DON QUIXOTE

A literary event, this long-awaited and completely new translation of the immortal classic, four centuries a best seller in many languages, a labor of love during a sixteen year period on the part of a well known editor, translator, author. Not since 1902 has a new translation been published in English, and neither that nor its predecessors has given the fascinating story full measure of its timelessness, its wealth of wisdom, its unique humor (only too often translated so as to seem farce). Samuel Putnam has taken advantage of new findings in scholarship; he has rescued the text from archicisms without making it unpalatably contemporary; he has provided notes for the layman, rather than the scholar, to explain allusions, to give meaning to contemporary backgrounds. I wont claim to have read the text, but I did dip in here and there for familiar bits, and found it lively, entertaining, singularly pertinent today. The publishers are planning a distinguished physical format, slipcased. And their sincere enthusiasm for this publishing venture, for bringing all of Don Quixote (Part II will seem virtually new to many readers) to public cognizance, will have substantial promotion and backing. A Must for libraries; a book for the long view in bookshops.