Candide Paperback – 18 Aug. 2010

"Those who make you believe absurdities can also make you commit atrocities". Voltaire said that and his dictum seems to run to the core of Pangloss's optimistic belief in this, "the best of all possible worlds." Candide's ingenuousness turns him into a flimsy protagonist at times and, like the raging torrent that rushes him down a river outside El Dorado, he is simply at the effete end of a flawed quietism. Voltaire exposes Pangloss's all-smiles view of the world when he justifies the drowning of the monk Jacques off Portugal on the grounds that the sea was made for that purpose. The relationship between Martin and Candide is based on often irate debate and difficult self-questioning, something Voltaire adopted in his diatribes against all forms of religious propaganda and corrupt clericalism. Something of a fairy tale here, but with a robust, subversive challenge to power freaks everywhere.

....were, I am sure, words used about "Candide" when it was first published.Candide is a naïve, gullible, quixotic innocent, who is launched on a fantastical journey around Europe, South America and returning to the Eastern Mediterranean, in his search for his true love, Cunegonde, and answers to the philosophical questions raised by his mentor, Pangloss.He suffers disaster after disaster and is mistreated, cheated and betrayed time after time but just keeps bouncing back.The story is written in a light, humorous style, with echoes of Gabriel García Marquez's magic realism; with an overlying cynicism it is used to lampoon and satirise the venality of the establishment, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.It is an easy and very good read and it just flows along; it is hard to imagine that it was written more than 250 years ago, although at least some of the credit for this may be down to skilful translating and editing.One passage really caught my eye - writing in 1759, Voltaire has Martin saying: "It is said [of] Venice....that strangers meet with a very good reception if they have a good deal of money." - just a few weeks ago, in late 2017, in response to a Brit who complained about being stuffed with a bill for EUR 526 for lunch for him and his parents, Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice, called him a cheapskate and said: "If you come to Venice, you need to shell out a bit. You’re welcome, but you need to spend.” - plus ça change....

So. One finally catches up with Candide, the 84-page novella dashed off by Voltaire in three days and recognised as one of the most influential books ever written. It is the story of a young man who is persuaded of the doctrine of optimism by his mentor Professor Pangloss: “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”.This is a strange dark fairy tale riddled with allegory and overburdened with an exaggerated, almost cartoonish brutality. Also cartoon-like is the resurrection of bumped-off characters, however welcome their return. (I’m looking at you, Pangloss.) Less welcome was the undercurrent of antisemitism I detected in certain parts of this story. (Et tu, Voltaire?)It is only really possible to understand Voltaire’s great work as a satire of its times thanks to the rather odd but undoubtedly helpful footnotes. (I am referring to the Amazon Classics edition with Philip Littell’s introduction - one of the most bizarre pieces of writing I have ever read. Or, to be more precise, skipped.)I close with my favourite quote: “Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like only that which serves my purpose.” Quite so. And now the sun has come out and I must cultivate my garden.

This is a masterpiece, and that's not just my opinion. This version was very good - I had copies before that I lost, so it was good to have and read it again. Even though Voltaire wrote this centuries ago, the concepts of life, how we live it, and how we relate to others, are still fresh and relevant today. In fact don't read my rubbish review, search on the internet and read about what a wonderful book this is.

If you are going to read Candide, I strongly recommend the Penguin Edition. The work itself is little more than a novella yet over half the content is taken up by very welcome Notes coupled with a Guide on the Proper Names, Notes on Translation (not an easy job by all accounts) and an Excellent Introduction (NB - Read this at the end).As for the story, young Candide romps around Europe and South America in a series of adventures featuring disembowellings, murder, war, earthquakes, hangings and furry red sheep loaded with diamonds. Voltaire's aim is to satirize, inter alia, the Panglossian view of the world which was gaining traction in 18th Century Europe.I read this for pleasure rather than an academic Course and really enjoyed it. There is some very funny writing even for the modern reader. Candide's discovery of unremitting misery in this best of all possible worlds is a fairly blunt tool but thankfully the book is short enough to get the point across before losing impact. A good read and I felt educated too!

This Kindle translation is terrible. It's full of grammatical mistakes and word errors, as if somebody who isn't terribly familiar with either French OR English has attempted to translate it. At first I attempted to plow through, but no.... The introduction is no better, and is also full of bad grammar and the 'wrong words.'I just bought the 'Original English Translation' on Kindle instead, and it's fine.

No doubt why it was banned after written. The hard biting satirisation of monarchs, institutions, religion, philosophy and everything is something indigestible for the people of that time. But its subtle and plain humor makes one laugh. A must read book!

I actually really enjoyed this book. I had no idea it was a comedy until I actually received it and read the back cover (I had just impulsively bought multiple books from notable authors to read to and from Europe). Despite being obviously outdated, it was pretty funny. However, you have to really have a somewhat thorough grasp of the philosophies of people like Kant and others during that time period. There are a lot of references in there that will make any philosophy major chuckle a bit. It's a super entertaining and ridiculous story that's quite unfortunate. It's a short read though and I'm glad. Any longer would just be pushing it. If you want something lighthearted and are a philosophy major or familiar with the discipline you should definitely check this book out.

