Don QuixoteDon Quixote
Score Classic
What it's about
An aging Spanish gentleman reads so many tales of knights that he loses his mind, puts on old armor, names himself Don Quixote of La Mancha and rides out to right wrongs, with a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire. He attacks windmills he thinks are giants and devotes himself to a peasant girl he imagines is a noble lady. In the second part, he becomes famous for the first part.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books, which named it the best book of all time, and was voted onto PBS's Great American Read. It's often called the first modern novel, and it's still funny and touching.
You'll love it if you liked
Dead Souls
A Confederacy of Dunces
The MetamorphosesGood to know
It's very long, with stories inside the story. Edith Grossman's translation is the most readable.
By the numbers
- Readers29 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics55 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller51 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Epic
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Quick answers
Is Don Quixote worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books, which named it the best book of all time, and was voted onto PBS's Great American Read. It ranks #1,547 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 67.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Don Quixote about?
An aging Spanish gentleman reads so many tales of knights that he loses his mind, puts on old armor, names himself Don Quixote of La Mancha and rides out to right wrongs, with a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire. He attacks windmills he thinks are giants and devotes himself to a peasant girl he imagines is a noble lady. In the second part, he becomes famous for the first part.
How long does it take to read Don Quixote?
About 27 hours (1072 pages), or about 8 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Don Quixote?
If you liked it, try Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole or The Metamorphoses by Ovid.