Book Review: Candide

[Shiloh Adlar]

Title of the book: Candide
Author: Voltaire
Genres: French satire, Philosophy, Classics

What to say about this book? I read it many years ago for class, but I think every time I read it, I pick up even more. Voltaire is a master of satire and has done such a great job with it in this story. Candide has been given to the belief that "everything in the world is for the best," but this optimism that he was taught comes into question when he goes on a long road of misadventures. He discovers things in the world that he had no idea ever existed and even more questions are raised that he asks the people he meets along the way. No one is spared, political figures, judges, even the church as we see crazy scenes all throughout the societies he visits. All through this journey across the world, his only desire is to marry the one he loves who has been taken from him. It is certainly a whirlwind and had me laughing so hard, I think I scared the man cleaning the pool. *ahem* If you love tragic comedies (as this certainly seems to be), it's a very quick read, and definitely raises some thoughts within the metaphysical realm about what life is or is meant to be. Optimist or pessimist? Or is one a realist? Certainly these are discussed in kind within this marvelous tale.