What should I read before jumping into Don Quixote? Qué leer antes del Quijote?

Don Quixote is for the most part boring as fuck, but it does have occasional moments of brilliance, like the 90 page subplot about the guy rescuing the slave girl in North Africa.

So essentially the best thing about Don Quixote is a section without Don Quixote.

Dude, that article gives you a bunch of names. Why are you asking us? haha
That said, reading Aristotle is not important for Don Quijote. Just cause one scholar says something doesn't make it fact.

It's a brilliant book.

No required reading necessary.

no te hicieron leerlo en el colegio?

no mames wey, soy de Mexico, casi nadie puede leer aquí, pinches indios feos

I just started reading the Edith Grossman translation and it's hysterically funny

I don't get this board's preoccupatuon with preparing for novels. I guess it's on account of most people learning to read novels from high school english classes. Just jump in. You'll miss a fair amount but that's true of any book's first reading. Great books are meant to be re-read. You can revisit it at a more erudite time in your life and get new things from it. But don't deprive yourself now when you're perfectly capable of enjoying many of its pleasures.

What's the best Quixote translation. I can borrow a Grossman translation from my mom, but I could also pick up a copy for myself by someone else

The Song of Roland probably a good place to start.

just learn spanish, it can be done in 2 or 3 hours

No.

Grossman's good. I'm partial to Burton Raffel.

That's barely an exaggeration. You can get fairly good at it in about a week.

anyway it's not a good idea as the Don Quixote is writen in archaic spanish, there are "translations" to semi-modernized spanish but at that point you might as well read it in another language

Actually read up on Aristoteles virtue ethics (a wikipedia entry or similiar should suffice) and there is also a lecture from Yale on Don Quixote on youtube. Search for it and watch the introduction video (you can also watch the others as you read along, but they will have spoilers). Most importantly, have fun!

I purchased a copy of Motteux translation, I thought it was wonderfully charming, although it lacks certain grammar such as quotations around dialogue, but it's also written in such a way that it always specifies who it is that is speaking so it's not a big deal at all.

Rea Cervantes' Novelas Ejemplares.

I think some o the stories are named in Don Quixote.

Any good spanish books? I've just been using duolingo

>Song of Roland
What if I plan on reading those anyway?

La vida del Buscón is miserable and funny, if you want a fast read something like La vida es sueño shouldn't take long to read. not sure how archaic will the language on those sound to foreigners, may be too complicated to read.

if you want some modern and normie-core you can try something like La catedral del mar, or La Sombra del Viento

Fui a una industrial, salimos sabiendo como hacer un cohete que llegue a la luna pero sin saber leer.

Ficciones by Borges, of course

based Unamuno works and based Galdós works

>when they shit in the kid's bed
el buscon had none of the pleasures that lazarillo did. lazarillo is the true picaresque and the only.
anyone ever read guzman de alfarache?