Candide: Or Optimism

Details Author Reviews Description Voltaires brilliant satirical assault on what he saw as the naïvely optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment, Candide, or Optimism is a dazzling picaresque novel, translated and edited by Theo Cuffe with an introduction by Michael Wood in Penguin Classics. Brought up in the household of a German Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man whose tutor, Pangloss, has instil Voltaires brilliant satirical assault on what he saw as the naïvely optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment, Candide, or Optimism is a dazzling picaresque novel, translated and edited by Theo Cuffe with an introduction by Michael Wood in Penguin Classics. Brought up in the household of a German Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man whose tutor, Pangloss, has instilled in him the belief, inspired by Leibniz, that all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds. But when his love for the Barons rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered, Candide is cast out to make his own fortune. As he and his various companions roam over the world, an outrageous series of disasters befall them - earthquakes, syphilis, a brush with the Inquisition, murder - sorely testing the young heros optimism. In Candide , Voltaire threw down an audacious challenge to the philosophical views of his time, to create one of the most glorious satires of the eighteenth century. Theo Cuffes translation brilliantly conveys Voltaires acerbic humour. In his introduction, Michael Wood discusses Voltaires satirical attack on contemporary philosophy. This edition also contains a map, extensive notes, table of dates, further reading and appendices including extracts from Voltaires Philosophical Dictionary. François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), better known by his pseudonym Voltaire, was a French writer and satirist, the embodiment of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Among his best-known works is the satirical novel Candide (1759). If you enjoyed Candide , you might like Laurence Sternes The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman , also available in Penguin Classics. The prince of philosophical novels John Updike, author of Rabbit, Run [An] excellent new translation Robert McCrum, Observer Voltaires brilliant satirical assault on what he saw as the naïvely optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment, Candide, or Optimism is a dazzling picaresque novel, translated and edited by Theo Cuffe with an introduction by Michael Wood in Penguin Classics. Brought up in the household of a German Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man whose tutor, Pangloss, has instil Voltaires brilliant satirical assault on what he saw as the naïvely optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment, Candide, or Optimism is a dazzling picaresque novel, translated and edited by Theo Cuffe with an introduction by Michael Wood in Penguin Classics. Brought up... Read More

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