Not happy with my Don Quixote choice

[swimmermom3]

For our medieval studies this year, we are going to read Don Quixote. I picked up Michael Harrison's retelling with Victor Ambrus' illustrations. It is a sophisticated picture book along the lines of McCaughrean's Gilgamesh. The art is fun, but the writing fails to capture the charm and quirkiness of the original. Maybe I was prejudiced by the mention of fixing the helmet with cardboard (1850s, not 16th century). The advantage to the length of the book is that it gives Swimmer Dude a breather from his heavy reading list. However, I am thinking that Don Quixote is a book that would appeal to the Dude's quirky nature and maybe I should find a better version. Any suggestions for a 7th grader?

[mcconnellboys]

I always add in extra reading from the original because I love it so much. Someone here was just recently talking about what sounded like a very good version of this the other day. I'll look to see if I see it.....

[mcconnellboys]

No! I found it. I was looking at a copy at Yesterday's Classics:

 

Stories of Don Quixote Written Anew for Children

by James Baldwin

 

A retelling for the youthful reader of the most interesting parts of Cervantes’ great novel about Don Quixote, the eccentric gentleman who fancies himself a knight-errant. The adventures most appealing to children are included, and related in such a way as to form a continuous narrative, with both the spirit and style of the original preserved as much as possible. Ages 10-12

229 pages $10.95

 

Here's the website: http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/catalog/catalogbyauthor.php

[nmoira]

There's always Thackeray's version. I've yet to find the work this is purportedly an abridgement of. :glare: Last I checked, there was a copy of this very edition in the kids' classics section at City of Books.

 

Edited to add: I've found references to the original work, but no trace of the text. It's not in my big Thackeray set.

Edited June 10, 2010 by nmoira

[Spy Car]

There's always Thackeray's version. I've yet to find the work this is purportedly an abridgement of. :glare: Last I checked, there was a copy of this very edition in the kids' classics section at City of Books.

 

Edited to add: I've found references to the original work, but no trace of the text. It's not in my big Thackeray set.

 

The Thackey version from archive.org looks pretty darn good on an iPad.

 

Bill

[nmoira]

 

The Thackey version from archive.org looks pretty darn good on an iPad.

Repeating to myself, "There's no Flash... there's no Flash... there's no Flash..." Otherwise I'd be totally jealous. :tongue_smilie:

[ElizabethB]

The Thackey version from archive.org looks pretty darn good on an iPad.

 

Bill

 

:iagree:

 

Now, if I could just find idiot proof instructions on how to make your primary iPad dictionary Spanish, I could read it in the original Spanish, which I have always wanted to do, but am too lazy to look up every 10th word in an actual dictionary. I am willing to look up every 10th word with a double click.

[Faithr]

I recently ran across a retelling of DQ by Margaret Hodges. But I have, alas, never read the original, so I don't know if it is a good retelling or not.

[Kate in Arabia]

My kids really enjoyed the version from Usborne Classics by Henry Brook (We did it as a read aloud).

 

Also, my youngers enjoyed the almost comic-booky version by Marcia Williams.

[MamaT]

You can read the version by James Baldwin for free at mainlesson.com. Even if you want it in "real" book form, you can read part of it at mainlesson to decide if it is what you are looking for.

[Ester Maria]

I would not choose a retelling - rather, I would select parts from the original, NOT with the purpose of creating an abridged version (NOT parts from the beginning till the end in order to grasp it all INSTEAD of reading the full version), but with the purpose of showing some of the exemplary parts of the novel and get the kids exposed to it.

 

Alternatively, if you have enough time and/or are willing to dedicate more time to it, why not just getting him read the work itself? If he gets overwhelmed, he doesn't have to finish it, or he can also pick parts, read it in a non-linear fashion... That's how I do with my kids when we get to "big and difficult" stuff which they technically shouldn't be required to read fully and with concentration at their age.

