Voltaire's Candide

English language

Published Nov. 21, 1985

ISBN:
978-0-8120-3505-6
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3 stars (3 reviews)

Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man, whose tutor, Pangloss, has instilled in him the belief that 'all is for the best'. But when his love for the Baron's rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered, Candide is cast out to make his own way in the world.

And so he and his various companions begin a breathless tour of Europe, South America and Asia, as an outrageous series of disasters befall them - earthquakes, syphilis, a brush with the Inquisition, murder - sorely testing the young hero's optimism.

103 editions

Review of 'Candide' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

If you can imagine a smooth blend of the Book of Job, Dante's Inferno, Cervantes' Don Quixote and Butler's Erewhon, with the addition of a heavy dollop of extra absurdity, you are getting close to the nature of Candide. That absurdity is what makes the tale funny and without it, it would be an unpaletable concoction.

There is a good deal of social and political satire, something I often find to be a little weak; it's easy to point and laugh, harder to say what might be better. Voltaire, does however, offer some kind of alternative that he thinks is better than what he is lampooning, which is greatly to his credit.

I suppose I should explain how Candide relates to the other works mentioned above:
It's like Don Quixote in that the protagonist is frequently physically abused and this is used as broad humour and also in that the …