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Our first short story read is Candide by Voltaire, published in 1759. Twice before now this book has attempted to earn a place on our bookshelf. It was first nominated for the poll to decide our November 2011 monthly read, it didn’t fare well, and it came in 6th out of 9 nominations. It did much better the second time when it polled 2nd out of 10 nominations for our August 2015 poll. I guess the third time was the charm.

I just began reading it (chapter 7), and it's not what I was expecting... I'm having some trouble getting through it, even if it's short.
So far, I have the impression that Candide had success during the 18th because it was a really contemporary book, tackling ironically contemporary subjects (religion may be the main one, but as I just started it, it may be wrong).
Anyway, I hope to finish it this week!

I read this book yesterday and enjoyed it more than I expected. Although I realised that I didn't actually know anything about it, in fact I thought it was a non-fiction piece until I started.

The satirical look at life reminded me somewhat of Gulliver's Travels, though this might also be because there were a lot of adventures and travels in this story.

I did start to get a little bored of the repetitiveness about 2/3 through, as there seemed to be yet another adventure, full of catastrophes and surprise reunions, but I liked the overall message.

Glad to have read it at last.

Very quick read. Started and finished it today. I enjoyed the satirical aspect and all the extreme absurdity. I think some of the points Voltaire made were very applicable to today. Money did not make any of these characters happy nor were any of the wealthy people they met contented with the lives they led. The tendency to want more was always present and the fear of having your wealth stripped from you always there.

I am also glad to have added this to the READ list. It has some important things to say. Pink--I also thought of Swift while I was reading it. I suppose the fact that both of them were masterful satirists may have been the reason. I know understanding Swift's times makes reading his works rise to another level, and I suspect it must be the same of Voltaire. Unfortunately, I have a much greater depth of knowledge regarding English history than French.

Here is my review if anyone is interested:
/review/show...

I read this book in 2 days, would have finished in one if I had decided to not read Madame Bovary at all. Candide made me laugh out loud few times, that is the main reason I gave it 4 stars. Though especially towards the end of the book it felt like reading the same joke again and again with little variance and it got boring as a result. The last two chapters ended the book nicely though, the philosophical turn the meta-physicians took was something unexpected.

Miikka wrote: "I read this book in 2 days, would have finished in one if I had decided to not ready Madame Bovary at all. Candide made me laugh out loud few times, that is the main reason I gave it 4 stars. Thoug..."

Agreed!

Vasou wrote: "I'm having some trouble getting through it, even if it's short."

I'm having trouble getting through this one too. I was snickering at the humor at first, but now I am just finding it kind of tiresome and can't keep reading for very long before my mind starts wandering. Since it is short I am trying to stick it out and finish it, but if it was a longer book it would probably be on my DNF shelf by now. We'll see how the rest of it goes for me!

I'm having the same trouble! Such a little book causing me grief! Will I ever finish?!!!! Ugh!

Pfiou, finished! And... never again!
I actually don't know if it is the genre that I don't like (is philosophical tale the right term?); I didn't like the Alchemist, neither Le petit Prince, thus maybe this is the main reason.

It was my first Voltaire and I was surprised to find that his writing style was not as fluid or light as expected. Instead, as everyone mentionned, a lot of repetitions and some heaviness.
In general, I found it too simplist, and did not find interest in this book. I would rather have preferred Voltaire to expose clearly his ideas and opinions, and if necessary, to illustrate them with exemples and allegories.

The only passage I liked was about the El Dorado. And his idea (even if it's not developped) that human nature has some shadow in itself and therefore they are not completely responsible of the harm or bad they are doing (chapter 22).

And I really didn't like that Voltaire took advantage of his book to criticize his writing ennemies (chapter 22 also: Gauchat and Trublet, and I think there are others.).

And I forgot to say: I didn't like Candide, and I don't know if I would have liked Voltaire. Nevertheless, I have to say that he had an important influence on french litterature; he was one of the first of the Lumières. And during his life, he took position against religious discrimination/intolerance (for instance on the affaire of Calas who was a protestant in a really catholic France).

Vasou wrote: "And I forgot to say: I didn't like Candide, and I don't know if I would have liked Voltaire. Nevertheless, I have to say that he had an important influence on french literature; he was one of the ..."
I do think this might have been different if read in its time, since it contains a level of satire against the prominent people and ideas of the time. Definitely not something to read for fun and does not inspire me to read any other Voltaire works. That he was influential in his own time is undisputable, and that influence might be more important than his actual works.

Sara wrote: "I do think this might have been different if read in its time, since it contains a level of satire against the prominent people and ideas of the time."

Totally agreed!

Sara wrote: "I do think this might have been different if read in its time, since it contains a level of satire against the prominent people and ideas of the time."

