So long Knight of the Rueful Countenance

So I FINALLY finished book two of the agonizingly long and slow Don Quixote. Overall I'd say that book two was more enjoyable than book one, because in the 2nd installment, other characters new of the Don and his ailment. Many, in fact, took advantage of his insanity for their own amusement. That made the second book much more humorous. Of course, I think Sancho Panza had a big part of that, because there was much more back and forth between Don Quixote and his squire the second time around.

Surprisingly, I like the book now that I'm done and don't expect to EVER read the damn thing again. It's an experience I recommend to anyone that's looking for a good literary challenge. Tis a bit difficult to go from the American standard style of fictional writing that brings stories to the masses into a book with crap-ass paragraph breaks, a different understanding of entertainment, and a million footnotes.

The weird thing is this: While I was reading it, near the end, I was damn sick of DQ and just wanted the book to end. ******SPOILER WARNING****** Don't read further if you don't wanna know how it ends. ******SPOILER WARNING******

So, ready to be done. In the end, DQ breaks out of his insanity, curses the whole damn affair and dies an intelligent and well balanced man. Brought a tear to my eye and a sorrowful melancholy to the rest of my day. Which was step up from the frustrated wrong side of the bed anger I had until lunch, but still. I'm sad to see the old man go, and knowing that Cervantes wrote his death so that no stupid bastard could make a THIRD book out of his work just really chaps my ass. Cervantes, you're a dick.

****Spoiler over****

Really, that's all I have to say about that. Well, that and;
FREEEEEDDDDOMMMMM!!!!!!!