Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

In 1604, the first copy of Don Quixote's book by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes was published.

The book is considered to be the first best-selling book in history, released on January 15, 1605. In July 1604, Cervantes sold the rights to the first part of Don Quixote's La Mancha's Quirky Idol, published by Francisco de Robles. Back in September of the same year, it became clear that Don Quixote was going to be printed, and that happens a few months later. 400 copies of the book have been published, most of them for the New World. However, only a few of them reach its shores. The ship carrying the cargo of books crashes near Havana. Only 70 copies reach Cusco at the heart of the dying Inca Empire. The book is a huge success. Just two weeks after its publication in Madrid, three "pirated" copies of the book are released. The name of Miguel de Cervantes became known outside the Pyrenees. In August 1605, Don Quixote was published in Valencia and Lisbon, in 1607 the book reached Brussels. Three years later, the novel was also published in Italian in Milan. The first English translation appeared in 1612. The second part of the novel was published in 1615. One year later it was reissued in Brussels and Valencia, and the following year in Barcelona. The story is about the adventures of the famous Spanish idalgo Alonso Kehana, who takes the name Don Quixote.

It all begins with his love for knightly novels, which prompt him to abandon everything and ride his Rosinant crane to go out into the world to fight against injustice. In his comic adventures, he is accompanied by Sancho Pansa, whom he has chosen as his armourer. Their adventures are funny and fun, though they always end not as they expected and instead of helping, they get mixed up in big messes. On his deathbed, Don Quixote realizes that he was engaging in an impossible illusion, but his squire begs him not to give up. Although it was written more than 400 years ago, the novel about the good-natured and courageous idol is still relevant. He has been reprinted many times over the years, and his interpretation has varied throughout each era. In the early years, it was simply regarded as a funny story. After the French Revolution, the ethical model was reversed - the individual may be right while society is actually wrong. In the 19th century, the novel was considered a "journalistic" commentary on the social situation. It was not until the 20th century that Don Quixote was not only a unique moral work, but also the first truly contemporary novel. In 2002, he was named the best novel in the history of world literature after being interviewed by 100 world-renowned writers.
"Freedom, Sancho, is one of the most precious commodities that the heavens bestow on humans.
It cannot be compared to the treasures that the earth conceals, or those that harbor the sea. For freedom as well as for honor, life must be sacrificed and vice versa, imprisonment is the greatest evil that can befall a person. "
Don Quixote de la Mancha

Please rate my work and vote for my blog on: