Reader discussion: Candide

Public reader discussion about Candide in the WeRead Catalog by Voltaire.

The failure of Margaret Atwood's novel The Heart Goes Last is "nearly complete"

By RoseBookworm

This could honestly end up being a pretty underwhelming book, and yeah, a bunch of the reviewer’s complaints are the kind of stuff I’d probably care about. But also… it feels like people are kind of talking past each other. Like, the line about how it “doesn’t focus on storytelling” doesn’t really connect to the stuff about the science. I’m not sure why the criticism is being folded together like they’re the same issue. Those two categories seem pretty separate to me (unless you’re reading it as super hard SF, I guess). And if you’re going after “problematic aspects” in the actual writing, I’d want the examples to actually make sense as serious problems. I don’t know what’s supposed to be wrong with things like “brain-dead trashbunny,” “fluffpot,” or “galvanized frog.” They’re goofy, sure, but I can’t tell if the critique is even landed. I think this is just what reviews do sometimes: everything hits you personally, and it’s hard to turn that into something broad enough that other people will feel the same. I could probably explain why I think The Crying of Lot 49 is underrated, or why The Handmaid’s Tale scared me more than 1984, or why I thought the first season of The Walking Dead was the worst instead of the best… but does it really matter if it’s basically just my own gut reaction? :)

The most challenging things you’ve read?

By curious-pages

For me there are basically only two books I’ve read that were genuinely hard. First, *Blindsight*. I did the audio version and honestly wouldn’t recommend that. Unless you’re already comfortable with the science/space jargon, it’s tough because the author doesn’t really slow down or explain stuff, and I kept getting turned around by the way the story was told. There are also a ton of philosophical ideas and theories, and I felt like I had to hear them way more times than I expected before anything started to click. Second, *War and Peace*. I actually watched a few episodes of the show first, which helped me keep track of the characters, and I already knew some of the history, so that part wasn’t too bad. My main problem was just how long it is, plus the essay-y section at the end. I could tell what the author was going for, but at points it felt drawn out and kind of fuzzy.

The most influential works in Western literature

By reads-sparrow

I’ve read a bunch of the big classics on the list—stuff like Dante, Voltaire, and the whole medieval/early modern lineup (Grimm, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Virgil, Cervantes). Some of them feel super familiar, but I’m not totally sure I’ve gotten through all of them the way I’m supposed to, so I’m kind of guessing here.

Voltaire

By mistBinary

Just finished Candide and now I’m curious what else by him people actually recommend. He wrote a bunch, but I also know he’s kind of controversial—so I’m not sure where to start. Is there a decent biography of him?

Candide isn't funny.

By roastAnnotation

I’m only about halfway in and I just had to stop. I think the idea is that the main character kind of goes, “everything has a cause, so this is basically the best possible world,” and then he keeps getting hit with this long string of really messed-up stuff—along with the people he cares about—so it ends up feeling ironic in a pretty dry way. Supposed to be a masterpiece, but honestly I’ve seen some bad Nickelodeon cartoons pull off the same kind of irony.

Are there other satirical philosophical works like Voltaire's Candide?

By Hidden_Panda

I ended up laughing a lot more than I expected—Voltaire’s sarcasm felt spot-on, and every time he says we live in the best possible world I couldn’t help but chuckle. Maybe *Thus Spoke Zarathustra* could work, but more in a serious way than funny. Any other suggestions?

best version of voltaire’s candide

By ticket-paper

Hey! Can anyone point me to the best translation of Candide? I’ve definitely gotten stuck with some pretty bad ones before, and I really don’t want to do that again—especially since I’m hoping to get the funny version people talk about.

Disappearing authors

By BrownOrbit2004

I keep coming back to that 1900 article about “disappearing authors” (from JSTOR, here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25104969). It’s honestly kind of wild how on-the-ball the writer seems to have been about who would fade away and who would stick around—and then how many of the ones he wrote off as “already gone” feel like they’ve had some kind of comeback. I also find it really interesting to see how readers and writers in earlier generations talked about older authors. I remember reading Mr Ramsay’s bit in *To the Lighthouse* about “no one reads Scot anymore” when I was 18 and thinking, “I do!” (and yeah, it was on the uni syllabus, so I had that advantage). And I’ve gone digging through Jane Austen’s letters to see what she liked reading—like I’ll hunt down her favourite authors/books. What gets me is how her and my reactions to someone like Scott can end up feeling pretty similar. It’s all kind of “history” for both of us in a way. Also, whenever I visit Sissinghurst, I end up taking photos of Vita and Harold Sackville-West’s saved bookshelves just to find more stuff for my reading list. Almost everything up there has been out of print for ages, which doesn’t surprise me. So yeah, some questions to kick things off for ten: Who are the most popular, well-regarded writers right now who’ve already disappeared (or seem like they might have)? Maugham has been mentioned, and that feels pretty plausible—he was huge and prolific, then it’s like he basically vanished. Give it another 20 years and he might be properly gone. How close did some of the “great” writers come to disappearing for real, and what saved them? The First Folio is the obvious headline example. And did any famous writers actually disappear and then come back? What triggered the revival, if it happened?

