Don Quixote's literary "stock"

The immortal Don makes numerous speeches throughout the novel, one of the most notable in Part II (for me, at least) occurs near the beginning (I forget the chapter) when he expounds on why he decided initially to become a knight-errant, what knight-errantry means to him and to the world, and what he hopes to accomplish. These digressions are one of the reasons the novel is so valuable: they help make it “literary” and enduring. Ray Bradbury, in the Coda of Fahrenheit 451, writes that, “Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine, the life, the soul of reading!” (178), a quote that has stuck with me since I first encountered it. These digressions seem much more prevalent in older novels such as Don Quixote, The Brothers Karamazov, Les Miserables, Madame Bovary, etc., as characters wax philosophic about matters of consequence more in the lives of the readers than in the lives of the fictitious novel characters. Don Quixote is filled with these digressions, and engaging with Cervantes on such a level adds another dimension of enjoyment to the novel. For him to have written such digressions when novel-writing was in its infancy is impressive, though it might only have been second nature for a playwright such as he.

Another reason the book might be so highly considered are the rhetorical devices and strategies Cervantes employs. His characters strive to convince each other, persuading this or that character toward a particular belief. The arguments adopted by his characters are ingenious and not a little persuasive. For him to develop arguments that are logical and emotional, inductive and deductive, while appealing to the pragmatic senses, the heart, and the mind, is very impressive. Homer employs such argumentative techniques in The Iliad as well. Also, Cervantes (and Homer, too) frequently employs conceits and other extended metaphors as persuasive analogies (a mark of genius, if Aristotle is to be believed). From a rhetorical standpoint, the novel is brilliant.

Finally, the sheer size and scope of the novel must be considered. It is epic in many ways and attempts to satirize (quite successfully) the entire literary genre of romances which, at the time of the novel, was pervasive and popular (or so I gather). The novel is enormously long (especially for its time period) and highly contextual, incorporating intelligent literary references that illustrate a well-read, discerning mind.

All-in-all, I am becoming more and more impressed with it. Will it make my top twenty? I think it has already. My top ten? We shall see. Comments?