El Quixote - Segunda Parte

566 pages of mad adventure, 566 pages as testimonials to great literature! Don Quixote, the entertaining and exciting, humorous and yet profound novel by Miguel de Cervantes, is counted among the classics of world literature. The second part of this unbelievably successful Spanish novel, published in 1615, entertainingly continues the adventurous story of the crazy Spanish country squire Don Quixote and brings it to its tragic conclusion. Such famous characters as Sancho Panza or Dulcinea accompany Don Quixote during his experience oriented on chivalric romance. The original edition of the second part of the novel allows for a wonderful, unimpeded inside view into “probably the most famous work in Spanish literary history”!

The Sequel of an Incredible Success

Don Quixote de la Mancha, the novel’s protagonist, is a foolish country squire, who tries to imitate the stories from his beloved chivalric romances in reality, and in doing so experiences countless comical adventures. In the first part of the two-volume novel, Don Quixote experiences two adventurous rides, wherefrom, inter alia, the saying about fighting windmills developed. In 1516, the second part of the novel followed the first, building on that success and could bring the story to a close. Here Don Quixote meets many people and figures, which he (and the readers) already know from the first part of the novel.

A Mad Nobleman and his Adventure

The enthralling play with the levels of reality, caused by the delusion and madness of the protagonist, accounts for the particular charm of the novel. The novel El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, translated as The history of the valorous and witty Knight-Errant Don-Quixote de la Mancha – the irony of the entire novel is already in the title – appears here, inter alia, as the guest of a duke at his castle. The exciting and humorous events of the novel’s hero play out between Saragossa and Barcelona. Finally, it ends with the realization of Don Quixote on his death bed, as he recognizes his deception by the chivalric romances and his own laughable behavior.

The Original Edition of a Classic

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) published his novel in two parts after he himself experienced a turbulent life. Coming from an impoverished aristocratic family, he fought as a soldier in the Battle of Lepanto. He spent five years enslaved in Algeria after being captured by pirates. He found no peace in Spain upon his return as he was involved in various legal proceedings and had to sit out several prison terms. Don Quixote first brought Cervantes the fame he had long sought as an author. It made him famous to this day as the author of the most important novel in Spanish literary history and one of the most important classics of world literature!