Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Amadis of Gaul, the book that drove Don Quixote mad

This came this morning from my friend, Sue Burke, in Madrid:

In January, I began translating
Amadis of Gaul, a medieval Spanish novel of chivalry that became the Renaissance's first best-seller. You can read a chapter a week at http://amadisofgaul.blogspot.com

The novel tells the story of Amadis, the greatest knight who ever lived, and his adventures and love. The book zoomed to success and quickly spawned dozens of sequels and spin-offs across Europe. A century later, in 1605, it was even satirized by Miguel de Cervantes in "Don Quixote," in which a crazy old man imagines himself a valiant young knight-errant like Amadis.

Courage, combat, romance, sorcery, intrigue, and danger, medieval-style. This novel drove Don Quixote mad. What will it do to you?

(Note: It's Creative Commons 3.0, distribution and derivative works permitted [encouraged], so if it does something creative to you, go for it.)