Don Quixote -- Introduction

[Coral50]

Hi dulcinea3

I'm also a slow reader, you must be about my age, I was told when learning to read I was in a' learning to read' trial group and the trial wasn't a success and discontinued. We just got moved on. I'm now getting faster but not fast enough to read everything I want but I'm giving it a good try.

I'll be reading the mystery 'And Then There Were None', also. I found it in a used book store I frequent, they said it also came out in the title of '10 Little Indians'.

Cora 

[Coral50]

Hi

I check B&N first for the books. I am a member, also. So it is good business and I love what they are doing for us.

Cora

[dulcinea3]

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Coral50 wrote:

Hi dulcinea3

I'm also a slow reader, you must be about my age, I was told when learning to read I was in a' learning to read' trial group and the trial wasn't a success and discontinued. We just got moved on. I'm now getting faster but not fast enough to read everything I want but I'm giving it a good try.

I'll be reading the mystery 'And Then There Were None', also. I found it in a used book store I frequent, they said it also came out in the title of '10 Little Indians'.

Cora 

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Hi Cora,

Well, unfortunately I am not yet old enough to retire, but I am certainly no spring chicken, either!  I learned to read on my own before I got to school, so I guess I can't blame the educational system on my slow reading!  I think I just stop to think too much as I'm reading.

Glad to hear you're going to do the mystery for Literature by Women, too!  I'll be a week late starting, because I think it will take me about that long to finish up Vanity Fair.  But a Christie is a fairly quick read, so that should take less than a week, and then I will finally be able to start giving Don Quixote some quality time!

[Peppermill]

It's interesting to hear the history of your avatar Peppermill.

Thanks, Cora.  As I have written elsewhere on these columns, some months or years ago now, my handle here harks back to Citizen Band radio days when I wanted something to respond to truck driver talk, which some of you may recall was pretty raw.  In those days, we usually had a picnic basket in our car for long trips (almost biweekly) and it always included a tiny peppermill filled with Tellicherry  -- that was long before one could buy the kind with a built-in grinder as one can today.  Somehow, in thinking about what to use as a handle, the rhyme "sugar and spice and everything nice" came to mind.  I decided for a spice with a bit of bite would work for my purposes.  That personal history got resurrected many years later for these B&N boards.  Somehow, now, "Pepper" seems better most of the time, although "Peppermill" more suggests the avatar, even if Choisya accuses me of not always grinding out enough of a bite.  But, sometimes perhaps I ought -- or ought not -- to be read a second time....    

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Coral50 wrote:

Hi

I know I am a month late, I also was in First Look and a few other personal commentments came up which needed to be done. Basically, I ended up over booked for October. I would still like to try and catch up to learning what I possibly can.

I've had the book Don Quixote in my bookshelf for a few years and would like to read it with those who understand the epics. I'm excited about learning these days now that I'm retired I want to enrich my life with knowledge and yes keep the old brain cells challenged.

I started a book collection about 10 years ago, shortly before the time I acquired my first computer. After the excitement of learning how to use a computer, I continued on with needlework and learning histories of special stitches which lead me to reading everything I could get my hands on that interested me.

Thank you, bdNM for moderating and the others for sharing your knowledge. It's interesting to hear the history of your avatar Peppermill

Cora

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[Peppermill]

Dulcinea -- I did find Manchego cheese and it was definitely worth the search!  I only hope that last small piece buried in my refrigerator is still good!  Regardless, it will be on my list for more.  You were so right; it had a quasi-romantic feel to nibble Manchego while reading DQ or posting here. 

I haven't found quince paste yet -- but there was a fig jam in the cheese case when I found the Manchego and it has been an excellent accompaniment.  The flavor of this Parmesan-like cheese, but different, seems to blossom with the off-set of the sweet fruity paste.

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Peppermill wrote:

Dulcinea -- I have just had a delightful time exploring these sites.  Now that I have a sense of what to look for, I shall raid some favorite stores.  If I don't have any luck, I know where I can come back and order!

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Peppermill wrote:

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

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dulcinea3 wrote:

I do like Manchego cheese!  I'll have to pick some up during our reading.  A popular way of eating it in Spain is with quince paste, too.

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Dulcinea -- What is quince paste?  Is it readily available in the U.S.?

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Hi Pepper,

 Interesting - I Googled 'quince paste', and it seems just about every entry is about it in combination with manchego cheese!

Anyway, it is similar to a kind of jelly, I guess, only thicker.  It's been a long time, but I recall buying it by weight in the market, and it would be like a block of it, which could be sliced and served with slices of cheese.  I haven't seen it around here, although I think once I found some quince preserves.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/quincepastemembrillo.htm

http://spanishfood.about.com/b/2008/06/02/membrillo-con-queso-quince-paste-with-cheese-2.htm

http://freshcatering.blogspot.com/2005/08/quince-paste-and-manchego-cheese.html

Here's a Spanish food site, but their prices are a bit steep:

http://www.tienda.com/

I came across this, much cheaper:

http://www.cheesesupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/426

This is also an interesting gourmet food site, and also a reasonable price for the quince:

http://www.igourmet.com/?top=top

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Dulcinea -- thx for all the research!  I shall spend some time exploring these -- I just blew tonight's time on the delightful video Choisya posted, but this is definitely something to look forward to exploring. 'Twill be interesting to see if it is similar to the blocks of pressed fig I like.

I looked for the cheese in a favorite grocery store with a good, well maintained collection of cheeses, but did not find it, or any other from Spain.  Will keep looking, have a couple of other prime candidates -- and may take the time to ask there sometime, too.

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[dulcinea3]

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Peppermill wrote:

Dulcinea -- I did find Manchego cheese and it was definitely worth the search!  I only hope that last small piece buried in my refrigerator is still good!  Regardless, it will be on my list for more.  You were so right; it had a quasi-romantic feel to nibble Manchego while reading DQ or posting here. 

I haven't found quince paste yet -- but there was a fig jam in the cheese case when I found the Manchego and it has been an excellent accompaniment.  The flavor of this Parmesan-like cheese, but different, seems to blossom with the off-set of the sweet fruity paste.

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Pepper, I'm glad that you are enjoying the Manchego!  As I think I had mentioned, my local supermarket carries it, and I have picked some up, which I will also be enjoying while reading DQ.  However, I would like to finish the two cheeses I currently have open first, and they are rather strong, so that a little goes a long way, and it is taking me some time to get through them (I usually have cheese once or twice over the weekend).  One is a dried tomato and basil cheddar, and the other is (I think) called Pepperoncini, with red peppers in it, which I had never tried before.  I think that the latter is actually continuing to age in the refrigerator, and it may eventually get so strong I will not want to finish it!  I had checked the jam/jelly section in the supermarket, because I think I have seen quince in the Trappist brand, but they didn't have any.  Upon your recommendation, I will look again to see what they do have, and be open to trying something different!  It does seem like a strange combination, doesn't it?  And yet they go surprisingly well together!

The other cheese that I remember enjoying when I was in Spain was queso Gallego (from Galicia).  It is quite different from Manchego, and is more mild and soft.  It's also known as 'Tetilla' ('little breast') because of it's shape - maybe a little like a Hershey's Kiss!

[joplin4]

Howdy.  I'm James.  I've been trying to read this book for quite a while now.  I'm also an extremely slow reader.  I like to take in all the details.  I made a deal with my friend that I would finish this book at least by February.  I really hope to have it read by the new year.  That may or may not happen.  I'm on chapter 26 of Part II.  It has been a long, eventful journey.  Looking forward to the conclusion.  I'm anxious to start something else.  Still, I have really enjoyed it.  Don't know if I'll have much insight to add, but I'd like to kind of finish my journey with y'all.  I look forward to discussion.  But, bed calls tonight. 

[Peppermill]

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joplin4 wrote:

Howdy.  I'm James.  I've been trying to read this book for quite a while now.  I'm also an extremely slow reader.  I like to take in all the details.  I made a deal with my friend that I would finish this book at least by February.  I really hope to have it read by the new year.  That may or may not happen.  I'm on chapter 26 of Part II.  It has been a long, eventful journey.  Looking forward to the conclusion.  I'm anxious to start something else.  Still, I have really enjoyed it.  Don't know if I'll have much insight to add, but I'd like to kind of finish my journey with y'all.  I look forward to discussion.  But, bed calls tonight. 

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Welcome, James!  You are further than many of us!

Pepper

[Peppermill]

Dulcinea -- no quice paste yet, but a favorite deli (wonderful sandwiches) had a quince jam by Wilkin & Sons (Tiptree).  It is very good with the Manchego!  The quince is in small chunks, so it is not so easy to spread on the cheese as a paste would be, but the flavor really compliments. (I did very much like the figs as well -- that was more of a paste.  But the quince probably shows off the Manchego flavor more.)

I told the owner in the deli about the combination -- she also carries Manchego cheese (not where I first found it and got mine), but, despite the high quality of the things they provide to the community, she was unaware of the traditional pairing.

I now have both some 12 month aged Manchego (it is still excellent) and 6 month aged in my refrigerator.  I do much prefer the former; it is much mellower.  The 6 month has a sharper sheep's milk flavor.  But either is delightful!

Pepper

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

Dulcinea -- I did find Manchego cheese and it was definitely worth the search!  I only hope that last small piece buried in my refrigerator is still good!  Regardless, it will be on my list for more.  You were so right; it had a quasi-romantic feel to nibble Manchego while reading DQ or posting here. 

I haven't found quince paste yet -- but there was a fig jam in the cheese case when I found the Manchego and it has been an excellent accompaniment.  The flavor of this Parmesan-like cheese, but different, seems to blossom with the off-set of the sweet fruity paste.

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Pepper, I'm glad that you are enjoying the Manchego!  As I think I had mentioned, my local supermarket carries it, and I have picked some up, which I will also be enjoying while reading DQ.  However, I would like to finish the two cheeses I currently have open first, and they are rather strong, so that a little goes a long way, and it is taking me some time to get through them (I usually have cheese once or twice over the weekend).  One is a dried tomato and basil cheddar, and the other is (I think) called Pepperoncini, with red peppers in it, which I had never tried before.  I think that the latter is actually continuing to age in the refrigerator, and it may eventually get so strong I will not want to finish it!  I had checked the jam/jelly section in the supermarket, because I think I have seen quince in the Trappist brand, but they didn't have any.  Upon your recommendation, I will look again to see what they do have, and be open to trying something different!  It does seem like a strange combination, doesn't it?  And yet they go surprisingly well together!

The other cheese that I remember enjoying when I was in Spain was queso Gallego (from Galicia).  It is quite different from Manchego, and is more mild and soft.  It's also known as 'Tetilla' ('little breast') because of it's shape - maybe a little like a Hershey's Kiss!

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[Choisya]

Well ladies, I lunched with you in spirit today after purchasing some Spanish Manchego and Quince cheese at my local supermarket deli, not to mention a Rioja to wash it down with.  I found the taste of the Manchego very much like a mature Cheddar and the texture like a Parmesan - it would probably be good grated on top of a pasta.  Cleo liked it too but had hers without the Quince.  I ate it with little oatcakes and wondered what sort of bread the Spanish had to accompany it Dulcie - quite coarse maybe, somewhat like Irish Soda bread?

I used to make Quince cheese years ago when I had a flourishing Rowallane quince shrub.   It grows well against a sunny wall, which helps to retain the heat to ripen the fruits.

[Choisya]

And after my Manchego cheese lunch I came across a piece of DQ trivia:  I am reading a couple of political tomes about the Edwardians at the moment and  thought this extract from Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes, a member of the British delegation who resigned in protest over the terms of the disastrous Versaille Treaty drawn up by the Allies after WWI, might interest those here:-

'...if ever the action of a single individual matters, the collapse of the President has been one of the decisive moral events of history; and I must make an attempt to explain it. What a place the President held in the hearts and hopes of the world when he sailed to us in the George Washington! What a great man came to Europe in those early days of our victory!

In November 1918 the armies of Foch and the words of Wilson had brought us sudden escape from what was swallowing up all we cared for. The conditions seemed favorable beyond any expectation. The victory was so complete that fear need play no part in the settlement. The enemy had laid down his arms in reliance on a solemn compact as to the general character of the peace, the terms of which seemed to assure a settlement of justice and magnanimity and a fair hope for a restoration of the broken current of life. To make assurance certain the President was coming himself to set the seal on his work.

When President Wilson left Washington he enjoyed a prestige and a moral influence throughout the world unequalled in history. His bold and measured words carried to the peoples of Europe above and beyond the voices of their own politicians. The enemy peoples trusted him to carry out the compact he had made with them; and the Allied peoples acknowledged him not as a victor only but almost as a prophet. In addition to this moral influence the realities of power were in his hands. The American armies were at the height of their numbers, discipline, and equipment. Europe was in complete dependence on the food supplies of the United States; and financially she was even more absolutely at their mercy.

Europe not only already owed the United States more than she could pay; but only a large measure of further assistance could save her from starvation and bankruptcy. Never had a philosopher held such weapons wherewith to bind the princes of this world. How the crowds of the European capitals pressed about the carriage of the President! With what curiosity, anxiety, and hope we sought a glimpse of the features and bearing of the man of destiny who, coming from the West, was to bring healing to the wounds of the ancient parent of his civilization and lay for us the foundations of the future.

