false 385059 <![CDATA[Candide: or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174351617m/385059.jpg Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 19380 223 2833018 book 1759 Candide total:14590|5:3865|4:5218|3:4011|2:1146|1:350| 14590 54872 18539 974 11619 3.78 16456 1100 1192672 3.86 408 38 21662935 133661 269437 0140623035 9780140623031 10 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173296290m/269437.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/269437.Candide 3.84 67 5 15 false Mon May 05 16:11:48 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 16:15:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 15756833 733629 504791 159308028X 9781593080280 19 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175311139m/504791.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/504791.Candide 3.84 161 Voltaire’s Candide savagely skewers this very “optimistic” approach to life as a shamefully inadequate response to human suffering. The swift and lively tale follows the absurdly melodramatic adventures of the youthful Candide, who is forced into the army, flogged, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, separated from his beloved Cunégonde, and tortured by the Inquisition. As Candide experiences and witnesses calamity upon calamity, he begins to discover that—contrary to the teachings of his tutor, Dr. Pangloss—all is perhaps not always for the best. After many trials, travails, and incredible reversals of fortune, Candide and his friends finally retire together to a small farm, where they discover that the secret of happiness is simply “to cultivate one's garden,” a philosophy that rejects excessive optimism and metaphysical speculation in favor of the most basic pragmatism.



Filled with wit, intelligence, and an abundance of dark humor, Candide is relentless and unsparing in its attacks upon corruption and hypocrisy—in religion, government, philosophy, science, and even romance. Ultimately, this celebrated work says that it is possible to challenge blind optimism without losing the will to live and pursue a happy life.

</div>]]> 4 7 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Feb 18 20:11:53 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 24 11:57:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 61488615 91373 7559 0143039423 9780143039426 64 <![CDATA[Candide, or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165631736m/7559.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7559.Candide_or_Optimism 4.08 617 One of Western literature's most glorious and incisive satires—now in a brilliant new translation with a bold new cover by Chris Ware

With its vibrant new translation, perceptive introduction, and witty packaging, this new edition of Voltaire's irreverent, tragicomic masterpiece belongs in the hands of every reader pondering our assumptions about human behavior and our place in the world.

Candide tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by—as Candide would say— “the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.”

This new translation of one of Western literature's most glorious satires tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair.

]]> 5 4 false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 06:54:08 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 12:46:06 -0700 2009
Here's some pretty ...more...]]> 14826066 128387 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 5 3 false Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 10:14:25 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 16:34:05 -0800 2008 Why Bad Things Happen To Good People and it felt "right". This time around, ...more...]]> 41516810 164338 385059 0140440046 9780140440041 37 <![CDATA[Candide: or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174351617m/385059.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/385059.Candide_or_Optimism 3.87 400 Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 5 1 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Jan 01 13:37:20 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 14:13:22 -0800 2009 Candide so brilliant.

It's not the characters. Though, to be fair, the characters are remarkable. A hopeles...more...]]> 33498425 1425694 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 0 1 false Mon Sep 22 01:32:08 -0700 2008 Thu May 14 20:59:30 -0700 2009 _____________________

This is reminding me quite a lot of Tintin.
__...more...]]> 28351120 1363692 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 5 1 false Sat Jul 26 09:41:33 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 09:41:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 18077181 1003766 7559 0143039423 9780143039426 64 <![CDATA[Candide, or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165631736m/7559.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7559.Candide_or_Optimism 4.08 617 One of Western literature's most glorious and incisive satires—now in a brilliant new translation with a bold new cover by Chris Ware

With its vibrant new translation, perceptive introduction, and witty packaging, this new edition of Voltaire's irreverent, tragicomic masterpiece belongs in the hands of every reader pondering our assumptions about human behavior and our place in the world.

Candide tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by—as Candide would say— “the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.”

This new translation of one of Western literature's most glorious satires tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair.

]]> 4 1 false Wed Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 18 23:32:38 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 18:21:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 8089965 84023 19381 0393960587 9780393960587 17 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204392m/19381.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19381.Candide 3.93 185 Candide provides the basis for this widely adopted Norton Critical Edition. The accompanying apparatus has been revised in accordance with recent biographical and critical materials. The Backgrounds and Criticism sections provide important essays that shed light on major critical issues relevant to Candide and to the intellectual climate of the period. In addition to the reports of five English visitors to Ferney, essays by Haydn Mason, Erich Auerbach, Ernst Cassirer, and Robert M. Adams are included. The final section of the edition, "The Climate of Controversy," summarizes the debate surrounding Voltaire’s works and includes essays by Peter Gay, Raymond Naves, Gustave Lanson, and John Morley. Also included are a series of quotations about Voltaire by such prominent figures as Gustave Flaubert, Frederick the Great, and Stendhal, as well as the text of "Pangloss’s Song," a ballad from the 1956 Candide-based operetta by Richard Wilbur.]]> 3 1 false Mon Oct 22 15:16:32 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 15:36:29 -0700 2007
The first I find to be as silly and pointless as Aesop or Passion Play...more...]]> 7374523 157759 7559 0143039423 9780143039426 64 <![CDATA[Candide, or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165631736m/7559.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7559.Candide_or_Optimism 4.08 617 One of Western literature's most glorious and incisive satires—now in a brilliant new translation with a bold new cover by Chris Ware

With its vibrant new translation, perceptive introduction, and witty packaging, this new edition of Voltaire's irreverent, tragicomic masterpiece belongs in the hands of every reader pondering our assumptions about human behavior and our place in the world.

