Candide, Voltaire
Candide, Voltaire
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Candide

Author: Voltaire

Narrator: Geoffrey Giuliano And The Icon Ensemble

Unabridged: 3 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/09/2021

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: Optimism (1947). It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes Candide with, if not rejecting Leibnizian 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 characterized by its 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 coming-of-age narrative, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is bitter and 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 does Candide in this short theological novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Through Candide, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.

Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned to the public because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition, and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition

About Voltaire

Francois Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21, 1694, in Paris. Voltaire's intelligence, wit, and style made him one of France's greatest writers and philosophers.

Young Francois Marie received his education at Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit college in Paris, where he said he learned nothing but "Latin and the Stupidities." He left school at age seventeen and soon made friends among the Parisian aristocrats. His humorous verses made him a favorite in society circles. In 1717, his sharp wit got him into trouble with the authorities. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months for writing a scathing satire of the French government. During his time in prison Francois Marie wrote Oedipe, which was to become his first theatrical success, and also adopted his pen name.

In 1726, Voltaire insulted the powerful young nobleman Chevalier De Rohan and was given two options: imprisonment or exile. He chose exile, and from 1726 to 1729 lived in England. While in England, Voltaire was attracted to the philosophy of John Locke and the ideas of the mathematician and scientist Sir Isaac Newton. He studied England's Constitutional Monarchy and its religious tolerance. Voltaire was particularly interested in the philosophical rationalism of the time and in the study of the natural sciences. After returning to Paris, he wrote a book praising English customs and institutions. It was interpreted as criticism of the French government, and in 1734 Voltaire was forced to leave Paris again.

At the invitation of the Marquise du Chatelet, Voltaire moved into her Chateau de Cirey near Luneville in eastern France. They studied the natural sciences together for several years. In 1746, Voltaire was voted into the Academie Francaise. In 1749, after the death of the Marquise du Chatelet, he moved to Potsdam (near Berlin in Germany). In 1753, Voltaire left Potsdam to return to France.

In 1759, Voltaire purchased an estate called "Ferney" near the French-Swiss border, where he lived until just before his death. Ferney soon became the intellectual capital of Europe. Voltaire worked continuously throughout the years, producing a constant flow of books, plays, and other publications. He wrote hundreds of letters to his circle of friends. He was always considered a voice of reason. Voltaire was often an outspoken critic of religious intolerance and persecution.

Voltaire returned to a hero's welcome in Paris at age eighty-three. The excitement of the trip was too much for him, and he died in Paris in 1778. Among the major works Voltaire gave to the world are Zadig, a philosophical story of religious and metaphysical orthodoxy, and one of his most celebrated works; "Micromegas," a short story whose ideas helped to create the genre of science fiction; the French satire Candide, which is considered Voltaire's master work; and the Dictionnaire Philosophique, a lifelong project that represents the culmination of Voltaire's views on Christianity, God, morality, and other subjects.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Manny on May 19, 2009

- Bonjour, M. Candide! Bienvenue au site Goodreads! Qu'en pensez-vous? - It's OK, we can speak English. Pour encourager les autres, as one might say. - Eh... super! I mean, good! So, what do you make of twenty-first century Britain? - Vraiment sympathique! I am reading of your little scandale with the......more

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on August 20, 2024

Surprisingly Funny Candide was written in 1759 so I wasn’t expecting it to be laugh out loud funny, but it was. Have you ever listened to someone who was so dead set in their ideals, but when you actually heard their logic for their ideals that it made absolutely no sense? That is this book. Candide......more

Goodreads review by James on November 25, 2023

Re-read for my Open University studies, 2023. Voltaire's novel introduces the reader to Candide, a wide-eyed, calm and slightly bland young gentleman who resides at Castle Westphalia and who believes in the philosophy that "everything in the world is for the best." One of the first scenes is filled......more

Goodreads review by Fabian on October 26, 2020

Slightly disappointed with the next-Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I took on this classic next IN ONE SITTING. &... WOW! Where has this one been all my life? I adore "Candide" because it is rife with adventure, it is a speedy read, and at the very end you experience a vortex of feelings and NOVEL concepts. It......more