As an avid reader, it was only now that I have been able to touch upon the character of Don Quixote. I have heard of his name and Cervantes’ so many times in both the subjects of history and literature but I had failed to even try to read more about the character and the author. I was honestly taken by surprise with this excerpt; I never knew that this was how the legendary Don Quixote came to be! He was merely a regular man with extraordinary imagination and passion for books that turned him into a somewhat whimsical trying-to-be knight. My impression whenever hearing the name Don Quixote was a portrait of what a knight should be exactly! Reading this totally warped my image totally in a good way because now I know who Don Quixote is.

One of the things I realized while I was reading “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha” was how he and his squire, Sancho reminded me of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It’s so amazing how during Cervantes’ time he was already able to portray a dynamic duo so balanced and so entertaining. Even if the excerpt only showed a small part with Sancho I already knew that Don Quixote would have Sancho by his side when he goes on to fight windmills—

I mean giants— in the future. I am just so pleased to see a great feature of literature—the presence of partners in crime—in a work as early as Cervantes’ Don Quixote. And this was published in the year 1605!

As I said, I love reading; I enjoyed reading the part about Quixote reading so many books and absorbing them to the point that he lost his wits because to tell you the truth, that is my relationship with books. I feel what the characters feel and I really get attached to many of the characters. It may be nerdy or weird, but it’s true! I don’t blame Don Quixote at all for spending all his days poring over books because I would undoubtedly do the same if I had the liberty of doing so! I just hope I won’t be as hilariously insane as he is.