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I can appreciate that this must have been really something in it's time but...
Snarky satire is amusing in small doses, but it tires quickly.
I found this book much more enjoyable and enlightening than I thought I would. I thought 18th century French literature would be harder to read. Or that I would be lost without knowing the pre-revolutionary ideas being satirized.
But that was not the case! It was actually quite easy to read, as well as an entertaining and humorous adventure story on its own, even without looking for deeper meaning. (Not that you have to look terribly deep, Voltaire isn't subtle.)
Also, the ideas presented in the book are still relevant. Despite being brought up to believe that "this is the best of all possible worlds" and "all is well", nearly everyone Candide meets believes they have had the unluckiest, most most miserable life. People who seem happy at first, aren't really, and everyone seems to wallow in self-pity instead of being grateful for what they do have.
My favorite part is near the end, after a series of most unfortunate events, the adventurers are sitting around wondering which is worse, being bored or being robbed/raped/enslaved/nearly murdered/etc. Ha!
They finally meet someone who seems satisfied with his life and when asked, he tells them he simply works on tending his own garden. They try this and find that getting on with the things that need doing is better than sitting around "philosophising" about which causes led to effect their miseries or if other people were better or worse off than them, etc.
But that was not the case! It was actually quite easy to read, as well as an entertaining and humorous adventure story on its own, even without looking for deeper meaning. (Not that you have to look terribly deep, Voltaire isn't subtle.)
Also, the ideas presented in the book are still relevant. Despite being brought up to believe that "this is the best of all possible worlds" and "all is well", nearly everyone Candide meets believes they have had the unluckiest, most most miserable life. People who seem happy at first, aren't really, and everyone seems to wallow in self-pity instead of being grateful for what they do have.
My favorite part is near the end, after a series of most unfortunate events, the adventurers are sitting around wondering which is worse, being bored or being robbed/raped/enslaved/nearly murdered/etc. Ha!
They finally meet someone who seems satisfied with his life and when asked, he tells them he simply works on tending his own garden. They try this and find that getting on with the things that need doing is better than sitting around "philosophising" about which causes led to effect their miseries or if other people were better or worse off than them, etc.
Sabem aquele vosso amigo que podia ter um raio a cair-lhe em cima e mesmo assim olhar pelo lado positivo da situação? Este livro é sobre o vosso amigo.
“ Que é isso de optismo? – perguntou Cacambu.
- Ai! – respondeu Cândido – é a teimosia de sustentar que tudo está bem quando tudo está mal.
“ Que é isso de optismo? – perguntou Cacambu.
- Ai! – respondeu Cândido – é a teimosia de sustentar que tudo está bem quando tudo está mal.
2.5/5
It's sheer coincidence that this year's reading challenges led me to not only read Voltaire's famous work, but will eventually guide me to one of the nonfiction pieces written on his life, in the form of [b:Voltaire in Love|19392|Voltaire in Love|Nancy Mitford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388592943l/19392._SY75_.jpg|1040208] as penned by [a:Nancy Mitford|11624|Nancy Mitford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1554662638p2/11624.jpg]. After that, I imagine I'll be perfectly happy to return to experiencing Voltaire secondhand in the annals of history books and in the mentions of other writers, contemporaneous or otherwise, as while his attitude towards the major paradigms of his day and further on were enough to threaten his body with execution and his statues with destruction (the Nazis melted his one in the Pantheon down during occupation, along with those of Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French general and father of Alexandre Dumas père, one of the few Black writers to be included in many a Eurocentric list of literature even to this day), the world as a whole has outgrown much of what he had to say, largely much for the better. It's all well and good to stand on the shoulders of giants when it comes to working towards a better tomorrow, but knowing what I do about the general field of 'critical' thinking as it is defined in the mainstream, Voltaire is the perfect example of someone who's more often wielded as a defense for general inhumanity than as a torch for the road ahead. As such, now that I've finally gotten to this work, I'm glad I didn't follow my classmate's advice, even if it were done for reasons completely outside the realm of what the book was actually about. Not only would I have understood barely anything as to what the point was, but I would also have been saddled with so much of that nonsense that I've had to spend the last several years unpacking so as to not continue being one of those sleek, well-fed bigots that pass for good US citizens these days. It wasn't as bad as some of the other works that I've let lie around until I considered myself immune enough to their status quo charms, but still. I'm glad it was short.
