Almanac of Story Tellers: Miguel de Cervantes

 Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of January 16th.

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    It is the 16th day of the year, leaving 349 days remaining in 2022.

 

  On this date in 1605, the genre-busting novel Don Quixote was published in Madrid, Spain. 

    The genre it busted was the novel. It is generally credited as being the first modern novel in Western literature.

    

    Francisco de Robles, a Spanish publisher and bookseller, bought the rights to the written stories that Miguel de Cervantes called  El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, and known as Don Quixote, Part 1. Part 2 came out a decade later, although it is unclear whether Cervantes planned to write the second part or was inspired to do so by the positive reaction to his work.

    It remains one of the most widely read books in the world, and one of the most translated. Most copies in its first printing were sent to the Americas, in the belief that demand would be higher there. How many copies remain is unknown; one sold in 1988 for $1.5 million. The first illustrated version, translated into English and published in 1687, was presented here.   

    Cervantes' story was considered a comic work, or a parody of the chivalric romances then popular. It features an aging knight who, inspired by his reading of such works, set out on his own adventures. He rode his old horse, Rocinante, and brought along his trusty squire, Sancho Panza . Cervantes played the pair off each other, as Quixote was the dreamer, while Panza was the practical character. 

    The novel featured a large group of characters and diverse perspectives and themes, including irony and  comedy. 

    It has inspired ballets, operas, songs, plays, movies, paintings, drawings, and other forms of story telling. Its themes have been copied many times over. Its central character became a word, quixotic, meaning "exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical." A related phrase, "tilting at windmills," which describes scenes from the novel where Quixote literally fought windmills, imagining them as his enemies. 

    The phrase has become a common trope, and was used so often it is now considered a cliché.