Candide

About the book

Candide is Voltaire's satirical tale of a young man schooled in the doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds. Catastrophe follows catastrophe, and the story tests that cheerful philosophy against famine, war, earthquake and human cruelty. The narrative moves quickly across continents and keeps its tone light even when the events are grim.

The book works through caricature and comic exaggeration rather than psychological depth. Its characters are types, its coincidences absurd, and its violence deliberately cartoonish. Voltaire aims at complacent optimism and at the systems of authority that shelter it. The closing counsel to cultivate one's garden reads as a hard-won retreat from grand explanation.

Much of the wit depends on recognizing the philosophical and religious positions Voltaire wrote against, and a good edition's notes will supply them.

How to read it

Read it as satire first. The rapid pileup of disasters is the argument, not a failure of realism. Notice how often the characters explain away suffering with a formula, and how the plot keeps undercutting those formulas.

The prose is short, quick and ironic, and the book can be finished in an evening. Translations vary in how much of Voltaire's dryness they preserve, so sample a page before committing. Annotated editions help with the philosophical references and the historical events behind the satire.

Who it suits

Readers who enjoy argument dressed as farce will find plenty here, as will anyone curious about Enlightenment debates over optimism, providence and evil. Students of satire can study how a short narrative carries a philosophical case. Readers who want rounded characters or emotional realism should look elsewhere.

Reading considerations

The violence and casual cruelty are played for comedy, which some readers find jarring. Voltaire revised the text, and editions differ in content and notes. Check which translation and apparatus you are getting before choosing an edition.