When first published, Don Quixote was usually interpreted as a comic novel. The book had a major influence on the literary community, as evidenced by direct references in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers (1844), Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), as well as the word quixotic. In the first part of the book, Don Quixote does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story meant for the annals of all time. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's lofty rhetoric. The plot revolves around the adventures of a member of the lowest nobility, an hidalgo from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he either loses or pretends to have lost his mind in order to become a knight-errant ( caballero andante) to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. Don Quixote is also one of the most-translated books in the world and the best-selling novel of all time.

A founding work of Western literature, it is often labelled as the first modern novel and one of the greatest works ever written. Originally published in two parts, in 16, its full title is The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha or, in Spanish, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha (changing in Part 2 to El ingenioso caballero don Quixote de la Mancha). El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha at Spanish Wikisourceĭon Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes.

Tobias smollett don quixote