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Don Quixote cover art

Don Quixote

By: Miguel Cervantes, John Rutherford
Narrated by: Kayvan Novak, Josh Cohen, Alistair Petrie, Richard Hughes
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

This Penguin Classic is performed by Kayvan Novak, Josh Cohen, Alistair Petrie and Richard Hughes. 

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become a knight errant and pursue bold adventures, accompanied by his squire, the cunning Sancho Panza. As they roam the world together, the ageing Quixote's fancy leads them wildly astray. At the same time the relationship between the two men grows in fascinating subtlety. 

Often considered to be the first modern novel, Don Quixote is a wonderful burlesque of the popular literature with which its disordered protagonist is obsessed.

Public Domain (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about Don Quixote

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There's a reason this is regarded as a Classic

Don Quixote is a book many never get around to reading, and one with which many book lovers have merely a passing acquaintance - usually confined to the early episode of Quixote's tilt against the windmills. But this book is much more than that, and this superbly narrated translation does justice to what is rightly regarded as a classic work of literature.

Such is the work's coherence that one often forgets during this adventure that it is an episodic novel; most of the characters who appear in it are nonce characters who never appear again - and one very important character never actually appears in person at all! Cervantes appears to realise round about chapter 8 that he has stumbled upon a wonderful vehicle for exploring the human experience, and what may have started out as a short story resolves itself into first a novela, and then something utterly new, bold and exciting - the modern novel.

The alert reader enters on this journey with Cervantes and there are sublime moments of discovery as well as plenty of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments on the way. The development of character, in particular Sancho Panza (though that might merely be a personal preference), is impressive, but equally fascinating is the interplay of text and textuality - this is a novel that knows it's a novel and happily takes time to explore with the reader the boundaries of the form and the possibilities of the partnership the author forms with the reader.

There are few books about which one can say with confidence they will remain immortal. Don Quixote is one of them. I'm in the flush of having recently completed my reading of it (it took me about five weeks - mainly listening on my commute in the car), but I'm an experienced enough reader to know that this feeling of euphoria is not because of merely having ticked a book off my book list, but rather of having made the acquaintance of a cast of characters from the canon of world literature who will continue to give enjoyment for years to come.

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15 people found this helpful

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Exceptionally well read

Loved every minute of this reading. It was exceptionally well read and really brought this novel to life.

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5 people found this helpful

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This is such a long book

It took me 1,5 months to finish it. I didn’t enjoy reading it but I became attached to the characters after spending so much time with them.

I do not enjoy this genre of comedy, but I see why this book is such a classic.

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3 people found this helpful

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awful

The prologue was read so well. The book itself seems to have been read by a robot with little sense of the meaning, and very strange intonation.
Having read this book years ago, and knowing how beautiful it is, it is very disappointing that it has been rendered unlistenable.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • SH
  • 19-12-23

What a wonderful book

Beautifully written, beautifully translated, beautifully read. Don’t delay. Start it today. Your future self will thank you.

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It will grow on you...

I undertook to read Don Quixote moreso out of an obligation to a sense of completionism for the key works of the Western canon than a rigorous interest in the subject matter.
Along the way however the style of narration, surprisingly deft translation of its quite particular humour into modern English and gradual humanisation of it's characters became a real treat.
Having started out somewhat skeptical of how much relevance a 17th century novel could have today, by the end I was very pleasantly surprised and will most certainly revisit this story in the future.

4/5☆

I can highly recommend this book and in particular this well performed narration of the Penguin Classics edition translated by John Rutherford!

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Amazing

I tried to read the book several times but never got too far. Listening to this whilst driving however I heard it all it was a real treat.

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A great tale but ruined by the voice-over

Couldn't get through it, love Kayvan Novak but audiobooks aren't his forte. A classic book and a big undertaking, so good value for one credit. Just a shame about the intonation of the reader.

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Marvelous

Good luck getting through this iconic classic, only take it on if you're looking for something to keep you busy for a while!

The reader does a fine job!

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The Knight of the sorry face revealed

The Don and Sancho were the Morcombe And Wise / Del and Rodney of their time. A wonderful depiction of a great story.

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