Published in 1605, this is a Spanish classic about a man who is so obsessed with reading stories of chivalric romance which were popular at the time that he goes mad, and begins to roam the countryside believing that he himself is a knight.

Look, I gave it an honest go. This is a monstrously wordy book. It can take pages and pages and pages just for a character to declare they are angry about something.

The female characters were the most interesting to me, but they didn’t feature enough to keep me going.

I appreciate the enormous historical weight of this book, but I couldn’t keep trudging through it. Enough was enough.

You don’t have to read everything, life’s too short.

I am happy I read enough of this to get the smug satisfaction of recognising references to it in other books and film.

I wouldn’t mind consuming this story in another medium like theatre or film, or finding a modern version where someone has watched so many superhero films they believe themselves to be a superhero.

Note to myself: If you ever want to continue reading this, you left off at Chapter 31.

2 out of 5 faithful donkeys.

---

More reviews here

---