Monday (7/11/22) - Borges on Cervantes from A Course in English Literature by J.L. Borges

Don Quixote (1955) by Pablo Picasso.jpg 
 
I suspect that in Don Quixote, it does not rain a single time. The landscapes described by Cervantes have nothing in common with the landscapes of Castile: they are conventional landscapes, full of meadows, streams, and copses that belong in an Italian novel.

... the more writers develop their characters, the better they get to know them. So, that’s how we have a character who is sometimes ridiculous, but who can be serious and have profound thoughts, and above all is one of the most beloved characters in all of history. And we can say “of history” because Don Quixote is more real to us than Cervantes himself...
 
— Jorge Luis Borges
Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature. New Directions Publishing, 2013.

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