I will be a finisher!

Hooray for progress!  :)  I am now 35 chapters into Don Quixote and about 35% through the book.  I have just under 100 chapters left though...  :P  I figure, if I can read at least three chapters a day I can be done in a month.  That is my new goal.  If sooner, all the better!  If longer, well...  at least I'll finish it.  I'm determined to be a finisher, especially when it comes to books.  I work very hard to try and teach my girls to be finishers too.

Today my four-year-old finished reading (by herself!) a 113 page, 23 chapter, picture-less book.  (The Tale of Jolly Robin.)  Was it a good book?  Absolutely.  Was it a mistake to have her read by herself
 it so young?  Probably.  Will we be doing it again?  Not for a while.  But it was still an awesome experience to have her learn that she can do hard things and finish them!

In that same spirit, I am beyond determined to not only eventually finish Don Quixote, but to finish it in relatively good time.  I feel encouraged by the fact that having looked at all the other books on the Well-Educated Mind list, none of them are NEARLY as long as Don Quixote, (except for maybe Anna Karenina, but I've already read that one.)  So, if I can just plow my way through this first novel, I will be golden for the rest of the books.

My current thoughts on Don Quixote:

I can tell that a main focus of the story is the close but complicated relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.  I have already found myself identifying echoes through time of that type of relationship, such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.  I will probably write more on this theme later.

Another train of thought that has stuck with me as I've read is that this book is all about madness in it's different forms and varieties.  There's the obvious insanity of Don Quixote, but you can't help wondering as you read, "Is he really crazy?   Or is he just acting like it?"  I've considered the possibility that he has just decided that he wants a little adventure before his life comes to a close.  And then there is the foolishness of Sancho Panza.  He is simple-minded and easily swayed.  There is the insanity of Cardenio after being wronged by his friend and supposedly by his lover.  The list I'm sure could go on.  Hopefully this idea will be easier to flesh out and elaborate upon later.

Overall, I'm finding Don Quixote to be increasingly enjoyable and there is more of a flow to the read than before.  I'm hoping I've gotten over the hardest hump, those first however-many-chapters that you have to wade through before you become truly engaged in any book.  I'm still looking forward to the downward slide that comes later on when the end is in sight and the momentum carries you through to the finish.