don quijote reading


i was part of history, so they say, when i joined in the first asian non-stop around-the-clock public reading of "don quijote", the immortal novel of miguel cervantes, for whom instituto cervantes is named after. participants were assigned certain pages from the book to read and were told what time they'd have to be at instituto for the reading (in manila, where it was held). after you read, someone follows agad so it was literally almost non-stop. i read just two pages from the book pero potek it felt like forever! kaka-pressure kasi to read such a great novel in the language it was written in tapos some people actually listen to what you're saying kaya major pressure! add to the fact that the book is written in malalim-spanish so ang hirap talaga, mala-shakespeare type.

i think the entire idea kasi was so cool. it felt so artsy-fartsy in a way but you feel that everyone is just excited to read and just wanted to contribute to the success of the whole thing. the reading began the morning of april 22 with the ambassadors of spain, mexico, chile, and argentina kicking it off (bangas!) and ended two days after on sunday. non-stop! as in kahit 3 AM may nagbabasa pa rin! it's the 400th anniversary kasi of the book so instituto decided to celebrate it with the non-stop reading. great idea. the readers had free paella too and a free shirt too! woopee! i think people should organize more events like these. a non-stop reading of noli me tangere perhaps. this experience of mine was definitely one for the books, pun intended.