[Matryoshka]

Ester, you have me feeling very guilty about the complete, two-volume Don Quixote in the original Spanish that's been sitting on my shelf gathering dust, for, oh, over 20 years... ah, good intentions...

 

Has anyone looked at this version? It's heavily illustrated, but at 352pp, not a simple picture book either. My library system has this one, but not the Baldwin.

 

My library also has an amusingly titled abridged version, to wit:

 

Don Quixote : An abridged version designed to relate without digressions the principal adventures of the Knight and his Squire

translated, abridged, and with an intro. by Walter Starkie.

I'm usually very anti-abridgements, but there are so very many digressions in the original! (On the other hand, even in the original old Spanish I find this more readable than Moby Dick... :tongue_smilie:)

[nmoira]

Has anyone looked at this version? It's heavily illustrated, but at 352pp, not a simple picture book either.

Here are some reviews:

 

Book for Keeps (the reviewer wrote my favourite children's adaptation of The Arabian Nights)

Times Online

Common Sense Media (seems not to be excessively sanitized down for kids :D)

The Ultimate Book Guide

[abbeyej]

I would not choose a retelling - rather, I would select parts from the original, NOT with the purpose of creating an abridged version (NOT parts from the beginning till the end in order to grasp it all INSTEAD of reading the full version), but with the purpose of showing some of the exemplary parts of the novel and get the kids exposed to it.

 

Side-track... If you were to do the same with the Divine Comedy, which would be your selections? I'm having the same struggle knowing we aren't ready to tackle the whole thing, but I would like some exposure... My own knowledge is simply not great enough that I feel confident saying, "Let's go with this, this, and this for now"...

[Ester Maria]

Ester, you have me feeling very guilty about the complete, two-volume Don Quixote in the original Spanish that's been sitting on my shelf gathering dust, for, oh, over 20 years... ah, good intentions...

This sooooo rings a bell. :) I can make myself go through the excerpts but, never having studied Spanish seriously, even if I were to understand it "linguistically", I doubt I would "culturally". It's one in the row of books that I've been "planning" to read in the original for decades. I know the feeling. :D But I counter it with this: life is short, we can't go through everything, in detail, in original. Some sacrifices along the way have to be done.

I'm usually very anti-abridgements, but there are so very many digressions in the original! (On the other hand, even in the original old Spanish I find this more readable than Moby Dick... :tongue_smilie:)

Actually, in my opinion, there is no single "unnecessary digression" in the work, it's all a part of the form, one of the key issues in the work is the fact that it thematizes its own form and problematizes the relationship between "a sum of novellas with an umbrella story" (of Decameron type) as opposed to "a novel".... (*runs away* with unpopular views on literature :D)

Side-track... If you were to do the same with the Divine Comedy, which would be your selections? I'm having the same struggle knowing we aren't ready to tackle the whole thing, but I would like some exposure... My own knowledge is simply not great enough that I feel confident saying, "Let's go with this, this, and this for now"...

Inferno: 1-5*, 10, 13, 19, 26, 33-34

(*doesn't sound very "short" :D, but I, III and V are really important, and II and IV are more along the lines of contextually important in the I-V scheme, so they're usually studied along)

Purgatorio: 1-2, 28-29

Paradiso: 1, 15, 17, 31-33

 

If you're afraid it would be too much, you can choose to work on the level of sums of verses rather than entire cantos (for example, Inferno-26 is basically studied because of the episode with Ulysses, but it's possible to read that part only without dealing with the whole canto too) - I don't know how old are your students and what would be the most appropriate for them, what I wrote above was the general scheme off the top of my head, with Inferno being more elaborated because it's the most well-known.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Has anyone looked at this version? It's heavily illustrated, but at 352pp, not a simple picture book either. My library system has this one, but not the Baldwin.

