Q&A: Translating one of the great works of literature, "Don Quixote"

Did you find any linguistically incompatible concepts in translating Spanish into English? And if you did, how did you reconcile the final version you published?

I'm not sure what you mean by "linguistically incompatible concepts." I think most concepts are translatable, even if some specific words may not be. One of the reasons I used footnotes was to explain certain puns and word plays, as well as to clarify allusions and references that might have been obscure for contemporary readers.

Don Quixote is often called the first modern novel. Without getting too academic, would you share a few reasons why you agree or disagree with that statement.

I agree that "Don Quixote" is the first modern novel. The primary reason, I think, is that the central characters grow, develop, and change. At the end of the book Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are not who they were at the beginning. They are influenced by each other, by the people they meet, by what happens to them; they affect the world, and the world has an impact on them. This may be at the heart of narrative realism, and you could make a case for realism (what Cervantes called "verisimilitude," the lack of which was the reason for his attack on books of chivalry) as the great constant in the western novelistic tradition.

The human condition presents us with examples, and/or experiences, of brutality that seem to overwhelm us. There are many cruel scenes in "Don Quixote." Isn't part of Cervantes' genius (and a precursor of the tremendous versatility of the novel as a genre) in the way he considers life's hardships through the sensibility of both Sancho and Don Quixote? Is it that somehow tragedy seems more understandable when shared?

The novel has always been a kind of mixed genre, with humor, joy, comedy, brutality, sadness, and tragedy appearing in the same work. I don't mean brief comic interludes in a tragedy (the gravediggers in "Hamlet," for instance); rather, I think an almost inseparable combination of these elements is intrinsic to the structure of the novel.

If you were pressed, however arbitrarily, what do you think are the two greatest similarities between the times of Don Quixote and Sancho in the 16th century and today? The two greatest differences?

The similarities between the 16th century and today: the nature of human beings has not changed. Their reactions are recognizable. In both cases the times were (or are) turbulent, dangerous, and in transition. The differences: modern technology, especially in communications, has changed the world drastically; in the industrialized world at least, the majority of people are literate. As a consequence, the oral tradition at Sancho's disposal is becoming - or already may be - extinct.

In Harold Bloom's introduction to your translation of "Don Quixote," the renowned critic compares Cervantes to Shakespeare. In your opinion, how legitimate is this comparison?

I think the comparison of Cervantes to Shakespeare is valid. Each created archetypal figures that still resonate today; each wrote lines and invented characters known to people who have never read their works; each created literary worlds that teem with life and relevance. I find it fascinating that musical theater has dipped into their works for inspiration ("Kiss Me Kate," "West Side Story," "Man of La Mancha" come immediately to mind).

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