I finally finished it, and I agree with you Sara. While I could appreciate a lot of the satire, I think it might have been much more amusing if I had more insight into the "conversation" Voltaire was participating in with this piece of writing. However, I just feel glad I am done with it!

I seem to be of a similar mind as most of the prior posts, although I finished the book with slightly higher praise and a higher rating. I enjoyed Voltaire’s writing and thought the wit and satire was excellent. I did have one problem with the story and that was, how many times could someone be killed only to reappear later in the story, seriously were they immortal? The fact that this story was short works in its favor. If this had been a longer more drawn out story I’m sure it would have affected my liking of the book. Voltaire apparently did not like the upper class nobility or the power of the church and state, he was wise to disparage authority a story short.

I just finished this today. I really can't say I enjoyed it much though. The love story held my interest for a good portion of it, but it didn't end particularly great or satisfying. I'm glad it was a short, I don't think I would have wanted this to drag on much longer.

Candide is a philosophical tale and as such it should invite more focus on the lessons therein rather than the story itself.

Sara is right when she mentions the lessons about money in the book, it didn't improve anyone's situations and the people who had it didn't turn out much for the better either: Cunégonde is born into wealth but this wealth doesn't shield her from the horrors of the world and her situation at the end of the tale before being rescued is rather grim.

The scene with the six kings who lost their crowns in Venice (Chapter 26) is a criticism of the political games played by the nobility of that time where it seems that being a king is nothing more than winning a round of musical chairs until the next round where you will be dethroned. The chapter also points out that nobility and wealth are not necessarily the same thing, as it turns out Candide is able to give a hundred times more than all of them. This point that wealth and power are not the same thing is very contemporary of the era during which Voltaire wrote Candide (1759). We are indeed only thirty years away from the French Revolution during which the Bourgeoisie, a class with economic power but no political place, and the nobility, a class with political power but a lesser economic role, both tried to better their position in that aspect.

Finally, Candide is a major criticism of blind optimism as dictated by Leibniz, who believed that god in his infinite wisdom made the best of all possible worlds and that even if "bad" things can happen they are outweighed by the "good" things that happen elsewhere in the world. Voltaire was firmly against this fatalist view of the world and this is why Candide also features a lot of situations where terrible things happen but they are simply brushed off because "it is the best of all possible worlds" anyway (see the earthquake in Lisbon for example in chapter 5). However, despite Candide's belief that "all is well, for this is the best of all possible worlds" he doesn't remain in a single place waiting for his fate to change, it is through reason and action that he betters his position and manages to recover his lover at the end. This is the biggest point that Voltaire is making in this satirical philosophical tale, that the world is far from perfect but we can oppose ourselves to fatalism if we make use of what makes us fundamentally human: our capacity to think, reason and decide for ourselves what we want to do and pursue, which is why the last sentence of the book is "we must cultivate our garden".

Very well said DannyK! I agree with most everyone's comments here. While I can understand that it would be nice if Voltaire just came out and said plainly, this is what I think, I actually like they way this was said as part of a story. You had to really think about what was being said. Read between the lines as it were.

I'm not big on reading the classics. That is why I joined the group, so I would read more of them. This is definitely harder than reading what ever is on the NYT best sellers list. But it is rewarding in its own way. I for one am glad I read this. Maybe I'll even revisit this work, hopefully, the next time with a better understanding.

Thank you all for taking the time to write down your thoughts on this work. I found it very interesting and fun to read your thoughts on this book. I can't wait to join you all for reading Dracula!

DanyK thank you for your thoughts on the book. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, you give a good account of what happens. I think the book works for what it wants to achieve and it would have been even better at the time of writing, when events would have been current.

Jason, I'm glad you're enjoying the discussions. It really helps, especially with books we wouldn't otherwise choose. I hope you enjoy Dracula, I think it's an excellent book and can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks.

Great dissection of the themes, DanyK. If only read on the surface, Candide would seem a senseless and even childish book. What goes on beneath is everything.
Looking forward to Dracula, which I have not ever read before and which I am expecting to surprise me.

DanyK wrote: "Candide is a philosophical tale and as such it should invite more focus on the lessons therein rather than the story itself."

I agree that this is what it does. I think that's why I didn't like it. Some of the philosophy Voltaire presented was very interesting and I think DanyK did a great job of summarizing the ideas that earned Candide its place in literary history. I wanted a better story though. People read for a lot of different reasons, but storytelling is where it's at for me. This didn't deliver.

Bob wrote: "I did have one problem with the story and that was, how many times could someone be killed only to reappear later in the story, seriously were they immortal?"

I agree. In that aspect, it reminded me of Lost and about a dozen other TV series of the past decade.