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adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
feb 2024 update: +1 star from last time i read it . gonna go cultivate my garden now
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You think you've been dealt an unfortunate hand of cards? Read Candide.
For a book written about 300 years ago, its amazing how much the world REALLY hasn't changed that much. Candide, Or The Optimist is a naive young dude who is repeatedly dealt blow after blow of the most ridiculously sad and hilarious circumstances. He goes in search of his one true love but really he's in search of what he truly believes about the world and what it all means. Along the way meets a cast of characters who have all experienced quite a ridiculous life themselves and so they go tromping about for 140ish pages in the craziest circumstances trying to survive all the while philosophizing the question of What is truly the meaning of life, what makes one happy, do we have any real control over what happens to us and ultimately the pros and cons of blind optimism. It is silly and 100% satire, but tackles some hard topics like bigotry, misogyny/sexual violence against women, religon, the love of money and even some political corruption. I can see why Voltaire is considered one of the wittiest & cleverest writers of his time.
For a book written about 300 years ago, its amazing how much the world REALLY hasn't changed that much. Candide, Or The Optimist is a naive young dude who is repeatedly dealt blow after blow of the most ridiculously sad and hilarious circumstances. He goes in search of his one true love but really he's in search of what he truly believes about the world and what it all means. Along the way meets a cast of characters who have all experienced quite a ridiculous life themselves and so they go tromping about for 140ish pages in the craziest circumstances trying to survive all the while philosophizing the question of What is truly the meaning of life, what makes one happy, do we have any real control over what happens to us and ultimately the pros and cons of blind optimism. It is silly and 100% satire, but tackles some hard topics like bigotry, misogyny/sexual violence against women, religon, the love of money and even some political corruption. I can see why Voltaire is considered one of the wittiest & cleverest writers of his time.
-Qu'est-ce qu'optimisme? disait Cacambo. -Hélas! dit Candide, c'est la rage de soutenir que tout est bien quand on est mal.
e nesas andamos que nin pola ventana me podo tirar que é un primeiro
e nesas andamos que nin pola ventana me podo tirar que é un primeiro
I loved it. A masterful 18th century shitposting by none other than our own savvy Voltaire, with his low-key sassiness attacking Leibniz's optimism (his christian stance, and that we live in the best possible world of all worlds), through a fun satirical narrative of the young Candide, who incessantly goes through a deluge of shit storms (sometimes quite literally), and loses everything and everyone he loves in the most inhumane ways, then he laments and cry his misfortune but still maintains (this is where it supposedly gets "hilarious") an optimistic attitude "tout est au mieux".
He eventually regains what he had, in a sort of settlement, and decides--he and his company of friends who had gone through horrible tragedies, to cater to their garden and not mind the world (now that's one funny satire).
This is where Voltaire's "I spit on your optimism" allegories come in: he makes the protagonist go through all the historical landmarks between 1700 and 1800 of the worst natural disasters (the devastating earthquake in Lisbon), wars (seven years' war), religious extremism (the portuguese auto-da-fé where they burn people alive), pirates, robberies...then make him--Candide being the bland and naive --pause at each of these events to reconsider his philosophical teachings "Que l'on vit dans le meilleur des mondes possibles".
Pangloss, Candide's philosophy tutor, as a portrayal of Leibniz's Théodicée:
"Pangloss disait quelquefois à Candide : Tous les événements sont enchaînés dans le meilleur des mondes possibles ; car enfin si vous n’aviez pas été chassé d’un beau château à grands coups de pied dans le derrière pour l’amour de mademoiselle Cunégonde, si vous n’aviez pas été mis à l’Inquisition, si vous n’aviez pas couru l’Amérique à pied, si vous n’aviez pas donné un bon coup d’épée au baron, si vous n’aviez pas perdu tous vos moutons du bon pays d’Eldorado, vous ne mangeriez pas ici des cédrats confits et des pistaches."
To which Candide replied:
"Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin."
His conclusion; a response mocking optimism in action: let a man cultivate his garden, and let the world spin with this godly schematics.
I tried to give this a serious review, I tried. But as it is with classics, there are always preset interpretations and historical revisions made to “teach” you what the book is all about, what are the meaning of its metaphors, what you should analyse and what are the motives behind its writing etc.
Candide is a fun book, a lazy afternoon read, yet fast-paced and amusing, appreciable by early post-modern readers.
He eventually regains what he had, in a sort of settlement, and decides--he and his company of friends who had gone through horrible tragedies, to cater to their garden and not mind the world (now that's one funny satire).
This is where Voltaire's "I spit on your optimism" allegories come in: he makes the protagonist go through all the historical landmarks between 1700 and 1800 of the worst natural disasters (the devastating earthquake in Lisbon), wars (seven years' war), religious extremism (the portuguese auto-da-fé where they burn people alive), pirates, robberies...then make him--Candide being the bland and naive --pause at each of these events to reconsider his philosophical teachings "Que l'on vit dans le meilleur des mondes possibles".
Pangloss, Candide's philosophy tutor, as a portrayal of Leibniz's Théodicée:
"Pangloss disait quelquefois à Candide : Tous les événements sont enchaînés dans le meilleur des mondes possibles ; car enfin si vous n’aviez pas été chassé d’un beau château à grands coups de pied dans le derrière pour l’amour de mademoiselle Cunégonde, si vous n’aviez pas été mis à l’Inquisition, si vous n’aviez pas couru l’Amérique à pied, si vous n’aviez pas donné un bon coup d’épée au baron, si vous n’aviez pas perdu tous vos moutons du bon pays d’Eldorado, vous ne mangeriez pas ici des cédrats confits et des pistaches."
To which Candide replied:
"Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin."
His conclusion; a response mocking optimism in action: let a man cultivate his garden, and let the world spin with this godly schematics.
I tried to give this a serious review, I tried. But as it is with classics, there are always preset interpretations and historical revisions made to “teach” you what the book is all about, what are the meaning of its metaphors, what you should analyse and what are the motives behind its writing etc.
Candide is a fun book, a lazy afternoon read, yet fast-paced and amusing, appreciable by early post-modern readers.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sometimes you really do just have to cultivate your own garden
funny
reflective
fast-paced