Welcome to the paperback trails. Today we talk about a classic. Candide by Voltaire. Written as a piece of satire in reaction to Theodicy and the general perception of optimism by Gottfried Leibniz, Candide stays relevant across time.
Voltaire The Guy who made up Newton's Apple:
So before Candide, let's talk about the author. The age of Enlightenment is often called the age of Voltaire, that alone is a testimony to the stature that Voltaire holds amongst the greatest thinkers, writers and philosophers of the world. His works included great pieces of historiography, prose, poems and plays. The classic at hand Candide was one of his flagship works of satire. Though the book is satirical, it has deep philosophical undertones which are a sharp commentary on Leibniz's theory of optimism. Voltaire's Candide decries the idea that we are living in the best of all possible worlds and whatever happens, happens for the best. This idea is driven home by the constant discussions and adventures of Candide and his teacher Pangloss. Now it is necessary to remember that like other thinkers of Enlightenment, Voltaire was a deist i.e he did believe in God creating the world but refused to accept the concept of divine interventions.
About the Book :
The character Candide sincerely abides by this misguided optimism only to be proven wrong until realization eventually dawns upon him. Candide is the bastard nephew of the Baron of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh. The castle's preceptor, oracle and Candide's teacher Pangloss preaches the philosophy of cause and effect and asserts that whatever happens happens for the best and that the present is the only and best way things could ever be. Soon thereafter this optimism is rocked when Candide gets booted out of the castle for kissing the Baron's daughter Cunegonde. Once outside the castle Candide goes through multiple adventures and meets one tragedy after another. He is caught by the Bulgars (the Prussians) and coerced to fight in a war. Candide escapes to Holland where he meets an Anabaptist who takes care of him, reinforcing his optimism. He eventually meets his teacher Pangloss again, only to learn that he's contracted an STD after one of his indiscreet sexual alliances. Pangloss tells him that the Baron's castle was pillaged by Bulgars and Cunegonde raped, all the while maintaining that it is indeed the best of all possible realities. The three sail to Lisbon where they are met by a terrible earthquake. A slew of (mis)adventures follow: Getting flogged by the Portuguese Inquistadors, leaving el-dorado never to see the mythical land of gold again, his sheep get stolen etc. All this while Pangloss lectures, in a moralising tone, about his optimistic view of the situation. Eventually, Candide ignores the teachings of his teacher and decides to focus on the present without trying to find a necessary optimistic explanation for everything that happens.
My 2 cents:
Candide operates on multiple levels. On one, it is wrapped in wit and incisive humour, it has a lot of tongue in cheek comments and references to the contemporaries. On another, it is the story of how a man grows from the rather superficial idea of hyper optimism to a more realistic idea, which in a way enlightenment writers like Voltaire propagated. Candide goes through multiple tragedies, his partners too have their fair share of bad luck throughout the book life with its myriad experiences teaches Candide that life is what it is and that is not by any means the best of all possible worlds. In fact theodicy and its related theory are founded on rather nebulous grounds.
All in all, if you ask me why you should read this book I'd say because
Voltaire The Guy who made up Newton's Apple:
So before Candide, let's talk about the author. The age of Enlightenment is often called the age of Voltaire, that alone is a testimony to the stature that Voltaire holds amongst the greatest thinkers, writers and philosophers of the world. His works included great pieces of historiography, prose, poems and plays. The classic at hand Candide was one of his flagship works of satire. Though the book is satirical, it has deep philosophical undertones which are a sharp commentary on Leibniz's theory of optimism. Voltaire's Candide decries the idea that we are living in the best of all possible worlds and whatever happens, happens for the best. This idea is driven home by the constant discussions and adventures of Candide and his teacher Pangloss. Now it is necessary to remember that like other thinkers of Enlightenment, Voltaire was a deist i.e he did believe in God creating the world but refused to accept the concept of divine interventions.
About the Book :
The character Candide sincerely abides by this misguided optimism only to be proven wrong until realization eventually dawns upon him. Candide is the bastard nephew of the Baron of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh. The castle's preceptor, oracle and Candide's teacher Pangloss preaches the philosophy of cause and effect and asserts that whatever happens happens for the best and that the present is the only and best way things could ever be. Soon thereafter this optimism is rocked when Candide gets booted out of the castle for kissing the Baron's daughter Cunegonde. Once outside the castle Candide goes through multiple adventures and meets one tragedy after another. He is caught by the Bulgars (the Prussians) and coerced to fight in a war. Candide escapes to Holland where he meets an Anabaptist who takes care of him, reinforcing his optimism. He eventually meets his teacher Pangloss again, only to learn that he's contracted an STD after one of his indiscreet sexual alliances. Pangloss tells him that the Baron's castle was pillaged by Bulgars and Cunegonde raped, all the while maintaining that it is indeed the best of all possible realities. The three sail to Lisbon where they are met by a terrible earthquake. A slew of (mis)adventures follow: Getting flogged by the Portuguese Inquistadors, leaving el-dorado never to see the mythical land of gold again, his sheep get stolen etc. All this while Pangloss lectures, in a moralising tone, about his optimistic view of the situation. Eventually, Candide ignores the teachings of his teacher and decides to focus on the present without trying to find a necessary optimistic explanation for everything that happens.
My 2 cents:
Candide operates on multiple levels. On one, it is wrapped in wit and incisive humour, it has a lot of tongue in cheek comments and references to the contemporaries. On another, it is the story of how a man grows from the rather superficial idea of hyper optimism to a more realistic idea, which in a way enlightenment writers like Voltaire propagated. Candide goes through multiple tragedies, his partners too have their fair share of bad luck throughout the book life with its myriad experiences teaches Candide that life is what it is and that is not by any means the best of all possible worlds. In fact theodicy and its related theory are founded on rather nebulous grounds.
All in all, if you ask me why you should read this book I'd say because
- It's really witty and funny - Voltaire's mastery of the prose if evident from the 1st page
- It's a classic and totally worth the tag
- It's a thin book and the writing style makes for a quick read, despite the book housing more than 5 or 6 mini-story arcs.
- There's really no reason not to tbh😋
So this was Candide, I'll try and come with some more classics, break it down for you guys and hope that you pick it up too and have as great a time reading Candide's story as I did. Until next time, keep reading, keep sharing and keep recommending for more the passengers on the paperback trails the better.
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