Strive, too, that in reading your story the melancholy may be moved to laughter, and the merry made merrier still that the simple shall not be wearied, that the judicious shall admire the invention, that the grave shall not despise it, nor the wise fail to praise it.Ĭhapter One explains that a gentleman obsessed by books about chivalry loses his wits through trying to understand the incomprehensible nonsense in them: A Preface should be impressive, but his is not, and does not need to be, says his friend, because his subject is a simple man and it is a simple story.Īs this piece of yours aims at nothing more than to destroy the authority and influence which books of chivalry have in the world and with the public, there is no need for you to go a-begging for aphorisms from philosophers, precepts from Holy Scripture, fables from poets, speeches from orators, or miracles from saints but merely to take care that your style and diction run musically, pleasantly, and plainly, with clear, proper, and well-placed words, setting forth your purpose to the best of your power, and putting your ideas intelligibly, without confusion or obscurity. I must admit that my heart sank a little when I saw the Author’s Preface, but it is much shorter than Jonathan Swift’s, and easily comprehended. He is Spain’s most influential poet, playwright and novelist, and is clearly essential reading before I jet off for Spain next year (global economic crisis permitting, that is). His proper name, according to Wikipedia, is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), and I ought to remember that it’s de Cervantes, not just Cervantes. (Mind you, Daily Lit doesn’t do much in the way of out-of-print OzLit, so it’s a good thing there’s Project Gutenberg Australia for that.)Īnyway, my first discovery is that I’ve been calling this author by the wrong name for 40 odd years.
I don’t have a copy, so I’m reading it through which I’m finding is a good source of out-of-print titles and much easier on the eye than Project Gutenberg. This is another book that I’m reading for 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die., but I’ve been meaning to read it since I was a teenager. (Update 17/10/16: I’ve just read Borges’ ‘Partial Magic in the Quixote’ in Labyrinths and made a few notes about it, here).
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