DON QUIXOTE: IDEALS LOST AND FOUND
Six Sunday afternoons, 2:00 - 5:00 pm
The University of Toronto St. Michael’s College
Alumni Hall (121 St. Joseph Street)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sunday, Novembe, 23, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Book
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Translated by Edith Grossman (introduction by
Harold Bloom), ISBN 0‐06‐018870‐7
(read Globe and Mail review)
Participants are responsible for attaining the Grossman translation.
To order from Amazon.ca CLICK HERE.
Description
Who can resist Don Quixote, the enthusiastic bungler, the book crazed, self styled knight of La Mancha? With masterful comical strokes Cervantes’ narrator captures our attention. But Don Quixote is much more than a tall tale.
Some great writers, whose skeptical visions disturb both the authorities and the common people, have left us manuscripts of great power. Cervantes is one of these. Like Chaucer two
hundred years before him and Kerouac three hundred years later Cervantes has chosen the road trip as the vehicle for his ironic vision.
The chivalric ideal comes under intense scrutiny in Don Quixote much as the democratic ideal does in our time. Do such ideals play a positive role in society? Are their proponents mad,
under a spell or hopelessly out of touch? We’ll take a closer look at those comrades at arms,
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Beneath the antics of the comedy team is the deep regard each has for the other and the changing roles of knight and squire.
These and many other themes, the memorable cast of characters including the narrator and the superb language expertly translated by Edith Grossman all promise a rewarding trip. Join
Classical Pursuits for a six week journey through Don Quixote.
Leader
Mary Bird completed her Masters Degree in history and English at the University of Toronto.
After graduation and a fateful trip to Mexico, her studies shifted to Spanish American
literature, a literature indebted to Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Mary is preparing for publication
her translation of a thousand line poem written by the 17th century Mexican writer, Sor Juana
Inez de la Cruz. Like Cervantes, Sor Juana fell afoul of the Inquisition. Her famous poem, “Dream” is a journey in search of knowing and celebrates women’s freedom to think.
Registration
Registration is currently full. To get on the waiting list, please email us your request here.
