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Candide Reprint Edition
Author(s): Voltaire (Author), Francois-Marie Arouet (Translator)
- Publisher: Dover Publications, Incorporated
- Publication Date: April 5, 2016
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Print length: 112 pages
- ISBN-10: 9780486266893
- ISBN-13: 9780486266893
Book Description
Caustic and hilarious, Candide has ranked as one of the world’s great satires since its first publication in 1759. It concerns the adventures of the youthful Candide, disciple of Dr. Pangloss, who was himself a disciple of Leibniz. In the course of his travels and adventures in Europe and South America, Candide saw and suffered such misfortune that it was difficult for him to believe this was “the best of all possible worlds” as Dr. Pangloss had assured him. Indeed, it seemed to be quite the opposite. In brilliantly skewering such naïveté, Voltaire mercilessly exposes and satirizes romance, science, philosophy, religion, and government — the ideas and forces that permeate and control the lives of men. After many trials and travails, Candide is reunited with Cunegonde, his sweetheart. He then buys a little farm in Turkey where he and Cunegonde, Dr. Pangloss and others all retire. In the end, Candide decides that the best thing in the world is to cultivate one’s own garden. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Satirical novel published in 1759 that is the best-known work by Voltaire. It is a savage denunciation of metaphysical optimism–as espoused by the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz–that reveals a world of horrors and folly. In this philosophical fantasy, naive Candide sees and suffers such misfortune that he ultimately rejects the philosophy of his tutor Doctor Pangloss, who claims that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” Candide and his companions–Pangloss, his beloved Cunegonde, and his servant Cacambo–display an instinct for survival that provides them hope in an otherwise somber setting. When they all retire together to a simple life on a small farm, they discover that the secret of happiness is “to cultivate one’s garden,” a practical philosophy that excludes excessive idealism and nebulous metaphysics. — The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature
About the Author
One of France’s most celebrated citizens, Voltaire (16941778) is best known for his satirical novel Candide Reprint Edition. His political treatises, which frequently put him at odds with the church and state, continue to exercise enormous influence on political theorists, philosophers, educators, and historians.
