Don Quixote's Gift

Don Quixote (1605/1615) is widely considered the first modern novel — the origin point from which all subsequent prose fiction descends. An aging gentleman, driven mad by reading too many chivalric romances, rides out to right wrongs with his squire Sancho Panza.

The novel meditates on whether idealism or pragmatism offers a better guide to life. Quixote sees windmills as giants and inn-keepers as lords. Is he mad, or is he the only person brave enough to insist the world should be better than it is?