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Don Quixote Summary: The Sallies, Scored
Don Quixote summary by sally: every famous adventure scored as what he thinks it is, what it is and what it costs him, with our own counts. Full spoilers.
Classic novel (satire, adventure)
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
A gentleman who thinks he is a knight rides out three times: every famous adventure scored by what he thinks it is, what it is and what it costs him.
★★★★☆ 4 / 5
A very long, very funny book that works best in pieces. The windmill scene is only 488 words of about 403,000, and the real fun is the pattern: he is wrong, an enchanter gets the blame, someone pays. Part Two is sharper and crueler than Part One. Four out of five (draft opinion).
Don Quixote: summary
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
What is Don Quixote about?
Don Quixote is Miguel de Cervantes’s novel about a country gentleman who reads so many chivalry books that he renames himself Don Quixote of La Mancha and rides out as a knight with his neighbor Sancho Panza. Part One appeared in 1605 and Part Two in 1615, according to Wikipedia and Britannica. We use the free Project Gutenberg text, ebook #996, in John Ormsby’s English translation.
Below is a summary built around the three sallies: every famous adventure as what he thinks it is, what it is and what it costs him, plus Sancho’s governorship, the Knight of the White Moon and the death, with counts we ran ourselves (126 chapters, 52 in Part One and 74 in Part Two). Full spoilers.
Read it if
- You want the source of the windmills, Sancho and the Knight of the Mirrors
- You like comic novels that tease their own genre
- You are happy to read in pieces rather than start to finish
Skip it if
- You want a fast plot: it runs about 403,000 words in 126 chapters
- Long inset stories that pause the main plot lose you
- You want one tidy adventure: this is a chain of repeated mistakes
Don Quixote review scorecard
Humor
4.5
Heart
4.5
Part Two payoff
4
Readability
3
Pace
2.5
Average3.7 / 5
Don Quixote: questions people ask
Is Don Quixote worth reading?
A very long, very funny book that works best in pieces. The windmill scene is only 488 words of about 403,000, and the real fun is the pattern: he is wrong, an enchanter gets the blame, someone pays. Part Two is sharper and crueler than Part One. Four out of five (draft opinion). Read it if: you want the source of the windmills, sancho and the knight of the mirrors; you like comic novels that tease their own genre; you are happy to read in pieces rather than start to finish. Skip it if: you want a fast plot: it runs about 403,000 words in 126 chapters; long inset stories that pause the main plot lose you; you want one tidy adventure: this is a chain of repeated mistakes.
Is there a summary of Don Quixote?
Don Quixote summary by sally: every famous adventure scored as what he thinks it is, what it is and what it costs him, with our own counts. Full spoilers. Summary: Don Quixote →
What is Don Quixote about?
A country gentleman of about fifty reads so many chivalry books that he loses his wits, renames himself Don Quixote of La Mancha and rides out three times as a knight, with his neighbor Sancho Panza as squire. He mistakes inns for castles and windmills for giants, and pays for it in beatings.
In which chapter are the windmills?
Chapter 8 of Part One, which is chapter 8 of 126 in the Ormsby translation. The scene runs about 488 words, roughly one word in 800 of the book. The word windmill appears nine times in the whole book, five of them in chapter 8.
How many chapters does Don Quixote have?
In the Ormsby translation on Project Gutenberg (ebook 996) there are 126 chapters: 52 in Part One and 74 in Part Two, about 403,000 words by our count. Part One is about 195,000 words and Part Two about 208,000.
How many sallies does Don Quixote make?
Three. The text itself labels the first sally in Part One chapter 2 and the second in chapter 7, and Part Two opens as the third. By our count the first covers 4 chapters, the second 46 and the third 67.
How does Don Quixote end?
The Knight of the White Moon, who is the bachelor Samson Carrasco in disguise, defeats him in Barcelona and sends him home for a year. A fever follows. He wakes sane, says he is Alonso Quixano the Good, makes his will and dies about three days later.
How long is Sancho's governorship?
Nine chapters in Part Two, 45 to 53. The narrator says it ends on the night of the seventh day, but the majordomo speaks of ten days. Sancho leaves with half a loaf and a cheese.
Which translation do you use?
John Ormsby's, from Project Gutenberg ebook 996. Chapter and word counts follow that text, counting chapter titles and skipping the introduction, prefaces and license.
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