευρος και επιτηδευμένος θα έλεγα.

Να το προτιμήσετε, είναι μεγάλο και χορταστικό με σκιτσάρα που βγάζει αυθεντικό γέλιο.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the middle of reading Edith Grossman's Don Quixote translation, the graphic novel came across my desk. It satisfied the itch to know what happens in the story without the endless hyperbole and grandiose speechifying. I may return to the classic at some point, but for now, I'm content. After I all who is the greater fool, he who tilts at windmills or she who spends months following his delusional adventures?