Candide (Optimism)

Odifreddi mentioned Voltaire’s style and it intrigued me. Candide is a short, accessible book to start with, let’s see.

So, the style is fairly engaging, but Voltaire moves too fast; I found myself skipping crucial lines and losing the context. Candide’s story is interesting, he is constantly struck by misfortunes, and explores Good and Evil in the world. I hadn’t grasped its meaning, but apparently it is a fierce critique of the sophists’ optimism, and an invitation to use intellect and hard work to reach one’s own conclusions. Well, philosophy is not really my strong suit… At least it wasn’t boring.

The poor guy follows his beloved around the world, from France to England, Argentina, various islands, Venice, El Dorado, Arabia. A very entertaining journey, I must say, though the story hurries along with so many characters whose point I probably missed.