tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post111529354754845775..comments2024-03-17T11:05:22.464+00:00Comments on The Life And Opinions of Andrew Rilstone: Windmills of my mindUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115645502937911102005-05-09T14:31:00.000+01:002005-05-09T14:31:00.000+01:00To my mind, the best commentary on Don Quixote is ...<I>To my mind, the best commentary on Don Quixote is in act II of Cyrano de Bergerac.</I><BR/><BR/>I like the way it came out in the sub-titles of the movie.<BR/><BR/>-- Have you read Don Quixote?<BR/>-- Read it? I've practically lived it.Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115606015452536742005-05-09T03:33:00.000+01:002005-05-09T03:33:00.000+01:00if you want to read some Boswell without tackling ...if you want to read some Boswell without tackling either his diaries and/or letters or the <I>Life of Johnson</I>, then I recommend reading both <I>A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland</I> and <I>The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides</I>. First, you get two really splendid but very different writers documenting the same events interesting results. Second, you start to get acquainted with Boswell... but you won't know him well until you read some of his diaries or letters, and even then you won't know him. The <I>Life of Johnson</I> is worthy for its subject and for the way Boswell positions himself in the narrative, but the diaries are the true portrait of a suffering mind.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I am an admirer of both men. I should like to see Samuel Johnson confronting Dr. Who...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115313066281649892005-05-05T18:11:00.000+01:002005-05-05T18:11:00.000+01:00Andrew, thank God your back. I was beginning to wo...Andrew, thank God your back. I was beginning to worry.<BR/><BR/>Is 'Tess' really a guilty pleasure? I'm reading it without guilt, thinking it an excellent piece of satire at upper-class moral and sexual hypocrisy, but perhaps that's just me.<BR/><BR/>And I've never managed to finish Don Quixote.Nick Mazonowiczhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01672027642700116849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115309578695662242005-05-05T17:12:00.000+01:002005-05-05T17:12:00.000+01:00I haven't got as far as the 'contents' page. Anywa...I haven't got as far as the 'contents' page. <BR/>Anyway, I might have imagined he died heroically or in some other suitably glamorous manner, rather than 'gets ill'.<BR/><BR/>Actually, while everyone has a strong impression of the characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, the actual story (apart from the windmills) is not well known (at least not by me) which makes me wonder if this might be the most famous book to have had no film/tv versions (at least not in English). <BR/>(and yes I know Orson Welles and Terry Gilliam tried to do it) and thus remain narratively unfamiliar.<BR/>Colin <BR/><BR/>PS: Thought the subtle knife was rather good but Amber Spyglass was totally OTT and way too long. Hated the triangular elephants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115304474900146472005-05-05T15:47:00.000+01:002005-05-05T15:47:00.000+01:00Did the fact that the last chapter of the book is ...Did the fact that the last chapter of the book is called "The death of Don Quixote" not slightly give the game away?Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-1115300550450981572005-05-05T14:42:00.000+01:002005-05-05T14:42:00.000+01:00Bugger"Don Quixote suddenly gets ill and dies for ...Bugger<BR/>"Don Quixote suddenly gets ill and dies for no good reason in the last five pages"<BR/>Given that the Don is sitting on my floor waiting to be read I rather wish you has said "spoilers" before writing that.<BR/>Colin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com