'So, having lost his wits, he came up with the strangest idea ever concocted by a crazy man, and that was that he thought it right and necessary, both to increase his honour and to serve the republic, to roam the world on horseback, dressed in his armour, seeking adventures.'
When an ageing, impoverished nobelman decides to style himself "Don Quixote" and embarks upon a series of daring endeavours, it is clear that his ability to distinguish between realisty and the fantasy world of literary romance has broken down. His exploits turn into comic misadventures, in which everyday objects are transformed into the accoutrements of chivalry, peasant girls become princesses and windmills are mistaken for formiddable giants, leading the hero and his squire Sancho Panza into the realms of absurdity and humiliation.
Renowned for its comical set pieces, Don Quixote is a profound meditation on the relationship between truth and fiction and the morality of deceptiom, as well as the foundation stone of the modern novel.