"But is there not a pleasure," said Candide, "in criticising everything, in pointing out faults where others see nothing but beauties?"One of the few memories I have of high school is of a fellow student enthusiastically recommending that I read Candide. At the time, I had a variety of reasons for not doing so. One, I knew the student to be not much in the way of a reader, and figured that this change in character had more to do with the text's brevity than anything else. Two, the only reason why this work came up as a possibility was due the combination of our mutual English teacher's strict demands with regards to outside reading and the breed of skeleton key the teacher had provided out of, I'm sure, a mixed sense of pity, compassion, and no small amount sadism: a variation on the theme of 100 works to read before college, of which Candide was a representative member. Three, while my young academic colleague had obviously gone with the strategy of getting works over with as quickly as possible, I was much more concerned with doing as few of the post-book writeups as possible while still fulfilling the minimum page requirement for combined reads, and anything under 200 pages was considered a waste of time. So I passed over this work, and as the years progressed and I figured out my reading tastes under circumstances more pleasant than assigned school reading, the combination of my general intolerance for most of what calls itself 'satire' and an abiding preference for the longer works of literature meant that this piece was relegated to the backburner for more than a decade. Having chosen this year to finally rip off the band aid of vague assumptions and general ignorance, I found exotification and roiling antisemitism, but also a measure of genuine compassion for various demographics who continue to be violently dehumanized today. Not perfect, then, but not useless, either.
"That is to say," replied Martin, "that there is some pleasure in having no pleasure."
When we work at the sugarcanes, and the mill snatches hold of a finger, they cut off the hand; and when we attempt to run away, they cut off the leg; both cases have happened to me. This is the price at which you eat sugar in Europe. [...] The Dutch fetiches, who have converted me, declare every Sunday that we are all of us children of Adam—blacks as well as whites. I am not a genealogist, but if these preachers tell truth, we are all second cousins. Now, you must agree, that it is impossible to treat one's relations in a more barbarous manner.Short as this work is, it took some time to warm up in my estimation. The first forty pages or so details a tale of war, rape, nation hopping, and general misfortune, as Candide escapes by the skin of his teeth many a torturous instance of violence that progressively take out his love, his mentor, and the general society in which he had some measure of biological prestige. Stereotypes abound of the classic pre-19th c. Euro-colonial world paradigm variety, and, much as it is today, decrying of religious abuses is used as a white liberal excuse for some of the most vociferous bigotry the text lays claim to. Eventually, the main character's fortune-saving voyage to El Dorado marks a turning point in this chaotic tale of woe, and while there are still many sufferings to undergo and many a country to briefly pass through, the narrative is now permanently turned towards the realms that Voltaire actually has some knowledge of: Europe, namely France, namely Paris. Soon after the plot gives Voltaire the chance to express his anti-slavery stance, the characters are tumbled into the mid 18th c. realm of French religion, French writers, French critics, French ideological conflicts, and French sex workers, and here, the author has some some further actually intelligent, actually compassionate things to say about most of all these topics, especially, surprisingly, with regards the last. By the end, Voltaire is characterizing a Muslim family in a humanizing fashion (although this apparently isn't served out by his general attitude on Islam as a whole) and equating happiness to people living in working harmony in what could easily be called an anarchist commune, which was a good enough conclusion for me to rate the work as a whole accordingly. Due to my preference for satire outweighing my preference for being amused in these sorts of matters, I never outright laughed, and I have little to no interest in reading anything else the author has to his name. I will, however, give credit where credit is due.
It's sheer coincidence that this year's reading challenges led me to not only read Voltaire's famous work, but will eventually guide me to one of the nonfiction pieces written on his life, in the form of [b:Voltaire in Love|19392|Voltaire in Love|Nancy Mitford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388592943l/19392._SY75_.jpg|1040208] as penned by [a:Nancy Mitford|11624|Nancy Mitford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1554662638p2/11624.jpg]. After that, I imagine I'll be perfectly happy to return to experiencing Voltaire secondhand in the annals of history books and in the mentions of other writers, contemporaneous or otherwise, as while his attitude towards the major paradigms of his day and further on were enough to threaten his body with execution and his statues with destruction (the Nazis melted his one in the Pantheon down during occupation, along with those of Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French general and father of Alexandre Dumas père, one of the few Black writers to be included in many a Eurocentric list of literature even to this day), the world as a whole has outgrown much of what he had to say, largely much for the better. It's all well and good to stand on the shoulders of giants when it comes to working towards a better tomorrow, but knowing what I do about the general field of 'critical' thinking as it is defined in the mainstream, Voltaire is the perfect example of someone who's more often wielded as a defense for general inhumanity than as a torch for the road ahead. As such, now that I've finally gotten to this work, I'm glad I didn't follow my classmate's advice, even if it were done for reasons completely outside the realm of what the book was actually about. Not only would I have understood barely anything as to what the point was, but I would also have been saddled with so much of that nonsense that I've had to spend the last several years unpacking so as to not continue being one of those sleek, well-fed bigots that pass for good US citizens these days. It wasn't as bad as some of the other works that I've let lie around until I considered myself immune enough to their status quo charms, but still. I'm glad it was short.
