Customer Reviews

Candide and Other Stories

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Where else can one read the narration of an optimist who looses his friends to death, escapes the European mainland, discovers utopia, returns to the mainland, and reunites with friends who were believed to be dead, while infused with the philosophical and political wit of Voltaire? Fabulous example of satire and genius.

This book has the title "Candide and other stories", but the exciting part is the other stories. Yes "Candide" is a great work and perhaps the best satircal work of the 18th century, but it alone does not do justice to Voltaire's genius.

Like a lot of people I had read "Candide" years ago for school and was impressed with the work. However, I soon forgot about it and never really thought about Voltaire's other works. As I was browsing Amazon one day I saw this book and thought it was time to revisit this old friend. Boy was I lucky.

Three of the "other stories" are every bit as good as "Candide". "Micromegas" is a fine SciFi work from the 1740's. It comes complete with a Saturnian and Syrian and relates their struggle to understand the Earth's philosophies. "Zadig" unfolds in a similar manner to "Candide" but may be even more biting. Finally "The Ingenu" holds special interest for Americans as it chronicles the problems encountered by a young Huron "Savage" as he relocates to "Civilized" France. The final story "The White Bull" is not in the same class as the rest of the works in this book, but still is a fun read.

It was nice to see my old friend "Candide", but even nicer to meet the new friends that are here. If you are considering buying one of the other copies which have only "Candide" the extra works here make this version so much richer.

A great selection of stories where Voltaire shows off his literary style and espouses his philosophy on different topics.
He is a great story teller and has a great sense of humour too.

In a list of my six favorite books for "The Week" magazine, I wrote: "Whenever all seems lost, I pick up this 1759 tale of eternally optimistic yet misfortune-prone Candide's efforts to reunite with his true love. His ability to persevere in the face of mind-numbing self-delusion is awesome."

In all my research for my comedy, "A Visit From Voltaire," (amazon.co.uk) this was the obvious first source, BUT I have to add that I only understood it best after knowing what role it played in the political mayhem of his life fighting "infame," and only after I knew more about his social/irreligious context, did I really "get" what he was doing in Candide in order to incorporate it into my fantasy of his 21st century return. I'd send light readers to "Voltaire in Love," and wannabe scholars to the Portable Voltaire and whatever basic biographic texts they can find--my shelf is full of out-of-print biographies and eventually I lived at the Musee Voltaire in Geneva to really befriend him--the result was a book and great happiness in knowing this brilliant, mercurial mind!
Dinah Lee Küng

Everyone has their own idea of the perfect book, a list of approved characteristcs they think will cohere into something magical. Instead of psychological realism or detailed descriptions of nature, I like brisk, multiplying narratives, stories within stories, digressions, picaresque journies, a profusion of character and incident, dreams, exoticism, strange lands, bookishness, adn relentless violence. 'Candide' has this, and more, and is therefore my perfect book. Like anything that is theoretically perfect (an equivalent in film might by Losey's 'Mr. Klein') is that one is left a little unsatisfied - after all, where's the element of surprise? There are further grounds for grumbling - Voltaire can often come across as an annoying, opportunistic jack-of-all-trades; while the sheer excess of plot, narrated in the same urbane toneslessness, always risks becoming monotonous. But such quibbles are ungrateful. 'Candide' is one of the few classics that is genuinesly entertaining and uproariously, blackly comic. The Enlightenment values today are less convincing than the deadpan depiction of pervasive evil and the randomness of human destiny. The book is full of horrific incident - earthquakes, massacares, gang-rapes, mutilation, burnings, etc. - and yet comes across as almost breezy, and always laugh-out-loud-funny. I wish Bunuel had filmed this.

The book made me laugh out loud on many occasions. I recommend it to anyone.

i really loved reading this book, it's full of action and romance, it's the best old book i've ever read. and i'm only a freshman. i recommend it to evryone, even children.