You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Voltaire seems more of a provocateur than a philosopher. Well, Philosophy can't be certain. Either god exists, or doesn't. If you base everything over the fact that God exists, then it loses credibility with someone with a different belief, or vice-versa. Fortunately, they both did believe in God, but just the different kind. While Leibniz (Candide's Pangloss) says this is best of all the worlds and everything in it is a necessary evil and God has a reason behind everything, Voltaire thinks God doesn't really care for a pale man with long hair and sharp nose. Voltaire gets the vote because he's funny and can get to the point very quickly, while Leibniz (whom I've to read yet) made millions of students flunk math every year.
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was weird...really weird...
But funny and short so... It was good :D
But funny and short so... It was good :D
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
that poor lady who lost her butt cheek :(
“….y el trabajo nos libra de tres insufribles calamidades: el aburrimiento, el vicio y la necesidad.”
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. I wanted to read Rasselas by Samuel Johnson, but as that was a response to this book I thought I'd read that first. This book is, of course, a satirical response to Leibnitz's theories. These, as far as I can tell, are a kind of militant optimism in the face of the world's good and bad.
Apparently the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 made Voltaire question this Leibnitzian view. He writes about it in a poem too.
So, this is a comedy-philosophy novel. Candide is a young man living a good life and is taught Leibnitz's view by his tutor, Professor Pangloss. Things start to go amiss when he falls in love with Cunégonde, who is the beautiful daughter of the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh. The Baron doesn't approve of the young man and boots him out of the castle and into the streets. Thus begins a series of ridiculous adventures which see our all sorts of terrible things happen to all of the characters in the book: Cunégonde is raped, nearly murdered, sold into slavery, raped etc. They are conned, robbed and whipped.
Good things will happen to them, then bad things. Then good things, then bad things. They meet people who tell them stories, which are also full of bad things. It's almost as if the foolish optimism of Leibnitz fails to take in the real world at all.
I mean it is a ridiculous series of events, as opposed to a plot. There are wild coincidences, people who we think are dead turn out not to be and then are and then aren't again. But all of this is just an excuse for Voltaire to give Leibnitz a good kicking (as well as several other people who he despises.) The writing is crisp, witty and brisk. You don't really have time to get bored as something is always happening and there are some genuinely funny lines scattered throughout. It is here that Voltaire's line about the British executing an Admiral now and then to 'encourage the others' comes from.
This is, of course, a translation. By Sander Berg whose name Alma Books can't find room for on the front cover even thought they can find room for New Translation. Sort it out Alma. It has no introduction but it does have useful notes.
It reminded me of Gulliver's Travels (which I haven't read since I read an abridged edition as a kid) but it has that kind of satirical and cynical take on the world.
That's it. Done.
Apparently the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 made Voltaire question this Leibnitzian view. He writes about it in a poem too.
So, this is a comedy-philosophy novel. Candide is a young man living a good life and is taught Leibnitz's view by his tutor, Professor Pangloss. Things start to go amiss when he falls in love with Cunégonde, who is the beautiful daughter of the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh. The Baron doesn't approve of the young man and boots him out of the castle and into the streets. Thus begins a series of ridiculous adventures which see our all sorts of terrible things happen to all of the characters in the book: Cunégonde is raped, nearly murdered, sold into slavery, raped etc. They are conned, robbed and whipped.
Good things will happen to them, then bad things. Then good things, then bad things. They meet people who tell them stories, which are also full of bad things. It's almost as if the foolish optimism of Leibnitz fails to take in the real world at all.
I mean it is a ridiculous series of events, as opposed to a plot. There are wild coincidences, people who we think are dead turn out not to be and then are and then aren't again. But all of this is just an excuse for Voltaire to give Leibnitz a good kicking (as well as several other people who he despises.) The writing is crisp, witty and brisk. You don't really have time to get bored as something is always happening and there are some genuinely funny lines scattered throughout. It is here that Voltaire's line about the British executing an Admiral now and then to 'encourage the others' comes from.
This is, of course, a translation. By Sander Berg whose name Alma Books can't find room for on the front cover even thought they can find room for New Translation. Sort it out Alma. It has no introduction but it does have useful notes.
It reminded me of Gulliver's Travels (which I haven't read since I read an abridged edition as a kid) but it has that kind of satirical and cynical take on the world.
That's it. Done.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
funny
informative
fast-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