Voltaire, fortemente sconvolto dal terribile terremoto che devastó Lisbona nel 1755, decise di scrivere quest'opera satirica attaccando la dottrina leibniziana dell'ottimismo.Il protagonista della storia, Candido, è un giovane uomo che vive in un castello in Westphalia, educato da un precettore chiamato Pangloss il quale crede che "il mondo sia il migliore dei mondi possibili".Questa concezione viene messa a dura prova durante il romanzo: Candido, infatti, viene cacciato dal castello perché scoperto mentre baciava sua cugina Cunegonda e, da questo momento in poi, viene coinvolto da una serie di disavventure che gli mostrano la faccia più negativa del mondo. Nel romanzo, infatti vi sono descrizioni di eccidi, stupri, violenze oltre che una forte protesta contro la schiavitù e la sua brutalità.La storia di per sé è molto breve, ma la lettura è interessante poiché non solo è in grado di stimolare la riflessione su temi che ancora oggi possono essere ritenuti attuali, ma questa edizione Penguin è anche corredata da delle note molto esplicative che permettono di contestualizzare il testo, oltre che delle appendici in cui sono presenti: la versione alternativa dell'inizio del romanzo, il poema di Voltaire sul Disastro di Lisbona e alcune voci che Voltaire scrisse per il Dizionario filosofico, le quali consentono di comprendere maggiormente il pensiero del filosofo. La traduzione inglese riesce a rendere molto bene lo humor del testo originale.Inoltre, ho molto gradito la presenza di una mappa raffigurante tutti gli spostamenti di Candido durante le sue avventure.Lo consiglio a tutti coloro che gradiscono romanzi d'avventura, ma che, al contempo vogliono anche approfondire il pensiero di Voltaire.

I thought the library binding/hardcover binding will be better than the regular paperback but this edition of ‘Candide: and Related Texts (Hackett Classics)’ is just horrible. The paper is so thin & it looks like paper from mass market paperback like those from Penguin classics. But Penguin Classic are cheap & it suits everyone’s pocket. It this one the other hand don’t do justice as a hardcover book. Avoid this particular hardcover from Hackett.As far as Candide is concerned there are many translations available. From Oxford,Penguin etc.... other than the ‘related texts’ as mentioned in the book there’s no need to get this edition. Better edition are available at cheaper price.Hackett is one of the few publishers where their paperback quality is same as the hardcover quality(paper wise). You will see that other publishers usually have better paper quality for hardcover because it’s meant for long durability otherwise why buy hardcover book ?

Parece simples e trivial, mas está longe disso. Exige certo conhecimento histórico dos personagens e da realidade da época para completa apreciacao da obra.Após anos ouvindo o nome do autor, e anos lendo diversos livros sobre filosofia, história e análises dos anos que precederam os 1750s (e as consequências do Iluminismo), entendo um pouco melhor a profundidade dessa sátira crítica.Acho que sua obra é melhor entendida se acompanhada de uma boa análise de um acadêmico. O assunto é complexo e é super atual.

This is just another book with a usual story of a man falling for the wrong girl or falling for a girl that the society doesn't approve of. However, it is well written and keeps the user engaged till the end as there are many twists and turns to read on with.

Gives small lessons of philosophy through every adventure of Candide . My favorite part was the encounter of Candide and Martin with the king who dislikes everything.Reading it in 2018, it truly makes you feel lucky to be living in today's world. At the same time, it makes you think about extensions of the old-world issues of racism, exploitation of individuals, pillaging. And now I know where the term panglossian comes from.

Great quality book, good read, I prefer the look without the provided book cover 10/10 bravo

Dr. Pangloss is the true hero...the travails that candide has been thru can make anyone want to give up the ghost. Yet true friends like cacambo change one's life. He kept his word each time. And then there are traitors like the abbé and the baron and naysayers like Martin. Love the book, love the pre-destined harmony and plenum and materia discourses

Il libro ricevuto era di seconda mano. Penso si tratti di un disguido nell'aggiornamento delle informazioni del prodotto online, dato che mi è stato inviato nello stesso pacco "Lettera al Padre" di Franz Kafka, probabilmente come "riparazione" a questo, appunto, disguido. Il libro mi serve per studiare quindi non lo rispedirò indietro. Seppur di seconda mano, è tenuto in buone condizioni, sono presenti traduzioni scritte a matita sopra le parole in francese. Il libro di Kafka pare essere nuovo.

A true early satirist where nothing is sacred. Voltaire shows an amazing knowledge of the behavior of inhabitants and transplants in the recently discovered world outside Europe. He does not shy away from contemporary European bad social behaviour, taboos and exposes their hypocrisy brilliantly.

Written in a beautiful language embedded with wit, humour, sarcasm, realism (sometimes fantasy) and above all optimism, this fast paced book is an excellent read. It was suggested to me by my Sir and I am really thankful to him (and also to Amazon).

The front cover of the book is not the same one as pictured. This book is in English NOT French and the version I received had english words on the cover which made it painfully obvious what language it was. I’m very disappointed.

This is a short one day read. But boy does it pack a punch of misery. The plethora of misery unleashed on all the characters is very comical. I think everyone should spare a day to read this utter lunacy. Maybe it has some dark message underneath, but i missed it!

Book is so funny .But i got it with full of dirt and bad quality of paper bag .Cant complaint. For the price