A Marathon Reading of “Don Quixote” Draws Adventist Participation

Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of Miguel de Cervantes Saavadera’s “Don Quixote,” Julian Melgosa, Ph.D., president of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, or AIIAS, in Cavite, Philippines, participated in a marathon public reading of the epic novel, organized by the Instituto Cervantes of Manila.

“Recent literary analysis shows that Cervantes was well familiar with the Bible’s content and there are many references to the Holy Scriptures in this and other works by him,” said Melgosa in an e-mail message.

The reading drew a wide range of Spanish-speaking participants, Melgosa said: “Some read with Latin American accents, others with the original Castilian sound, [and] others with hardly understandable phonics but [wearing] 16th century attire. I read my four-page part on Saturday night.”

“Don Quixote” is the world’s second-most translated book after the Bible, it is widely reported, and is often acclaimed as the world’s first novel, and one of its best.

Spanish-language Adventist Book Web Site Launched

Aimed at better serving Hispanic customers, Pacific Press, a Seventh-day Adventist publishing house, announced the launch of LibreriaAdventista.com, the Spanish equivalent of the e-commerce Web site AdventistBookCenter.com.

“Everything on LibreriaAdventista.com is in Spanish,” Pacific Press said in a news release. “The site features all Spanish language products, including books, Bibles, music, and magazines. Order fulfillment is handled by the customer’s local Adventist Book Center to save the customer shipping time and cost.”

A “Spanish Book of the Month” is another Web site feature, as well as the option of reading sample chapters of Spanish books.