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funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
The delicious thought vomit of an old man disenchanted with life and those who pretend to love it.
For a book full of characters you just want to beat over the head with plywood, Voltaire's Candide does an expert job of doing it for you AND letting you watch. Although some of the satire loses its sharp bite in light of more modern trends and philosophies, the book nevertheless speaks to some idiocies that still abound and brutally shoots down some commonly held beliefs (i.e. that people and the world they inhabit are by nature "good"). And by brutally I mean brutally. This is excellent misanthropic satire, not really intended to tell a story or capture real characters or plot or spark true emotion with the endless plights it details. The glorious inanity of the book's final line is alone worth the proceeding 90 pages, even as it gives you the conspiratorial wink, a literary reflection of Voltaire's two hundred year old face, to let you know you're not exempt from the joke. Brilliant.
For a book full of characters you just want to beat over the head with plywood, Voltaire's Candide does an expert job of doing it for you AND letting you watch. Although some of the satire loses its sharp bite in light of more modern trends and philosophies, the book nevertheless speaks to some idiocies that still abound and brutally shoots down some commonly held beliefs (i.e. that people and the world they inhabit are by nature "good"). And by brutally I mean brutally. This is excellent misanthropic satire, not really intended to tell a story or capture real characters or plot or spark true emotion with the endless plights it details. The glorious inanity of the book's final line is alone worth the proceeding 90 pages, even as it gives you the conspiratorial wink, a literary reflection of Voltaire's two hundred year old face, to let you know you're not exempt from the joke. Brilliant.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Candide is one of the funniest classics I’ve ever read.
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Surprisingly funny and entertaining.
“I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?”
“You're a bitter man," said Candide.
That's because I've lived," said Martin.”
“I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?”
“You're a bitter man," said Candide.
That's because I've lived," said Martin.”
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
White guy travels the world to find himself.