There have been rumors going around the book blog world about getting a Don Quixote reading group together sometime this summer. I’d like to read the book during the summer months, say, from May to August. So — who’d like to join me? Shall we set up a group blog? Blogger or WordPress? What shall we call it? I’m no good at thinking up clever names, so somebody else will have to help me.
Would you like to set up a reading schedule or simply set up the group blog and have people post on their reading experiences as they go along?
What translation will you read? I, for one, am going to choose the new Edith Grossman translation.
Of Books and Bicycles 
Count me in! I’ll have to investigate to find a translation I want, as well as titles for the blog. I think we should host it on WordPress, simply because commenting so much easier here. But I don’t mind where it’s hosted, really; I still have my Blogger account for A Curious Singularity.
I’ll be back later today with some title suggestions.
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I’m in! I’ve bought the book now, and it was a cheap edition, so not sure who translated it. I don’t mind where it’s hosted either (although I like WordPress), and I don’t mind the format either. Perhaps we should stick with the Proust format because they are similarly large novels?
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Me too! And I’ll also be reading the Edith Grossman translation. 🙂 As for format: how about we agree to begin on May 1st, and just wend our way from there without a firm schedule but aiming to read about 50 pages a week?
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I might join you–I’ve wanted to read this for some time, and I’m assigning it to my 8th grader for next year, so it behooves me to catch up, I suppose (my current 11th grader read it when he was in 8th, so I’m actually way behind). I’d be reading the “great Samuel Putnam translation,” according to the cover of my Viking Portable classic.
Here’s a link with an interesting discussion about translation in general, using several versions of Don Quixote as examples.
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I might be able to do it, but I don’t know how busy I’ll be this spring/summer. It could always be “book of the month” at the Book & Reading Forums.
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I’d join in but I read the book two years ago and am not ready for another go yet. I will happily follow everyone else’s reading though. I read the Grossman translation and found it wonderful.
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Oh please keep us posted on this. I am tempted.
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I plan on reading along, too. I have the Grossman translation. I don’t mind where we set up the blog either–whatever is easiest. I wouldn’t mind some sort of loose schedule–just a guideline sort of thing to insure finishing by the end of the summer. I don’t want to drag it on like I have done with W&P!!
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Cool! It sounds like we have quite a few people interested. It makes sense to me to do what Victoria suggested and begin on May 1st and plan to read about 50 pages to week to hopefully finish up by the end of the summer. Whether that’s possible or not depends on how many pages your translation has, I suppose. Between now and May, I’ll look into setting up a WordPress blog, as most people seem to like that. Now I’ll wait on Brandon (and others) to get back to me with a blog name…
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Oh, and Litlove suggested on her blog a while back that we use something with windmills — “fighting windmills” or “windmills of our minds” or something similar. Any thoughts?
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The only title I can think of at the moment is Tilting at Windmills, which I pulled from this Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilting_at_windmills). And while I don’t mind being on a loose schedule (I’d like to finish it by summer as well), I’m planning on purchasing the book within the next week or two, and then I’m going to dive right in, before I lose my nerve. Maybe we should just plan on reading at our own speeds, and if others want to stick to a set schedule, they can do so. It looks as though the Involuntary Memory participants just post as they please, and maybe we can just follow that model?
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I too would like to join the group, even though I’ve just finished Don Quixote. I just took out Nabokov’s “Lectures on Don Quixote” from the library, and think it might be fun to read along in that and post my commentary on the commentary. Keep us posted.
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Those lectures sound quite interesting. You’re welcome to join the group.
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I don’t think I’ll re-read Don Quixote this summer (too many unread things to read), but I’ll definitely keep an eye on the blog. And who knows? Maybe it will send me back to read the book again after all. For what it’s worth, I like the title “Tilting at Windmills.”
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I’ll try, so sign me up. It is one of the Classics I want to read. It’ll be much more fun to read as part of a group.
Thanks, DW!
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Emily — do follow what we’re doing and contribute if you want! LK — it would be awesome to have you join us.
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Mark me down. I, too, thought of Tilting at Windmills.
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Count me in as well, please! (Though tardily, many apologies.)
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I would not mind an actual reading schedule, but if most people preferred a looser structure I would not protest. I’ve never used blogger before: which one do you think would be better for a group blog (as I assume this would be) or does it not matter?
I’m kinda excited about it now. 😀
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I am very, very tempted…
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Do think about it Heather!
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I would like to join this group reading. Will it be a problem if we aren’t reading the same translations?
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Great, Dorie — no problem about the translation. I’ll send you an invitation to the blog later this month.
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Is this DQ reading group going to get going? Or did it flop?
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Lorraine — we did get it going — and it went on last summer. Some people may still be reading, but most have finished I think. You’ll find the site here: http://tiltingatwindmillsblog.wordpress.com/
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