Candide (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781530643981)

It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply "optimism") by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best" in the "best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterised by its sarcastic tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious Bildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.

Author: Voltaire
ISBN-10: 1530643988
ISBN-13: 9781530643981
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 03/20/2016
Pages: 180
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.38d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 7.3
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 28450 / Candide