Classic
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
Summary
Aging nobleman Alonso Quixano reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his grip on reality and sets out as the knight errant Don Quixote, with the practical farmer Sancho Panza at his side. Cervantes turns their misadventures, including the famous tilt at windmills, into a running dialogue between idealism and common sense. The novel is widely credited as the first modern novel and still shapes how writers balance comedy with genuine feeling.
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Historical Context & Significance
Cervantes published the first part in 1605 and a sequel in 1615, and the book became an immediate bestseller across Spain and its colonies. Its influence runs through centuries of European fiction, from picaresque adventure to postmodern metafiction.