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Don Quixote sometimes seems tedious because Cervantes was writing at a time in between medieval fiction that had to have religious or philosophical undertones (think Canterbury Tales) and the bold innovation of purely secular fiction for entertainment purposes.
The formulas and style of fiction that we are accustomed to were not yet developed. Don Quixote was written in the short lived style called picaresque (not picturesque). Instead of our familiar intro, plot, climax, ending, a picaresque story is commonly described as a "string of beads." It is a series of short incidents joined together to make a book length volume.
The picaresque style did not last long in literature, because obviously, it is not a very pleasant reading experience. It becomes tedious very quickly, unless you stop and think of each incident as a stand alone story.
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