Don Quixote -- New Curriculum Standard Reading Series

Author: Miguel de Cervantes (Spain) Jiang Weifeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) was a great Spanish writer, dramatist, and poet. He was born into a poor family of surgeons near Madrid and only received a middle school education. He once served as a retainer to a cardinal, fought in the army against the Ottoman forces and lost his left hand, was later captured by pirates, and was falsely imprisoned several times while working as a military supplier and tax collector, remaining impoverished throughout his life. His famous novel Don Quixote is Cervantes' masterpiece. The full title of the novel is Don Quixote de la Mancha, a knight-errant of bizarre fancies. The story primarily depicts a thin, declining nobleman, Don Quixote, who becomes obsessed with ancient chivalric romances. He dresses in worn armor and rides a shabby horse to impersonate a knight, takes an ugly swineherd as his beloved lady, and enlists a short, fat peasant, Sancho Panza, as his squire. He embarks on three journeys across the country, creating a knightly career of helping the weak and suppressing the powerful. The novel Don Quixote has been highly praised by revolutionary leaders and renowned writers such as Marx, Engels, Lenin, Schiller, Goethe, Scott, Byron, Heine, and Belinsky. It has been translated and published over 1,000 times worldwide, making it one of the most widely recognized and beloved world literary classics.