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A review by l_nolastname
Candide by Voltaire
2.0
2.5/5
When I began reading this book I was unaware that Voltaire was a satirist, and so I disliked it immensely. I dislike it a bit less now, but not enough to recommended it to anyone, except perhaps to my enemies.
I kept thinking that when this book was written, that the French had yet to master plot and storytelling, why? Because every chapter began with a concise sentence that summed up what would be told over the following pages, and I didn’t see the point of expounding on said intro, when it had already been concisely summed up. It’s redundant as fukk, and who has the time for that?
So after a week and getting no further than a third way through, I kind of gave up on it. The only reason I even picked this book back up was because I’m bound and determined to conquer the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, and I can’t be the victor less I finished this horrendously dull novella.
The only shining light was the chapter on Eldorado. It told of a land untouched by the white man and as such was free from their wickedness. It was refreshing to see indigenous peoples portrayed in a shining light as opposed to being relegated to the role of the savage. Especially when he portrayed Black and Jewish people in an incredibly racist light. Disgustingly so, and quite frankly I deal with enough racism and microaggression in my real life that I don’t feel the need to subject myself to it during my free time.
In the end after all of Candice’s trial and tribulations he and his crew learn nothing, gain nothing, and are therefore not better off than when they started. Candide is a pointless, plotless story; perhaps this book is a lesson in futility, it certainly felt this way while I was reading it.
Honestly this book should take like two-hours to read, and hopefully now that you know, you too can finish it quickly instead of taking ten-weeks.
When I began reading this book I was unaware that Voltaire was a satirist, and so I disliked it immensely. I dislike it a bit less now, but not enough to recommended it to anyone, except perhaps to my enemies.
I kept thinking that when this book was written, that the French had yet to master plot and storytelling, why? Because every chapter began with a concise sentence that summed up what would be told over the following pages, and I didn’t see the point of expounding on said intro, when it had already been concisely summed up. It’s redundant as fukk, and who has the time for that?
So after a week and getting no further than a third way through, I kind of gave up on it. The only reason I even picked this book back up was because I’m bound and determined to conquer the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, and I can’t be the victor less I finished this horrendously dull novella.
The only shining light was the chapter on Eldorado. It told of a land untouched by the white man and as such was free from their wickedness. It was refreshing to see indigenous peoples portrayed in a shining light as opposed to being relegated to the role of the savage. Especially when he portrayed Black and Jewish people in an incredibly racist light. Disgustingly so, and quite frankly I deal with enough racism and microaggression in my real life that I don’t feel the need to subject myself to it during my free time.
In the end after all of Candice’s trial and tribulations he and his crew learn nothing, gain nothing, and are therefore not better off than when they started. Candide is a pointless, plotless story; perhaps this book is a lesson in futility, it certainly felt this way while I was reading it.
Honestly this book should take like two-hours to read, and hopefully now that you know, you too can finish it quickly instead of taking ten-weeks.