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ultimatekate's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book before in French class in college, and when I picked it up again to prep for the new class I'm teaching, I realized I couldn't get through it. Maybe it's just my mindset now...I don't know. I know it's a classic and all, but I just couldn't get into this book again.
phlegmie's review
3.0
I was kinda annoyed with the irony of this book, yet, surprisingly, I'm still a fan. Candide is a short but brilliant book by no other than Voltaire and it's basically about Candide, our young and dashing protagonist, and his search for Cunegonde.
The main lesson of this story is "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds", which is just a fancy way of saying that everything has a reason. I have to say, the quote gave me a spoonful of optimism for 10 minutes.. As much as I hate spoilers as much as you guys, I just can't take it anymore.
Candide found El Dorado where the people are all goody-two-shoes and let Candide take their 'useless' pavements which are, er, made out of gold, and some precious items which costs five times than your Lamborghini. So, Candide and his smartass friend whom I forgot the name heads off to find the gorgeous lady our protagonist is crazy with. At first, he thought it was going to be easy since they now have more money than two empires put together, however, they are just too 'smart' for their own good (they lost half of their riches) and no sooner had lost the lot.
Oh, the story ended with a happy note, don't worry. Candide found the love of his life, the woman whom he devoted his journey to, the beautiful and hot damsel who's the reason for this book's existence in the first place - but she's not exactly the way she was before, er, physically.
Candide found her in a farm: old, dark, wrinkly and well, unattractive. The woman who was pretty vain and coquettish in the first few pages has never seen herself in the mirror which explains why she doesn' care. And thus, the story was put to an uplifting close as Candide's friend reminded him that "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" and if it weren't for all the mishaps and crazy misfortunes which was the product of their stupidity in the first place, they wouldn't be there in that ratty old farm, eating some sort of nut for crissakes to their heart's content. Ah, happiness.
The main lesson of this story is "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds", which is just a fancy way of saying that everything has a reason. I have to say, the quote gave me a spoonful of optimism for 10 minutes.. As much as I hate spoilers as much as you guys, I just can't take it anymore.
Candide found El Dorado where the people are all goody-two-shoes and let Candide take their 'useless' pavements which are, er, made out of gold, and some precious items which costs five times than your Lamborghini. So, Candide and his smartass friend whom I forgot the name heads off to find the gorgeous lady our protagonist is crazy with. At first, he thought it was going to be easy since they now have more money than two empires put together, however, they are just too 'smart' for their own good (they lost half of their riches) and no sooner had lost the lot.
Oh, the story ended with a happy note, don't worry. Candide found the love of his life, the woman whom he devoted his journey to, the beautiful and hot damsel who's the reason for this book's existence in the first place - but she's not exactly the way she was before, er, physically.
Candide found her in a farm: old, dark, wrinkly and well, unattractive. The woman who was pretty vain and coquettish in the first few pages has never seen herself in the mirror which explains why she doesn' care. And thus, the story was put to an uplifting close as Candide's friend reminded him that "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" and if it weren't for all the mishaps and crazy misfortunes which was the product of their stupidity in the first place, they wouldn't be there in that ratty old farm, eating some sort of nut for crissakes to their heart's content. Ah, happiness.
loganmj's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There's a lot to say about this book, none of which I feel fully qualified to say in my less-than-educated position.
It is a book that, at a time when this was most deplorable, took a look at the world and decided it did not like what it saw.
It is, nearly, a pure philosophy book. One that wrestles with itself, tries on the hats of several alternatives, then ultimately decides that maybe some questions are better left unanswered.
During all this, the book is constantly, wryly, laugh-out-loud funny. The author goes out of his way too lampoon everything and everyone, taking great cathartic pleasure in stabbing his pen at the world around him.
I would recommend this heartily. This is a book that will take several reads to fully digest, and will require the looking up of certain words, names references, and historical contexts. Thankfully, it is not a long book, and should be easy to rifle through if one so desires.
It is a book that, at a time when this was most deplorable, took a look at the world and decided it did not like what it saw.
It is, nearly, a pure philosophy book. One that wrestles with itself, tries on the hats of several alternatives, then ultimately decides that maybe some questions are better left unanswered.
During all this, the book is constantly, wryly, laugh-out-loud funny. The author goes out of his way too lampoon everything and everyone, taking great cathartic pleasure in stabbing his pen at the world around him.
I would recommend this heartily. This is a book that will take several reads to fully digest, and will require the looking up of certain words, names references, and historical contexts. Thankfully, it is not a long book, and should be easy to rifle through if one so desires.
fantine525's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
So much happened, how is it only 150 pages? The plot of this book shows, that the world is a horrible and cruel place, everything bad that can possibly happen does happen to the characters and yet the ending is a rather optimistic one. Crazy. I can’t wait to discuss it with my mum.
foxtayle's review
4.0
I enjoyed the plot of the book, but the ending was extremely disappointing. He traverses the entire planet to be reunited with the love of his life, only to reject her because he thinks she is ugly? Perhaps it is a critique of pessimism, though I'm still pretty disappointed either way. I also definitely did not expect Voltaire to be as antisemitic as he was in this book.
thepeculiarlibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
bgick's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
8797999's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this book, I would say it was amazing but a very solid and amusing book. To me reading it it reminded me a bit of Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene. Completely different books but felt similar to me, especially Candide and his various pairings to the Monsignor and Mayor.
A short book but does pack a lot in it and I would happily read it again.
A short book but does pack a lot in it and I would happily read it again.
emmalemonnz's review
2.0
I struggle with satirical novels in general, and I find this outdated style of writing tedious. It's hard to become engaged in the story.
I enjoyed the ideas in the story, but not passionately, and there wasn't anything else to enjoy.
I enjoyed the ideas in the story, but not passionately, and there wasn't anything else to enjoy.