The disillusion was so complete, that some of those who had trusted most hardly dared speak of it. Could it be true? they asked of those who returned from Paris. Was the treaty really as bad as it seemed? What had happened to the President? What weakness or what misfortune had led to so extraordinary, so unlooked-for a betrayal? Yet the causes were very ordinary and human. The President was not a hero or a prophet; he was not even a philosopher; but a generously intentioned man, with many of the weaknesses of other human beings, and lacking that dominating intellectual equipment which would have been necessary to cope with the subtle and dangerous spellbinders whom a tremendous clash of forces and personalities had brought to the top as triumphant masters in the swift game of give and take, face to face in council—a game of which he had no experience at all....

The first impression of Mr. Wilson at close quarters was to impair some but not all of these illusions. His head and features were finely cut and exactly like his photographs, and the muscles of his neck and the carriage of his head were distinguished. But, like Odysseus, the President looked wiser when he was seated; and his hands, though capable and fairly strong, were wanting in sensitiveness and finesse. The first glance at the President suggested not only that, whatever else he might be, his temperament was not primarily that of the student or the scholar, but that he had not much even of that culture of the world which marks M. Clemenceau and Mr. Balfour as exquisitely cultivated gentlemen of their class and generation. But more serious than this, he was not only insensitive to his surroundings in the external sense, he was not sensitive to his environment at all. What chance could such a man have against Mr. Lloyd George's unerring, almost medium-like, sensibility to everyone immediately round him?

To see the British Prime Minister watching the company, with six or seven senses not available to ordinary men, judging character, motive, and subconscious impulse, perceiving what each was thinking and even what each was going to say next, and compounding with telepathic instinct the argument or appeal best suited to the vanity, weakness, or self-interest of his immediate auditor, was to realize that the poor President would be playing blind man's buff in that party. Never could a man have stepped into the parlor a more perfect and predestined victim to the finished accomplishments of the Prime Minister. The Old World was tough in wickedness anyhow; the Old World's heart of stone might blunt the sharpest blade of the bravest knight-errant. But this blind and deaf Don Quixote was entering a cavern where the swift and glittering blade was in the hands of the adversary....

The President was like a nonconformist minister, perhaps a Presbyterian. His thought and his temperament were essentially theological not intellectual, with all the strength and the weakness of that manner of thought, feeling, and expression....

The President's program for the world, as set forth in his speeches and his Notes, haddisplayed a spirit and a purpose so admirable that the last desire of his sympathizers as to criticize details-the details, they felt, were quite rightly not filled in at present, but would be in due course. It was commonly believed at the commencement of the Paris conference that the President had thought out, with the aid of a large body of advisors, a comprehensive scheme not only for the League of Nations, but for the embodiment of the Fourteen Points in an actual treaty of peace. But in fact the President had thought out nothing; when it came to practice his ideas were nebulous and incomplete. He had no plan, no scheme, no constructive ideas whatever for clothing with the flesh of life the commandments which he had thundered from the White House. He could have preached a sermon on any of them or have addressed a stately prayer to the Almighty for their fulfillment; but he could not frame their concrete application to the actual state of Europe. '

[dulcinea3]

I am glad that everyone is enjoying their Manchego cheese!  I, too, finally started eating mine last weekend.  No quince paste or any other similar accompaniment, though.  Choisya, it is not unusual for Spaniards to eat cheese without any bread or crackers/biscuits.  For example, in a bar, if you order a racion of manchego, you would just receive a plate with triangular slices of cheese.  Or I would have it with just regular Spanish bread, which I would say is similar to French bread.  Here at home, I eat the cheese with various types of crackers/biscuits.

I'm sorry to say that I think I will not be able to read this novel at this time, after all.  A few of you already know, although I have only mentioned it once or twice on other boards, but my father passed away a couple of weeks ago (on Friday the 13th, actually).  Since then, I have been very busy with various things, including helping my mother sort through what needs to be done (legal/financial/etc.), and I just haven't really had the heart to read at all.  I was already so far behind (actually, not even started!) with Don Quixote, and the kind of reading schedule I would have to follow to even attempt to start to catch up would be a bit too rigorous for me to feel up to it, I think.  I'm really sorry, because I was looking forward to it, and had hoped that I might be able to make a good contribution to the discussion, having studied the novel, but the timing was just not right.  I will probably continue to read all of your comments, though, as I am enjoying the discussion.

[Choisya]

I was very sorry to hear of the death of your father Dulcie and offer you my commisserations.  We will all look forward to seeing your always insightful posts on other threads, when you feel able to return to the boards.