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> It felt like one literal crazy dude going on disappointing adventures and then (spoilers) it just ends with him dying, having regretting everything he did, wh

> It felt like one literal crazy dude going on disappointing adventures and then (spoilers) it just ends with him dying, having regretting everything he did, which in my mind, sums up the book pretty well. Ah yes, and Moby Dick is just about a man who really hates a whale and wants to kill it. I never know how to respond to reviews like these. If you actually think that sums up the book pretty well then the problem isn't with Don Quixote... And I'm definitely not a literature major.

DantesKite 5y ago
I quite like Moby Dick. Good book. Shakespeare too. My problem is with artificial, curated reading lists, rather than something organic that arises out of interest.
- disneygibson 5y ago
  The media determines the popular culture which determines what is “organic.” Everything is artificial.
- rualca 5y ago
  > My problem is with artificial, curated reading lists, rather than something organic that arises out of interest. This reads like a non-sequitur. OP pointed out that your summary of Don Quixote clearly shows you failed to understand the book at all, thus you're criticizing it out of ignorance. Hence the comparison of your summary with claiming that Moby Dick is a story of a guy who hates whales.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    A critique made in ignorance is still valid. You don't get to say it is invalid just because you think the person doing the critiquing "didn't understand it", as even if that is true the fact that they didn't understand it is part of their experience of the work. Of course critique is largely subjective, so you're free to have a very different experience of the work.
agent327 5y ago
He pointed out what he seems to believe are genuine problems with the writing: no engaging story, no uplifting ending, whereas your rebuttal is nothing but an ad hominem. Right now I'd say he is making the better case for the book just not being much fun.
- ggggtez 5y ago
  The author wanted an adventure story and a happy ending. The grandparent makes a comparison to reading Moby Dick as an adventure story about killing the whale... I think it's an apt comparison. If you want a happy ending, you probably shouldn't be reading these books. The need for a happy ending is a traditionally American taste. So much so that they changed the ending of Clockwork Orange, and other imported novels.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  I imagine that in some ways Don Quixote would be far more entertaining to you if it were read to you by an entertaining reader, like a smiling old grandparent reading to you by candlelight while you were tucking into bed, or read on a teenage fall weekend afternoon leaned up against an apple tree. Headspace is important. 50% of all communication is on the receiver after all, so if you are reading a story that is 100% the greatest book of all time but you can barely attention to it you're only gonna get a fraction out of what the book has to offer.

DantesKite 5y ago

I quite like Moby Dick. Good book. Shakespeare too. My problem is with artificial, curated reading lists, rather than something organic that arises out of interest.

disneygibson 5y ago
The media determines the popular culture which determines what is “organic.” Everything is artificial.
rualca 5y ago
> My problem is with artificial, curated reading lists, rather than something organic that arises out of interest. This reads like a non-sequitur. OP pointed out that your summary of Don Quixote clearly shows you failed to understand the book at all, thus you're criticizing it out of ignorance. Hence the comparison of your summary with claiming that Moby Dick is a story of a guy who hates whales.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  A critique made in ignorance is still valid. You don't get to say it is invalid just because you think the person doing the critiquing "didn't understand it", as even if that is true the fact that they didn't understand it is part of their experience of the work. Of course critique is largely subjective, so you're free to have a very different experience of the work.

agent327 5y ago

He pointed out what he seems to believe are genuine problems with the writing: no engaging story, no uplifting ending, whereas your rebuttal is nothing but an ad hominem. Right now I'd say he is making the better case for the book just not being much fun.

ggggtez 5y ago
The author wanted an adventure story and a happy ending. The grandparent makes a comparison to reading Moby Dick as an adventure story about killing the whale... I think it's an apt comparison. If you want a happy ending, you probably shouldn't be reading these books. The need for a happy ending is a traditionally American taste. So much so that they changed the ending of Clockwork Orange, and other imported novels.
BizarroLand 5y ago
I imagine that in some ways Don Quixote would be far more entertaining to you if it were read to you by an entertaining reader, like a smiling old grandparent reading to you by candlelight while you were tucking into bed, or read on a teenage fall weekend afternoon leaned up against an apple tree. Headspace is important. 50% of all communication is on the receiver after all, so if you are reading a story that is 100% the greatest book of all time but you can barely attention to it you're only gonna get a fraction out of what the book has to offer.