Thinning the Syrup.

Something like a hundred years ago, or very nearly, I bought a copy of The Adventures of Don Quixote de la Mancha and tried to read it. I didn’t get very far. In fact, I’m not entirely sure I made the bottom of Page 1. I found the prose style syrupy and couldn’t be bothered to wade through it.

Being currently short of a decent read, however, now that I’ve finished Slaughterhouse 5 and Kafka’s Meditations (which is very odd, by the way,) I decided to give the Cervantes classic another shot. It isn’t syrupy any more, which probably means I’m growing up, at least where books are concerned. It’s perfectly easy to read and actually very enjoyable. And since the original was written in 17^th century Spanish, I suppose I should do a thumbs up to the translator.

There is one problem, however. Unlike Dracula, Frankenstein and The Duh Vinci Code, there’s nothing to lampoon. It’s just a solid, rational, entertaining read. And I expect it has hidden depths, although I wouldn’t know about such things. I’m not that grown up. All of which means that I probably shan’t get any blogging material out of it, which is a shame. If there’s one thing I need, it’s blogging material (I never mention the others.) But you never know…