Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Candide by Voltaire

15 reviews

buildingtaste's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Amazing how I get so fed up with modern authors for going too fast through plot developments or not reasonably establishing the world, meanwhile Voltaire can be like "and then they went to South America for a bit" and I'll say "wow ok Francois where are you going with this one?" and the answer is "never mind that; we need to tend our garden."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Colonisation, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Antisemitism, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Islamophobia

Not sure I covered all the things that go down in this book, pretty much every chapter has some absolutely abysmal content.

kaitlin2749's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was intellectually stimulating. Voltaire engages the reader through a story in which he is able to weave philosophical beliefs about optimism. The novel is dark and cynical at times, but the conclusion brings all the events together to make a point that life is not perfect, we all have our own struggles that happen for a reason. These struggles will shape us, but we need not become obsessed with them. Rather, we just need to “cultivate our own garden.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Rape, Death, Violence, Torture, Classism, and Colonisation

breaktheshell's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

somewhat funny. tbh there's not much reason to read it if you don't have a solid grasp on enlightenment philosophy, which i don't, and so a lot of the jokes didn't really land. at least it's short?

(the answer to the "Would you say the cast of characters is diverse?" question is "It's complicated" because it is but you will wish it wasn't lol)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Antisemitism, and Colonisation

Moderate: War

Minor: Rape and Slavery

erica_palmisano's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read this first in college and decided to reread because (a) I was 1 book shy of my goal for 2021 and (b) it was on my shelf, and (c) I liked it the last time I read it. There was more racism than I remembered (typical white lady me), and lots of fast-moving violence, but so much of the writing still made me chuckle and marvel a few times. And "tending one's garden" has more allure than when I was 20. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

pearrots's review

dark funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Drug abuse