 

My son and I read this recently. The illustrations are FABULOUS. The story was entertaining (particularly for young boys). I thought it went on and on and on and the adventures were so random and redundant. But, then again, I'm guessing (because I haven't read it, blush) that I would feel the same about the original. :lol:

[swimmermom3]

The Thackey version from archive.org looks pretty darn good on an iPad.

 

Bill

 

I am sure Swimmer Dude would agree with your assessment. All things Apple are good; all things from the unmentionable company are evil. This is not based on rational analysis but a belief that Mr. Gates needs to be displaced. I leave it to you to figure out who plans on doing the displacing.:tongue_smilie:

[swimmermom3]

Thank you everyone for all of the suggestions and the links. I am still not sure what I am going to do. I read the version on Project Gutenburg and that is definitely more along the lines of what I am looking for. Even that work mentioned "pasteboard' was used for fixing the helmet. Now I have this weird desire to know what Cervantes wrote in the original.

 

I think either the Baldwin or the Thackery version would work if I don't go with the original.

 

I would not choose a retelling - rather, I would select parts from the original, NOT with the purpose of creating an abridged version (NOT parts from the beginning till the end in order to grasp it all INSTEAD of reading the full version), but with the purpose of showing some of the exemplary parts of the novel and get the kids exposed to it.

 

Alternatively, if you have enough time and/or are willing to dedicate more time to it, why not just getting him read the work itself? If he gets overwhelmed, he doesn't have to finish it, or he can also pick parts, read it in a non-linear fashion... That's how I do with my kids when we get to "big and difficult" stuff which they technically shouldn't be required to read fully and with concentration at their age.

 

Ester Maria, my one concern in picking parts from the original is that it's been 20 years since I've read it. I can reread it this summer, but how do I choose what to read for him? I suspect if I don't do this in a linear fashion, he's going to ask for more of the book.

 

On a gut level, I think that an unabridged, good, vintage translation with that old book smell and great illustrations would be perfect. I am doing this all for the boy, you understand?:D

 

Lisa-who is wondering when she got into the deplorable habit of beginning every sentence with "I."

[Matryoshka]

Even that work mentioned "pasteboard' was used for fixing the helmet. Now I have this weird desire to know what Cervantes wrote in the original.

 

I've got the original sitting in front of me :D - what chapter is this in? (would help to have the surrounding paragraph).

[ElizabethB]

I've got the original sitting in front of me :D - what chapter is this in? (would help to have the surrounding paragraph).

 

Chapter one, page 8 on this version, inquiring minds want to know, I am interested, too!

 

http://www.archive.org/stream/adventuresofdonq00cerv#page/8/mode/2up

[swimmermom3]

I've got the original sitting in front of me :D - what chapter is this in? (would help to have the surrounding paragraph).

 

Chapter one, page 8 on this version, inquiring minds want to know, I am interested, too!

 

http://www.archive.org/stream/adventuresofdonq00cerv#page/8/mode/2up

 

You both are wonderful to humor me. Silly thing to be perturbed by.

[Matryoshka]

Well, the big mistranslation appears to be that the armor was his great-grandfather's (actually it's great-grandfathers plural).

 

... Vio que tenían un gran falta, y era que no tenían celada de encaje, sino morrión simple; mas a esto suplió su industria, porque de cartones hizo un modo de media celada, que, encajada con el morrión, hacían una apariencia de celada entera.

 

So, the word is in fact "cartón", which does indeed mean cardboard or pasteboard (and my dictionary adds: millboard, binder's board). Since they did have paper and books at that time in history, I'm guessing he used some thick paper product.

 

My annotated version tells me that the morrión is the helmet on top of the head, and the missing celada that he fashioned from pasteboard was a face-guard that he attached (encajada) to the helmet.

 

The part where he reinforces it with iron is many sentences later in the original, after he tests the cardboard-only creation and destroys it easily with his sword.

 

There follows a paragraph dedicated to the naming of his horse.

[swimmermom3]

Well, the big mistranslation appears to be that the armor was his great-grandfather's (actually it's great-grandfathers plural).

