Havana Cuba. — On January 16, 1605 saw the light in Madrid, Spain, the first edition of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote of La Manchathe most distinguished literary work ever written in Spanish, and whose author was Miguel de Cervantes, a man with an adventurous spirit who lived a nomadic childhood and war in his own flesh.
Cervantes fought in the battle of Lepanto against the Ottoman Empire, was captured by pirates and was imprisoned in Algiers for five long years. His experiences inspired, in part, the writing of the novel that narrates the adventures of a character inconceivable at any time, named Alonso Quijano.
From reading so much chivalric novels, the endearing protagonist goes “crazy” and ends up believing himself to be a medieval knight errant who is accompanied by Sancho Panza, a humble farmer as squire, and decides that his token of love will be Aldonza Lorenzo, a young peasant woman whom he baptizes with the poetic name of Dulcinea del Toboso.
The Adventures of The Quijote They span two volumes. The first recounts most of the adventures experienced by the knight and his faithful Sancho Panza, while the second deals with the latest adventure of Alonso Quijano, which makes him recover his wits just before he died. Among the values that stand out in this novel, in addition to parodying the stories of chivalry of the 16th century, we can mention the psychological, moral and human evolution of its characters, who instead of remaining unchanged throughout the story, change their attitudes and perspectives. according to events.
Since that distant edition, The Quijote It has been spread all over the world. Considered the first modern novel in history, it is the second book with the most editions —only surpassed by the Bible— and has been translated into more than 140 languages. In 2002, the masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes, appreciated for its human and philosophical depth, its perennial freshness, its boundless imagination and its impressive linguistic richness, was chosen as the best work of fiction in the history of humanity, surpassing great classics. by Dostoevsky, Homer and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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