Latest / The Scott Townsend Show / #255 The Complete Don Quixote as Adapted By Rob Davis - A Review
Transcript
- Scott M Townsend: Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by Diet Soman Productions. Most of my life I knew Don Quixote through one image. Charging at windmills because he believed they were giants. I had heard people use the phrase tilting at windmills as an illustration or analogy. It it usually describes someone fighting an imaginary enemy, pursuing an impossible goal, or taking on a battle that doesn't need to be fought. I understood the reference, but I had never read the book. Then while browsing through my local library, I noticed the complete Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes' Cervantes' story adapted and illustrated by Rob Davis. This was not the enormous intimidating classic I had pictured. It was an illustrated adaptation, something like a graphic novel, although that description doesn't fully capture it. The book immediately looked approachable. Davis has a unique style. His illustrations are whimsical and simple, yet they get to the heart of what's happening. You can look at a page and quickly understand the action, the mood, the and the joke. His use of light and shadow gives the story depth, and he changes his visual approach throughout the book to match different scenes and stories. The artwork makes this centuries old story feel lively and accessible, and I thought the book was hilarious. Don Quixote has read so many stories about knights, chivalry, battles, and beautiful maidens, And he decides he's going to become a knight himself. It doesn't matter that the age of knights is over. In his mind, the world still needs someone to defend the innocent and fight evil and restore honor. He finds some old armor, climbs onto his horse, Rocanante, and heads out in search of adventure. At least I think that's how the horse's name's pronounced. The problem is that Don Quixote doesn't see the world the way everyone else sees it. An inn becomes a castle. Ordinary people become characters in an epic adventure. A barber's basin becomes a legendary golden helmet. If the facts don't fit the story he has created, Don Quixote assumes that an evil magician must be responsible. He has an explanation for everything. You almost have to admire his commitment. Once Don Quixote decides what is happening, reality has very little influence over him. Then there's his sidekick, Sancho Panza. I love saying that name, Sancho Panza. Poor Sancho. Sancho may have been my favorite part of the book. He is more practical than Don Quixote, but apparently not practical enough to stay at home. Don Quixote persuades Sancho to join him by promising that he will eventually become the governor of an island. Sancho isn't really sure how that will happen, but he likes the sound of it. And so he climbs onto his donkey and follows Don Quixote from one bad decision to another. Sancho can usually tell when trouble is coming. He tries to explain what is really happening, but Don Quixote is difficult to persuade. He speaks with such confidence and uses such grand language that Sancho gets swept back into the adventure. Don Quixote gives the speech, starts the fight, and poor Sancho often ends up paying for it. Their relationship is the heart of the story. Don Quixote is the dreamer, Sancho is the realist. Don Quixote wants honor, glory, justice, and adventure. I think Sancho just wants food, money, and the island he was promised. They should not work well together, but somehow they do. Don Quixote needs Sancho to keep him connected to the real world. And Sancho needs Don Quixote to show him that life might hold something greater than what he can immediately see. As the story continues, they begin to influence each other. Sancho starts to accept some of Don Quixote's imagination while Don Quixote occasionally shows signs of Sancho's common sense. That is what made the book more than a collection of funny misadventures for me. Don Quixote is ridiculous, but he is also sincere. He genuinely wants to help people. He believes in courage and loyalty, justice, honor. He wants the world to be better than it is. His heart is usually in the right place, his judgment is another matter. The book left me thinking about the stories we tell ourselves. We all have an idea of who we are. We might see ourselves as the hero, the victim, the leader or the outsider. Or the person who has to fix everything. Those stories can give our lives purpose, but they can also prevent us from seeing what is actually happening. Don Quixote takes that very human tendency to an extreme. He doesn't simply tell himself a story about who he is, he steps inside that story and lives there completely. But there is something admirable about his willingness to act. He doesn't just complain that the world has lost its honor and sense of adventure. He gets on his horse and tries to do something about it. His plans are terrible. His actions are misguided. He frequently makes things worse, but but he refuses he refuses to live an empty or meaningless life. Maybe that is one reason the character has survived for hundreds of years. Don Quixote represents the part of us that wants life to matter. He wants to be a part of something important. He wants to believe that courage and goodness still have a place in the world. The trick is finding the right balance. We need enough imagination to believe things can improve, but enough common sense to understand the situation in front of us. We need some of Don Quixote's idealism and some of Sancho Panza's practicality. This adaptation captures that balance. It lets us laugh at Don Quixote without completely dismissing him. We see how foolish he can be, but we also see the beauty in his imagination and the sincerity behind his actions. That surprised me. I expected a funny story, heck I'm not sure what I expected. A story about a delusional man looking for adventures. I didn't expect to become so invested in the friendship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. I also didn't expect the book to make me think about imagination or purpose, loyalty, and how we choose to see the world. Most of all, I didn't expect this illustrated version to make me want to read Cervantes' original novel. But that is exactly what happened. This adaptation doesn't make the original seem unnecessary. Instead, it opens the door to it. I now know the main characters, understand the basic shape of the story, and have a better appreciation for its humor. That may be the greatest compliment that I can give in an adaptation. It works on its own while making you curious about the source. If you have always heard of Don Quixote but felt intimidated by the original novel, this is a wonderful place to begin. It is accessible without feeling watered down, visually creative without losing the story, and funny without missing the deeper ideas underneath the comedy. Rob Davis takes a massive classic and makes it inviting. And Sancho Panza does not Deserves some kind of award for loyalty, I don't know, or at least workers' compensation. The man gets dragged in one ridiculous situation after another, yet he keeps climbing back onto his donkey and following his friend. Maybe Sancho is the real hero. I highly recommend the complete Don Quixote. It was one of those unexpected library discoveries that reminded me why I enjoy browsing the shelves. I wasn't searching for this book. I happened to notice it, picked it up, and found something genuinely entertaining. I think it was the graphics that caught my eye. I began the book knowing one famous scene. I finished it carrying about two unlikely friends. For good reads. I'm giving the complete Don Quixote five stars. Hey, this is Scott Townsend. Thanks for listening to the Scott Townsend Show. Have a great day. Everything's gonna be alright. And we'll talk to you later. 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