God has punished the knave, and the devil has drowned the rest.
rating: N/A
Yea... life's a bitch and then you die. So what else is new?
Short satire where Voltaire shits intelligently on Leipzig's philosophy, religion, several european governments and societies in general, and says that he always knew a perfect Matrix wouldn't work. Take that Architect. Should have read some human literature before programming your utopia.
Yea... life's a bitch and then you die. So what else is new?
Short satire where Voltaire shits intelligently on Leipzig's philosophy, religion, several european governments and societies in general, and says that he always knew a perfect Matrix wouldn't work. Take that Architect. Should have read some human literature before programming your utopia.
In eerste instantie deed Candide (1759) me denken aan [b:Don Quichot|9371784|De vernuftige edelman Don Quichot van La Mancha|Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327761146l/9371784._SY75_.jpg|121842]: het is het coming-of-ageverhaal van de jonge Candide, die het kasteel van de baron moet verlaten nadat hij met diens dochter Cunegonda is betrapt en vervolgens de wereld over zwerft op zoek naar zijn geliefde. De luchtigheid waarmee Voltaire de perikelen van zijn hoofdpersoon beschrijft, lijkt sterk op de stijl van Cervantes anderhalve eeuw eerder.
Candide komt echter met een handleiding: het boek is een reflectie op de politiek in het achttiende-eeuwse Europa en steekt de draak met het gezag en de optimistische filosofie van Leibniz.
Behalve de maatschappijkritiek en het weerwoord op de deterministische idee dat voor alles een bevredigende reden bestaat, zijn de verbloemende beschrijvingen van zaken waarop indertijd een taboe rustte, zoals overspel en geslachtsziekten, hoogtepunten van het boek. Na de publicatie ervan moest Voltaire ontkennen het te hebben geschreven om vervolging te voorkomen. Ruim 250 jaar later is het in veel opzichten nog steeds actueel.
Candide komt echter met een handleiding: het boek is een reflectie op de politiek in het achttiende-eeuwse Europa en steekt de draak met het gezag en de optimistische filosofie van Leibniz.
‘Het is bewezen [...] dat alles niet anders kan zijn dan het is. Want omdat alles voor een bepaald doel is gemaakt, is alles noodzakelijkerwijs voor het beste doel gemaakt. Het is duidelijk dat wij voeten hebben om schoenen aan te doen; wij dragen dan ook schoenen. [...] Daarom begaan degenen die beweren dat alles goed is een dwaasheid. Ze zouden moeten zeggen: alles kan gewoon niet beter.’Met dank aan Wikipedia en de voetnoten van vertaler Hans van Pinxteren is de context gelukkig nog te duiden. Zo krijgt Candide – dat ‘onbevangen’ betekent – onmiddellijk na zijn vertrek uit Westfalen (West-Duitsland) te maken met de koning van de Bulgaren, waarna hij in één zin doorreist naar Holland. Dat leek mij niet logisch, maar nu begrijp ik dat Voltaire met de term ‘Bulgaar’ naar het Franse woord ‘bougre’ verwees: het was zijn manier om te zinspelen op de homoseksualiteit van de Pruisische vorst Frederik, met wie hij lange tijd een vriendschap onderhield.
Behalve de maatschappijkritiek en het weerwoord op de deterministische idee dat voor alles een bevredigende reden bestaat, zijn de verbloemende beschrijvingen van zaken waarop indertijd een taboe rustte, zoals overspel en geslachtsziekten, hoogtepunten van het boek. Na de publicatie ervan moest Voltaire ontkennen het te hebben geschreven om vervolging te voorkomen. Ruim 250 jaar later is het in veel opzichten nog steeds actueel.
'Alle gebeurtenissen in deze beste van alle mogelijke werelden staan in verband met elkaar. Want als je niet vanwege je liefde voor freule Cunegonda met harde trappen voor je gat uit een mooi kasteel was weggejaagd, als je niet in handen van de inquisitie was gevallen, als je Amerika niet te voet was doorgetrokken, als je de baron niet met je degen had doorboord en al je schapen uit het goede Eldorado niet was kwijtgeraakt, zat je hier nu geen sukade en pistaches te eten.'
'Dat is mooi gezegd,' antwoordde Candide, 'maar wij moeten onze tuin bewerken.'
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Diterjemahkan dari bahasa Perancis. Terjemahannya enak dibaca.
Candide berkisah tentang seseorang yang lugu (naif) dalam melihat dunia. Rentetan peristiwa dari awal sampai akhir buku membuat kisahnya hidup. Selain itu, banyak satir di dalamnya.
Candide berkisah tentang seseorang yang lugu (naif) dalam melihat dunia. Rentetan peristiwa dari awal sampai akhir buku membuat kisahnya hidup. Selain itu, banyak satir di dalamnya.