I had never gotten around to reading this short work. It is one of Voltaire's most famous works; one of the more famous works in Western literature. It is a satire; among other things, he was reacting to the optimism of Leibniz, who considered that God had placed us in the best of all possible worlds.Voltaire notes all of the suffering and bad behavior that the world always features; current events included the Seven Years War and the Lisbon earthquake (which happened on Sunday, resulting in the roasting of many churchgoers in the fires that followed the quake (including those not killed in the collapse of the churches)).
Candide is candid and pretty much retains his optimism despite going through some amazingly tough times, starting with being kicked out of the house and being pressed into the Bulgarian army. (Optimism had been instilled in him by his tutor, Pangloss, a Leibniz adherent (at least for awhile)).
All sorts of messaging; all sorts of controversy as he fairly directly criticized governments, royal houses, organized religion, etc.
Lots of philosophical debate among Candide, Pangloss, Martin. Voltaire is pointing out this leads to a dead end. Yet the ending of the story is very positive - great line from Candide as he snuffs another philosophical debate: "
'Tis well said," replied Candide, "but we must cultivate our gardens."The "Modern Library" version was neat - included the setting and illustrations from a 1920s edition.
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