Don Quixote

Where is the line between madness and wisdom? Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605, 1615)—often called the first modern novel—tells the story of an aging gentleman who becomes so entranced by chivalric romances that he decides to become a knight errant himself. Renaming himself Don Quixote, he sets out with his faithful squire Sancho Panza to right wrongs, defend the helpless, and win glory. But the world he encounters is not the world of his imagination: windmills are not giants, inns are not castles, and peasant girls are not noble ladies. Yet Quixote persists in his delusions, transforming reality through the power of his imagination—and in the process, revealing profound truths about idealism, reality, and what it means to live according to a vision the world does not share.

Cervantes creates a double narrative: Quixote sees the world through the lens of chivalric romance, while everyone else sees a deluded old man tilting at windmills. The comedy arises from this gap, but so does the tragedy—Quixote's idealism is both noble and absurd, his courage both admirable and foolish. Sancho Panza, the pragmatic peasant, begins as the voice of common sense but gradually absorbs some of Quixote's idealism, while Quixote occasionally glimpses reality. The novel asks: Who is wiser—the sane madman who sees nobility everywhere, or the world that sees only what is? By the end, when Quixote renounces his delusions and dies, we mourn the loss of his vision even as we recognize its impossibility.

For contemplative readers, Don Quixote offers profound meditation on idealism, imagination, and the relationship between vision and reality. The work asks: What is the value of idealism in a world that doesn't support it? How do we hold our visions without losing touch with reality? What is the difference between delusion and faith, between madness and seeing what others cannot? How do we live with integrity when the world mocks our values? Don Quixote becomes a mirror for examining our own ideals—recognizing when they inspire us and when they blind us, when they elevate us and when they make us ridiculous. Cervantes suggests that the contemplative life requires holding both Quixote's vision and Sancho's pragmatism—honoring ideals while remaining grounded, seeing possibility while accepting reality, and finding wisdom in the tension between the two.

What You'll Discover

• The first modern novel (Part I: 1605, Part II: 1615) by Miguel de Cervantes
• Don Quixote's transformation from reader to knight errant and his quest for chivalric glory
• The faithful squire Sancho Panza and the evolution of their relationship
• Iconic episodes: tilting at windmills, the enchanted Dulcinea, the Cave of Montesinos
• The gap between Quixote's chivalric vision and the mundane reality he encounters
• Contemplative insights into idealism, imagination, and the tension between vision and reality
• Cervantes's experimental form, literary playfulness, and influence on the novel

Don Quixote has haunted readers' imaginations for four centuries, inspiring countless adaptations and interpretations. Cervantes's genius lies in creating a character who is simultaneously ridiculous and noble, deluded and wise, a figure who makes us laugh and breaks our hearts. John Rutherford's translation captures the energy and wit of Cervantes's prose, making this Penguin Classics edition both scholarly and accessible.

Perfect for: Readers of Renaissance literature and Spanish classics, contemplative readers exploring idealism and reality, students of Cervantes and the novel's origins, those interested in the power of imagination and the cost of vision, anyone drawn to characters who see the world differently, readers seeking wisdom on holding ideals while remaining grounded in reality.

Paperback edition. Cervantes's masterpiece—the sane madman and wise fool who tilt at windmills and transform reality through imagination, offering contemplative wisdom on idealism, vision, and finding wisdom in the tension between dreams and the world as it is.