Who wrote don quixote de la mancha

Spanish writer (1547–1616)

"Cervantes" redirects here. For other uses, see Cervantes (disambiguation).

"Miguel Cervantes" redirects here. For the American actor and singer, see Miguel Cervantes (actor).

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (sur-VAN-teez, -⁠tiz;Spanish:[miˈɣeldeθeɾˈβantessaaˈβeðɾa]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work considered as the first modern novel. The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature".

Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by the fact that Spanish is often referred to as "the language of Cervantes".

In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome, where he worked in

Miguel de Cervantes, by most lights the greatest writer in the Spanish language and the creator of the modern novel, bequeathed to the world the enduring story of Don Quixote, a romantic idealist, tilting at windmills.

With “Don Quixote de la Mancha,” Cervantes cast a colossal influence on Western literature. Published in the early 17th century, “Don Quixote” is the second-most-translated book after the Bible, and, according to a recent survey of 100 novelists, the best book of all time.

Cervantes died 400 years ago, on April 22, 1616. The Gazette spoke with Mary Gaylord, director of undergraduate studies and Sosland Family Professor at the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, about the writer’s remarkable genius and humor, and why the quest of Don Quixote continues to enthrall readers around the world.

GAZETTE: Cervantes died in 1616, but his work still speaks to us. Why?

GAYLORD: Cervantes was an extraordinarily astute observer of human life, character, and experience. He captures details, gestures and facial expressions, nuance, and complexity. His characters are never all bad or all good; they’re always a mixture. They tend to be a bit blind to their foibles, but are also worth listening to. As a writer, Cervantes is an absolutely brilliant imitator of the way people talk. In earlier literature, different kinds of characters speak the same way. In “Don Quixote” and others of his works, you find multiple characters giving us their individual versions of reality. Also, Cervantes really understood the multiple possibilities of linguistic expression. He was a keen student of literary language as well as of everyday language, and he managed to blend the two in a brilliant way, showing how ordinary people draw inspiration for the ways they express themselves, not only from life but also from books.

GAZETTE: What is Cervantes’ place in the canon of Western literature?

GAYLORD: Many people call Cervantes the

For those who have not heard about the famed Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, it is a Spanish epic novel that was originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. The novel is considered as a founding work of western literature, it is often labelled as the first modern novel and one of the greatest works ever written.

Don Quixote is one of the most-translated books in the world – it has been translated into over 80 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. The first translation of Don Quixote was into French in 1614, and the first English translation was in 1612. It is also one of the best-selling novels of all time.

Popular English translations

The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant Don Quixote of the Mancha by Thomas Shelton (1612); The Adventures of Don Quixote by John Ormsby (1885); Don Quixote by Edith Grossman (2003); Don Quixote by Burton Raffel (1995). The best translation of Don Quixote is a matter of opinion, and therefore, is no single translation that is universally accepted as the best. Besides the full translations, there have also been many abridged translations. These abridged translations are often shorter and easier to read.

What is it about?

The plot revolves around the adventures of a member of the lowest nobility, a hidalgo[e] from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight-errant (caballero andante) to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits as his squire a simple farm labourer, Sancho Panza, who brings a unique, earthy wit to Don Quixote’s lofty rhetoric.

5 lesser known facts

1.       The name Don Quixote is a pun o

Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes

This article is about The Spanish novel. For the title character, see Alonso Quijano.For other uses, see Don Quixote (disambiguation)."Quijote" redirects here. For the genus of gastropod, see Quijote (gastropod).

Don Quixote, the full title being The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. Considered a founding work of Western literature, it is often said to be the first modern novel. The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature".Don Quixote is also one of the most-translated books in the world and one of the best-selling novels of all time.

The plot revolves around the adventures of a member of the lowest nobility, an hidalgo from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight-errant (caballero andante) to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits as his squire a simple farm labourer, Sancho Panza, who brings a unique, earthy wit to Don Quixote's lofty rhetoric. In the first part of the book, Don Quixote does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story meant for the annals of all time. However, as Salvador de Madariaga pointed out in his Guía del lector del Quijote (1972 [1926]), referring to "the Sanchification of Don Quixote and the Quixotization of Sancho", as "Sancho's spirit ascends from reality to illusion, Don Quixote's declines from illusion to reality".

The book had a major influence on the literary community, as evidenced by direct refere