Don Quixote (1605)
| Author | Miguel de Cervantes |
|---|---|
| Year | 1605 |
| Genre | Classics |
It was conceived as a parody. Cervantes mocked the chivalric romances that Spain was engrossed in, and created an elderly hidalgo whose mind became unhinged from this reading: he donned rusty armor and set out to restore justice in a world where chivalry no longer existed. The joke was so powerful that it outlived its subject of mockery: the chivalric romances are forgotten, but Don Quixote and Sancho Panza continue on. The book from the early 17th century manages to be both funny and unbearably sad — the hero is ridiculed, beaten, yet he is still right because he believes in what does not exist, and from that belief, the world around him becomes a little better arranged. Here, a bunch of techniques that are considered modern were invented: the characters in the second volume know that a first one was written about them and argue with it. Hence the title of the first European novel — it all started from it.
The book card in the MegaInet.art catalog — reference information. Files are not distributed. Actual data: Wikidata (CC0).
