Candide
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Product Description
Candide, or Optimism (1759) written by Voltaire, the bright star of the French Enlightenment, is a biting, hilarious and frequently outrageous satire that pokes philosophical fun at — of all things — the doctrine of optimism.
Candide is a naïve youth stubbornly adhering to the notion that “all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds,” despite being cast into a flood of misfortunes and picaresque misadventures that take him around the world.
Whether Candide and optimism itself emerges unscathed in the end, hinges upon his own deceptively simple words: “let us cultivate our garden.”Amazon.com Review
Political satire doesn’t age well, but occasionally a diatribe contains enough art and universal mirth to survive long after its timeliness has passed. Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the all-purpose reader, the novel’s driving principle is clear enough: the thought (endemic in Voltaire’s day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are really harbingers of a greater excellent we cannot perceive, is hogwash.
Telling the tale of the excellent-natured but star-crossed Candide (reflect Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his like, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide’s tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical excellent cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide’s additional companions permanently supply excellent sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: “I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in like with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be keen to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it quick, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?”–Michael Gerber
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This is a french book. French books are, of course, regularly french, but this one is frencher than most. Ah, Pierrot! Reading this fine french book makes me the sad clown of life. Could Voltaire be any frencher, you question? I doubt it. I am a sad clown, I say. Even when he criticizes the French he does so in a, how do you say, french way. Oui, oui! So come, bring along your Jerry Lewis video tapes and we will read this very french book together. It is frencher than a Quebecer at a Steisand concert. Frencher than Small Richard at an amfAR banquet. Frencher than Richard Simmons at a french pride parade. Read Candide and you too can be a very french sad clown. Sacre Bleu!!!
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
Granted my having read Candide in it’a original French in a highschool French Lit. class may have something to do with my dislike of this novel. But, we read additional books in that class that I loved (Une Si Longe Lettre for one). I can only conlude that it is the book not the class that was so horrible. There are many things detestable about this novel so I will limit my critisicsm to only several aspects: the pot has no coherence, the character developement is not only unbelievable but also banal, the writing style ,although blessedly, terse is childish and unimaginative to say the least. And finally, a qotation I once read said something to this effect: the best novel are persons that are novels not only of the hour but of all time. Candide has no weight to my life or this era what so ever. One more word to persons who wish to deride me as an illiterate teenage who can only process the sound bites of T.V., reflect again. I am an avid reader of all kind of literature including classic literature. And, as an reader who has devoured many books, I say don’t even waste your time considering this novel; there are thousands of far better works! Oh, and I really pity you poor French literature students who will have to read Candide anyway.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
you call this literature?!? I mean come on now, this is a small bit ridiculous. Who can really know this? Not only know it but see where it might have anything to do with us and today’s society!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I disliked the book very fervently. If it was in new style english and brought out the meanings in unadorned words it would have been so much better.
It took me reading somethings 4 or 5 times to know its real meaning, and sometimes after that it still didn’t make sense to me. I did find it weird how the tale from way back at that time is really close to a lot of tales on the Jerry Springer show.
To end my review you would like it if you were into ancient english literature, but thats just not for me.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
aside from it’s hideous ass nauseating take in i liked everything about this book
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5