num_pages: 163
description: Candide, or Optimism (1759) written by Voltaire, the shining star of the French Enlightenment, is a biting, hilarious and frequently outrageous satire that pokes philosophical fun at -- of all things -- the doctrine of optimism. Candide is a nave youth stubbornly adhering to the notion that "all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds," despite being cast into a flood of misfortunes and picaresque misadventures that take him around the world.Whether Candide and optimism itself emerges unscathed in the end, hinges upon his own deceptively simple words: "let us cultivate our garden."
language: English
title: Candide
titlecomplete: Candide
characters: Candide (Voltaire), Pangloss, Cunegonde, Dr. Pangloss
genres: Classics, France, 18th Century, Philosophy, Humor, Novels, School, Literature, French Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 267681
places: Netherlands, Suriname, Transylvania, England, Constantinople, Argentina, Paraguay, Germany, Turkey, Istanbul, Lisbon, Portugal, Buenos Aires, Romania
publisher: Penguin