Reading the Chunksters discussion

We're almost to the end...what did you think of this section??

Well, I have finished this section and moved onto the next. Although I'm still enjoying DQ, frankly I'm ready for it to end so I'm forging onward. Lately as I've been reading and nearing the end, I am thinking how many stars I will rate this. I keep thinking how I will dock it one star simply because of its length. And then Sancho will say something hilarious and then I think, "oh but that was so funny, I won't dock it a star for the length!".

Anyway, sadly I can't even remember what happened in this section already, so I would have to look back and refresh my memory.

OMG one star!

It's interesting though, to me it was such an easy and light read, I didn't feel its length at all. I did read it in a couple of weeks though... maybe the fact that it was split into a couple of months made it feel kind of endless?

Renato wrote: "OMG one star!

It's interesting though, to me it was such an easy and light read, I didn't feel its length at all. I did read it in a couple of weeks though... maybe the fact that it was split into..."

Oh no, I would not rate it just one star. I meant I would take one star away just because of it's length. I'm waffling between 4 and 5 stars. And you're right, if I had read this book in a more compressed time frame, I might not think it was too long. I generally love long books, hence my membership in this Chunksters group! But for some reason, I feel as if DQ is dragging on towards the end here. :(

Oh ok now it makes sense! Sorry for the confusion!

I'm afraid I have found it quite a task to keep reading. It seems a pity when Cervantes can be so witty, but I suspect the translation may have been part of the problem, though recommended by Wordsworth classics as one of the best as it sticks closely to the type of English used in that era. Still a bit to go before I can comment on this bit . :)

This section held my interest more as it flitted between DQ's story and Sancho's.
One funny bit for me was DQ's cat-attack....."unhappily hurt...not by the hand of a Superior Being, but the paws of a cat, a misfortune incident to knight-errantry." Genius!

Oh yes, I loved the cat incident! I refreshed my memory of what happened in this section, and the part that stuck out for me was that I was appalled that DQ agreed to allow the Duchess to open up and read Teresa's letter to Sancho, and simply "just to please them". And the Duchess's reason for opening the letter was that "it must be absolutely topping". I mean, really, to open up a personal letter for the sake of her entertainment? I was also disappointed in Don Quixote's lack of protection concerning his dear squire's personal communications between him and his wife. He seemed to give in to the Duchess quite readily.

Very true, Linda. I found the letter-reading incident unsettling. I was disappointed that poor Sancho and his wife are still merely being used as the butt of a joke; merely for the Duke's and Duchess's own entertainment. Very mean! The Duchess ought never to have sent Teresa Pança the beautiful coral and gold necklace as it was merely to further their mischief. :(

You know, that's an interesting point. When I read it, it didn't even cross my mind that the letter-reading incident was unsettling. But now that I think of it, it totally was!

Cervantes had a way with words that made me look at some episodes with some fun glasses or something... so things that would normally bother me - or at least make me roll my eyes a bit - didn't: like Sancho getting beaten up all the time, the burning of books, the episode where Sancho crapped on his pants...

Renato wrote: "Cervantes had a way with words that made me look at some episodes with some fun glasses or something... so things that would normally bother me - or at least make me roll my eyes a bit - didn't: like Sancho getting beaten up all the time, the burning of books, the episode where Sancho crapped on his pants..."

Yes, I totally see what you are saying here, Renato. For the most part, I see the humorous side of things first, as in the incidents which you mentioned. I thought the book burning was pretty funny, the way they were going through his collection and making decisions as to which ones needed to get burned, but it wasn't until other readers brought up how horrible the book burning was that I thought maybe I should not have been making light of it so much. But for some reason, the letter reading incident was not funny to me at all.