Candide tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by—as Candide would say— “the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.”

This new translation of one of Western literature's most glorious satires tells of the outrageous adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that “all is for the best” even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair.

]]> 4 2 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 07 05:46:19 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 07 05:58:28 -0700 2007
Teaching it this week (for the 3rd time).

For plot summaries, see reviews below.

Does Candide falter? Yes: Voltaire turns his attention to the literary scene in Paris for 5-7 pages (which means: 5-7% of the book). We can laugh at Voltaire i...more...]]> 6070223 253531 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 0 1 false Tue Sep 11 18:44:59 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 18:44:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 17530170 796425 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 4 1 false Mon Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 13:30:02 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 13:39:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 25437756 602880 123800 1400100445 9781400100446 2 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171862932m/123800.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123800.Candide 3.43 14 3 2 false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 11:34:12 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 09:47:36 -0700 2008
Having said that I think Vo...more...]]> 3833868 215382 120451 0553211668 9780553211665 64 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171824920m/120451.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120451.Candide 3.75 886 Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 3 1 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Jul 30 23:27:41 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 30 23:34:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2978879 183865 120451 0553211668 9780553211665 64 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171824920m/120451.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120451.Candide 3.75 886 Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 5 1 false Thu Jul 12 08:06:23 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 10:51:43 -0700 2007
One of the very few books on the so called "philosophy" I've been able to digest. I've literally devoured Candide when I was 16. And then I've read it again, with double pleasure and double laughing.

Besides, thanks to Voltaire...more...]]> 1175128 67523 120451 0553211668 9780553211665 64 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171824920m/120451.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120451.Candide 3.75 886 Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 4 1 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat May 12 10:04:36 -0700 2007 Sat May 12 10:06:37 -0700 2007
That being...more...]]> 46851972 1466146 385059 0140440046 9780140440041 37 <![CDATA[Candide: or Optimism]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174351617m/385059.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/385059.Candide_or_Optimism 3.87 400 Candide is such a book. Penned by that Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Candide is steeped in the political and philosophical controversies of the 1750s. But for the general reader, the novel's driving principle is clear enough: the idea (endemic in Voltaire's day) that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and apparent folly, misery and strife are actually harbingers of a greater good we cannot perceive, is hogwash.

Telling the tale of the good-natured but star-crossed Candide (think Mr. Magoo armed with deadly force), as he travels the world struggling to be reunited with his love, Lady Cunegonde, the novel smashes such ill-conceived optimism to splinters. Candide's tutor, Dr. Pangloss, is steadfast in his philosophical good cheer, in the face of more and more fantastic misfortune; Candide's other companions always supply good sense in the nick of time. Still, as he demolishes optimism, Voltaire pays tribute to human resilience, and in doing so gives the book a pleasant indomitability common to farce. Says one character, a princess turned one-buttocked hag by unkind Fate: "I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one's very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?"--Michael Gerber

]]> 5 0 false Thu Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 07:01:36 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 18:47:09 -0800 2009 several WHY?
Because you will miss out on one of its pleasures -...more...]]> 39050979 426277 19380 0486266893 9780486266893 674 <![CDATA[Candide]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167204391m/19380.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19380.Candide 3.74 11236 ]]> 5 0 false Sun Nov 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 14:06:44 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 14:07:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 38205787 1196990 727305 2070302393 9782070302390 7 <![CDATA[Candide ou l'optimisme]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177704523m/727305.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/727305.Candide_ou_l_optimisme 3.72 29 Candide has ranked as one of the world's great satires since its first publication in 1759. In the story of the trials and travails of the youthful Candide, his mentor Dr. Pangloss, and a host of other characters, Voltaire mercilessly satirizes and exposes romance, science, philosophy, religion and government.]]> 2 0 false Thu Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 20 03:31:55 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 03:32:46 -0800 2008 [en lieu et place, un extrait]

Pangloss enseignait la métaphysico-théologo-cosmolonigologie. Il prouvait admirablement qu'il n'y a point d'effet sans cause, et que, dans ce meilleur des mondes possibles, le château de monseigneur le baron était le ...more...]]> 80302888 3022254 1664669 208071290X 9782080712905 1 <![CDATA[Candide ou l'Optimisme : Edition avec dossier]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1186557888m/1664669.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1664669.Candide_ou_l_Optimisme_Edition_avec_dossier 3.00 1 Candide has ranked as one of the world's great satires since its first publication in 1759. In the story of the trials and travails of the youthful Candide, his mentor Dr. Pangloss, and a host of other characters, Voltaire mercilessly satirizes and exposes romance, science, philosophy, religion and government.]]> 3 0 false Tue Dec 08 10:18:24 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 08 11:39:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=385059