Just picked up a copy of Candide, and I have to say it has the best cover of any book I have ever seen.

By sunnyDreams

So today I ended up in my school library because I was super bored and just wanted something to read while I was in class. I couldn’t find anything at first, but then I noticed this book with this weird/funny-looking person on the spine and I figured I’d grab it. I almost didn’t check it out because I saw Voltaire’s name and I was worried I’d hate the writing like I do with a lot of Enlightenment authors. But I’ve heard he’s actually really witty and funny, and the front had comics on it, which made me more curious. Honestly, I’m really glad I picked it up. I’ve only read a little so far, but it’s been pretty enjoyable. The cover art is what’s really blowing me away though—the comics on the front basically set up what the story is about really well, and the ones on the back/inside jacket are good too. There’s also a bunch of character stuff and a map that’s nice to have, even if it kind of gives away some stuff. The back has a short summary and reviews too, and they made me laugh. The amount of detail on the cover is just… wow. It’s a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, in case anyone’s wondering. Anyway, I really like the cover and I’m hoping the story matches it. Also, does anyone know of other books with really great covers?

best classics to read ???

By BronzeSparrow1998

Hey everyone—what are some good classic books to read? I read in English, so please recommend ones in English.

What makes Candide a masterpiece?

By tide_mostness2002

Hey everyone! I saw *Candide* come up in a discussion and a bunch of people were really into it. But after reading it myself, I didn’t really get what I was supposed to be picking up. I also can’t quite see where the humor and satire are coming from. Maybe I’m missing something—just felt kind of off to me.

I'm looking for a super absurd satirical novel/novella

By cosmicChair98

Catch-22 is one of my favorite books, and I’m trying to find something with a similar vibe. Someone suggested Confederacy of Dunces on another post, but I read it and honestly didn’t like it as much. I felt like it was more annoying than actually funny. Are Joseph Heller’s other books also pretty dark and satirical? Also, people keep bringing up Kurt Vonnegut—Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle. Do you think I’d like those if I didn’t really enjoy Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore?

Short format literature

By WalletSolar69

Hi there! I’ve been getting really into shorter stuff lately, and I’ve especially enjoyed things like The Screwtape Letters, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and some of Tolstoy’s other shorter works. Does anyone know of other books that are in that same kind of short format but still have a lot of meaning/theme?

Absurdism in Candide

By listens_song1983

I’m reading Voltaire’s Candide right now. It’s been described as absurdist stuff here, so I’m kind of wondering what parts of it are actually supposed to be absurd?

[deleted by user]

By FrozenValley

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"Twenty experts on the book that got them through their 20s"

By saddle_maple94

Not sure I can say any one book “got me through” my 20s, especially since those are already three decades behind me, but one that I still really remember from back then is Robert M. Pirsig’s *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance*. I think it definitely sparked my interest in philosophy in general, and philosophy of science specifically (I ended up studying it as kind of a side/“minor” thing during my degree). Also, I felt weirdly connected to Pirsig’s mental health struggles—maybe not the schizophrenia part, but the overall headspace.

I just finished Candide by Voltaire -- I'm pretty sure his Signore Pococurante character is the original Redditor

By LibraryEagle

Sure, I get the hate for everything. But I’m not sure most of us are that well read, either.

What are MUST reads of every genre? Old or New!

By ticket-paper

I’m trying to push myself to read at least one book from every genre. I’ve been reading more lately, but overall I feel kind of blank when it comes to books, so I’m just starting fresh.

[ Removed by moderator ]

By curious-wolf

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Voltaire should be more popular

By VioletKettle

Voltaire is one of those authors people seem to know just for the funny quotes and sharp one-liners, but he actually wrote real, big fiction and nonfiction too. Candide is the one everyone mentions, sure, but he also had a bunch of shorter romances you can knock out pretty quickly—like in an hour or so. His plays were pretty rough for the time and even now they still get treated like they can cause trouble, especially in France. Names like Irene, Mahomet, The Orphan of China, and Alzire are the ones that come up when people talk about what’s controversial. And then you’ve got stuff like The Dinner of the Count of Boulainvilliers, plus the other works—Zadig and Micromegas, too—that feel more like actual literature than just “quote material.” It’s hard not to think: if we can be big fans of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Dickens, and Hemingway, why not give Voltaire some respect too? Also, the Founding Fathers in the US really admired him, which makes it kinda sad that today he gets boiled down to just clever sayings. In Britain, people valued his writing a lot and translated it right away in his lifetime. He also helped spread Newton across Europe, and with how much he knew about history and culture, he ended up pushing back on bigotry and intolerance.