Blog

Welcome to Week 4 on ye olde deathmarche, which recounts the fierce and uncomon battle for mugnet glory waged by nineteen travelers, and other events.
Some good debate this last week on the pleasures of DQ. I’m still having a swell time with the book, though I’ll confess that DQ’s grand chivalric imagining (around page 159 in Grossman) did make my eyes begin to bulge. While I’m confessing, I should add that I’ve got Zero Mostel stuck in my head as Sancho. And not just any Zero Mostel, but a characture of Zero Mostel from some Mad Magazine parody from my youth (a Fiddler send up called “Antenna on the Roof”). I can’t decide if this adds or subtracts from my reading pleasure. OK, that’s a lie. It adds.
Next Wednesday: More glory! And it all leads us to the end of Chapter XXVII, as “concluded by that wise and judicious historian,” ladies and gentlemen, won’t you please give a warm Don Quixote Deathmarch welcome to your friend and mine, the one, the only: Senor Cide Hamete Benengeli.

Welcome to Week 3, in which are found the disparate comments of the mug-net inclined, along with other unexpected epistles. Speaking of which, 26 people are still mug-net qualified. Jinkies!
On each of these ‘marches so far, I’ve especially dug the end of Week 2 — past page 100, the book starts to take hold. From last week’s comments, it sounds like a lot of us were applauding Chapters 12-14, with the build up to Marcela’s soliloquoy (if you prick her, does she not bleed?) followed by a shining moment for DQ: “Let no person, whatever his circumstance or condition, dare to follow the beautiful Marcela lest he fall victim to my fury and outrage.” Not that she needs his help, or that anyone’s even necessarily paying attention. But still, that’s our Don!
And then there’s Chapter XV, with what has to be my favorite line so far: “I wish I had enough breath to speak with less effort and that the pain I feel in this rib would ease just a little so that I could make clear to you, Panza, how wrong you are.” If this was the ’70s, I’d slap that puppy on a t-shirt, and my fortune would be made.
All in all, it’s been a real treat so far, and I’m glad to have so many excellent ‘marchers along for the trek.
Next Wednesday: We careen on, with vigor! Let’s meet up on page 172 at the end of Chapter XXII, just before what I’m told is one of the strangest adventures recounted in this true history.

Welcome to Week 2, which tells of the second sally our heroes made from their native land. The first week featured a frenzied dialog, particularly on the heated subject of magnets v. mugs. Speaking of which, it looks like around 26 people are currently mug-net qualified. Gadzooks!
I enjoyed the first week’s read. There’s a gentle rhythm to this book — the smallish chapters, the amusing misunderstandings, the occasional unexpected references to dwarves. And it’s good to be back in DM mode, finding 15 minutes here or there to read the day’s allotment.
A question to throw out there for Week 2: Now I’ll stipulate that Don Quixote is “the first modern novel.” But I don’t really know what that means. Anyone care to shed a little light on what defines the modern novel, compared to everything that came before it?
Next Wednesday: Let’s crash past page 100 (Grossman) and meet up at the end of Chapter XV.