 

... Vio que tenían un gran falta, y era que no tenían celada de encaje, sino morrión simple; mas a esto suplió su industria, porque de cartones hizo un modo de media celada, que, encajada con el morrión, hacían una apariencia de celada entera.

 

So, the word is in fact "cartón", which does indeed mean cardboard or pasteboard (and my dictionary adds: millboard, binder's board). Since they did have paper and books at that time in history, I'm guessing he used some thick paper product.

 

My annotated version tells me that the morrión is the helmet on top of the head, and the missing celada that he fashioned from pasteboard was a face-guard that he attached (encajada) to the helmet.

 

The part where he reinforces it with iron is many sentences later in the original, after he tests the cardboard-only creation and destroys it easily with his sword.

 

There follows a paragraph dedicated to the naming of his horse.

 

Thank you! Therefore, the author of the book I have most likely chose cardboard because that would be more familiar for children than pasteboard. Now see you and Ester Maria have started me thinking about tackling the book in Spanish. Wonder how many years that would take me?

 

What annotated version do you have?

[Matryoshka]

Now see you and Ester Maria have started me thinking about tackling the book in Spanish. Wonder how many years that would take me?

 

Now that I have it down off the shelf and have confirmed that it is indeed even less intimidating than Moby Dick, I am having the same impulse.

 

What annotated version do you have?

 

It's from Cátedra. This looks like the same book, just a newer printng - mine is 1982, this one's 2006 (did I mention how long it's been gathering dust on my shelf??). There's also volume 2.

 

Even though Don Quixote was written close to Shakespeare's work in time, the Spanish doesn't seem to be as different from modern Spanish as Shakespeare's English, so the annotations aren't too overwhelming. It's very helpful with words no longer in use or referring to things no longer in use, with words that may have changed meaning a bit, or with references that may no longer be common knowledge.

[swimmermom3]

Now that I have it down off the shelf and have confirmed that it is indeed even less intimidating than Moby Dick, I am having the same impulse.

 

 

 

It's from Cátedra. This looks like the same book, just a newer printng - mine is 1982, this one's 2006 (did I mention how long it's been gathering dust on my shelf??). There's also volume 2.

 

Even though Don Quixote was written close to Shakespeare's work in time, the Spanish doesn't seem to be as different from modern Spanish as Shakespeare's English, so the annotations aren't too overwhelming. It's very helpful with words no longer in use or referring to things no longer in use, with words that may have changed meaning a bit, or with references that may no longer be common knowledge.

 

You know, it seems like it's been a while since I have done something that is educational that is just for me and that would be enjoyable in the process. We talked about getting a Spanish tutor for the whole family for the summer. I want to focus on conversation skills and thought the kids might have more fun this way. They aren't as excited about it as starting Japanese with their Dad which we never seem to have time for.

 

I think I'll pick up the same you set you have and then I can ask you questions, right?:D Eventually, if I can muddle my way through, I want to try Celestina, I think.

 

I appreciate everyone's help. Part of our success in literature and literary analysis this year was due to being able to come here and get good recommendations from people who obviously care deeply about the books they read. As my kids say, "How cool is that!"

[Matryoshka]

I think I'll pick up the same you set you have and then I can ask you questions, right?:D Eventually, if I can muddle my way through, I want to try Celestina, I think.

 

Well, I may just have to join you.

 

Of course, I have to finish Deconstructing Penguins, and I'm a bit through Theo's Odyssey, and I'm supposed to be teaching world religions to the middle schoolers at church next year, so there's a ton on that I need to read up on... (actually that's why I started Theo's Odyssey...) :willy_nilly:

 

But seriously, usually when I have a foreign language book going it's alongside something else, so I should be able to do this, right?

 

If you get through this and want another Spanish book, you might want to try something lighter next, though, like Como agua para chocolate - that's a fun read. :D